Politics & Government

Pot Dispensary Ban Could Be Put on Hold and Left to Voters

Activists garner 50,000 signatures they hope will lead to either repeal of ordinance or placing it before voters in the next municipal election on March 5.

Activists trying to overturn a ban on medical marijuana storefront dispensaries in Los Angeles before it even takes effect submitted petitions signed by some 50,000 people to the City Clerk's Office Thursday.

A minimum of 27,425 signatures -- far less than the activists say they have collected -- is required for a referendum on the ban to be held next March. But in the near term, the petitions, if valid, will have the effect of preventing the implementation of the recently approved ordinance that provides for the ban. That ordinance was scheduled to go into effect a week from today.

The City Clerk's Office will now work to verify the signatures by comparing them to lists of registered voters. If placed on the ballot in March, the referendum on the ban will take place at the same time as the mayoral primary election.

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The City Council also has the option of rescinding the ban instead of scheduling a referendum.

Councilman Jose Huizar, who champions the ban, said the submission of signatures does not necessarily mean storefront medical marijuana shops will be spared legal action, even though the ordinance that provides for the storefront ban would be put on hold.

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According to Huizar, filing petition signatures means the city's "Sunset Clause" will kick in, "which outlaws storefront dispensaries and only allows, per state law, for a qualified patient or their caregiver to grow their own or collectives consisting of three or fewer qualified patients or their caregivers."

Officials in the office of City Attorney Carmen Trutanich have advanced similar opinions about the city's options, but medical marijuana advocates disagree.

"State law is clear -- selling medical marijuana for profit is illegal," Huizar said. The referendum effort "does not change that and doesn't protect dispensary owners from prosecution if they engage in illegal activity."

The City Council voted last month to ban the dispensaries, citing conflicting court opinions about whether the city can legally regulate cannabis collectives. While banning storefront dispensaries, the city's action would allow licensed patients or caregivers to grow and transport their own medical marijuana.

After the vote, the City Attorney's Office sent letters to 1,046 suspected dispensary locations warning them to shut down by Sept. 6 or face court action and a $2,500 fine for every day they remain open past the deadline.

Don Duncan, state director for the medical-marijuana-advocacy group Americans for Safe Access, said the city should back away from efforts to crack down on dispensaries while the referendum is pending.

"Because of the ban's questionable future, the city ought to reconsider its tough stance on enforcing the ban," he said, pointing to a recent decision by the city to work with the District Attorney's Office and federal Drug Enforcement Administration to enforce the city's law.

Councilman Paul Koretz, an ally of the medical marijuana community, has advocated allowing 100 or so of the city's oldest dispensaries to remain open.


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