Robert Celt
New Member
As cities across Orange County rush to ban marijuana cultivation and delivery before the state assumes the power to decide for them, people in the pot industry see it not as a roadblock to growing hopes, but as a placeholder.
Cities have been taking legislative action because Assembly Bill 266 — one of three bills Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law in October that make up the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act — states that if a municipality does not have a land use regulation or ordinance regulating marijuana cultivation and delivery by March 1, the state will be "the sole licensing authority" for those activities.
Last week, the Dana Point City Council voted unanimously to ban pot cultivation and delivery, joining several other cities that have taken the step. A couple of days later, Laguna Woods advanced an ordinance that continues to prohibit commercial medical marijuana cultivation but allows qualified patients and primary caregivers to grow certain amounts.
Even Santa Ana, the only city that has legalized medical marijuana dispensaries — 20 that were selected by lottery will be allowed to operate — on Tuesday gave initial approval to an ordinance reaffirming its ban on cultivation and delivery.
Santa Ana prohibited marijuana cultivation years before 66 percent of voters in November 2014 approved Measure BB to regulate the dispensaries, Santa Ana City Attorney Sonia Carvalho said, but the reaffirmation was proposed because Measure BB banned cultivation at dispensaries but did not address other sites.
"We just did an abundance of caution to ban cultivation so no one can argue with us now," Carvalho said.
Santa Ana's ban on cultivation and delivery was only slightly disappointing to medical marijuana advocates.
Randall Longwith, a lawyer for several dispensaries mainly in Santa Ana, said the wave of bans doesn't hurt his clients.
"What it does is it's just simply vesting power and control to the city, but it still allows them to amend that or to put a new ordinance tomorrow, so it's kind of a placeholder," Longwith said. "If I were a city, I'd probably be doing the same thing."
Longwith's client Robert Taft Jr., director of the licensed dispensary 420 Central in Santa Ana, sees cities' adoptions of bans before March 1 as "politics 101," a move to please some constituents.
Taft, 46, said dispensary owners have long been pushing for three things: extended hours so that they can compete with rogue stores, along with being allowed to cultivate and deliver the drug. The Costa Mesa resident said he's always believed in "vertical integration" because it would give cities the power to track marijuana and collect taxes from seed to sale, and had hoped to come up with legislation to legalize cultivation.
"I was completely shocked they banned it," Taft said, until he spoke with Longwith and other lawyers in the business.
"I think there's a possibility of things going a little crazy with cities racing to do a ban," Taft said. "If they start realizing, if they don't do the ban, then all the marijuana industry is going to go to them on March 2."
Without these measures, the state could authorize cultivation or delivery in Orange County cities, and local authorities would have little say in the matter.
Santa Ana City Council members' views on cultivation in the future are split.
Councilman Sal Tinajero, a strong supporter of Measure BB who recused himself from Tuesday's vote, said he believes the city "isn't closing the door to having discussions about cultivation."
"I believe it is a safer industry when you're allowed to cultivate within your city instead of transporting medical produce across county lines," Tinajero said, adding that he would like to see all 20 selected dispensaries licensed before considering the cultivation piece.
As of Friday, seven of the 20 chosen dispensaries have been licensed and another seven are under review for approval, according to Santa Ana police Cmdr. Chris Revere, who oversees the permitting process.
"The reaffirmation does not change our enforcement efforts or strategy in regards to illegal cultivation and delivery of marijuana," Revere said in an email. "If those activities were legalized, we would stop enforcement."
Councilman David Benavides sees the matter differently. He referenced the latest seizure of marijuana by authorities — thousands of plants valued at an estimated $5.7 million at a warehouse in Santa Ana on Dec. 9 — and said it poses a health and safety hazard.
"There's wiring that can cause a fire or cause some type of situation that is dangerous," he said. "It could be harmful, and there could potentially be lives lost, and we want to make sure to prevent that."
Benavides said he would be open to considering a cultivation proposal with "very clear regulations," but "it's not something that I would be encouraging or pursuing."
For now, the bans aren't fazing Taft, who said industry people have grown accustomed to a holding pattern for legalization the past 20 years.
"It didn't shock me. It doesn't bother me," he said. "It's 'steady, as she goes' — we're keeping course."
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: California: New Bans Don't Faze Medical Pot Advocates
Author: Jessica Kwong
Contact: The Orange County Register
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: The Orange County Register
Cities have been taking legislative action because Assembly Bill 266 — one of three bills Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law in October that make up the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act — states that if a municipality does not have a land use regulation or ordinance regulating marijuana cultivation and delivery by March 1, the state will be "the sole licensing authority" for those activities.
Last week, the Dana Point City Council voted unanimously to ban pot cultivation and delivery, joining several other cities that have taken the step. A couple of days later, Laguna Woods advanced an ordinance that continues to prohibit commercial medical marijuana cultivation but allows qualified patients and primary caregivers to grow certain amounts.
Even Santa Ana, the only city that has legalized medical marijuana dispensaries — 20 that were selected by lottery will be allowed to operate — on Tuesday gave initial approval to an ordinance reaffirming its ban on cultivation and delivery.
Santa Ana prohibited marijuana cultivation years before 66 percent of voters in November 2014 approved Measure BB to regulate the dispensaries, Santa Ana City Attorney Sonia Carvalho said, but the reaffirmation was proposed because Measure BB banned cultivation at dispensaries but did not address other sites.
"We just did an abundance of caution to ban cultivation so no one can argue with us now," Carvalho said.
Santa Ana's ban on cultivation and delivery was only slightly disappointing to medical marijuana advocates.
Randall Longwith, a lawyer for several dispensaries mainly in Santa Ana, said the wave of bans doesn't hurt his clients.
"What it does is it's just simply vesting power and control to the city, but it still allows them to amend that or to put a new ordinance tomorrow, so it's kind of a placeholder," Longwith said. "If I were a city, I'd probably be doing the same thing."
Longwith's client Robert Taft Jr., director of the licensed dispensary 420 Central in Santa Ana, sees cities' adoptions of bans before March 1 as "politics 101," a move to please some constituents.
Taft, 46, said dispensary owners have long been pushing for three things: extended hours so that they can compete with rogue stores, along with being allowed to cultivate and deliver the drug. The Costa Mesa resident said he's always believed in "vertical integration" because it would give cities the power to track marijuana and collect taxes from seed to sale, and had hoped to come up with legislation to legalize cultivation.
"I was completely shocked they banned it," Taft said, until he spoke with Longwith and other lawyers in the business.
"I think there's a possibility of things going a little crazy with cities racing to do a ban," Taft said. "If they start realizing, if they don't do the ban, then all the marijuana industry is going to go to them on March 2."
Without these measures, the state could authorize cultivation or delivery in Orange County cities, and local authorities would have little say in the matter.
Santa Ana City Council members' views on cultivation in the future are split.
Councilman Sal Tinajero, a strong supporter of Measure BB who recused himself from Tuesday's vote, said he believes the city "isn't closing the door to having discussions about cultivation."
"I believe it is a safer industry when you're allowed to cultivate within your city instead of transporting medical produce across county lines," Tinajero said, adding that he would like to see all 20 selected dispensaries licensed before considering the cultivation piece.
As of Friday, seven of the 20 chosen dispensaries have been licensed and another seven are under review for approval, according to Santa Ana police Cmdr. Chris Revere, who oversees the permitting process.
"The reaffirmation does not change our enforcement efforts or strategy in regards to illegal cultivation and delivery of marijuana," Revere said in an email. "If those activities were legalized, we would stop enforcement."
Councilman David Benavides sees the matter differently. He referenced the latest seizure of marijuana by authorities — thousands of plants valued at an estimated $5.7 million at a warehouse in Santa Ana on Dec. 9 — and said it poses a health and safety hazard.
"There's wiring that can cause a fire or cause some type of situation that is dangerous," he said. "It could be harmful, and there could potentially be lives lost, and we want to make sure to prevent that."
Benavides said he would be open to considering a cultivation proposal with "very clear regulations," but "it's not something that I would be encouraging or pursuing."
For now, the bans aren't fazing Taft, who said industry people have grown accustomed to a holding pattern for legalization the past 20 years.
"It didn't shock me. It doesn't bother me," he said. "It's 'steady, as she goes' — we're keeping course."
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: California: New Bans Don't Faze Medical Pot Advocates
Author: Jessica Kwong
Contact: The Orange County Register
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: The Orange County Register
