Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
Redding is poised to loosen a few of its medicinal cannabis regulations and tighten a couple of others.
The City Council on Tuesday will consider more than a half-dozen changes to requirements it imposed on Redding’s cannabis clubs starting in January.
One of those clubs has shut down since the regulations went into effect in January, according to a council report. Eighteen clubs are still operating.
Redding may relent on two of the laws drawing some of the harshest criticism from patients and their advocates — a ban on “clone” plants for sale at cannabis clubs and a requirement that collective members present a doctor’s recommendation specifying medicine amounts.
Police Chief Peter Hansen helped draft the changes after meeting with patient advocates who had sharply criticized the regulations as too restrictive and invasive. In an interview, Hansen called that meeting with advocates productive.
Hansen and City Attorney Rick Duvernay acknowledged in their council report that collective members need to get plants from suppliers at their club, not on the street.
“Requiring members who grow for the collective or want to grow for the collective to exchange plants away from the collective site is onerous and in the end results in plants being exchanged in the ‘back alleys,’” according to the report.
The city would allow clubs to dedicate up 10 percent of their floor space, or 50 square feet, to nonbudding cannabis “clones,” under the proposed changes.
A much-criticized requirement that cannabis club members show a doctor’s recommendation specifying how much dried marijuana they need for treatment was not scheduled to go into effect until January.
But the city will loosen that requirement before it ever takes hold, should the council approve.
The California Medical Association does not recommend doctors provide specific advice about how much cannabis to use for relief. Such advice could be seen as aiding and abetting, because marijuana remains illegal under federal law, according to a council report.
The city would allow a doctor’s recommendation for a maximum amount to treat the illness or a patient’s reported maximum required dose as expressed to the doctor, under the proposed changes.
A third proposed change in the regulations would create new restrictions for indoor industrial grows after officials discovered a cannabis nursery flourishing in a building without permits or the owner’s knowledge.
The new regulations would require indoor nursery growers to get permits and prove the property owner condones the operation. The city would limit nursery grows to industrial areas.
Under other proposed changes, the city also would:
n Require background checks for all collective employees starting in January.
n Forbid collectives within 1,000 feet of a drug or alcohol treatment center.
n Allow tobacco use at collectives.
Redding’s medicinal cannabis clubs tallied an estimated $486,000 from Jan. 1 through March 31, generating $4,860 of sales tax for the city during the first quarter of this year, City Manager Kurt Starman said.
IF YOU GO
What: Redding City Council meeting
When: 6 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Council chambers, 777 Cypress Ave.
Agenda includes: Midyear budget report, medicinal cannabis regulations
NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: redding.com
Copyright: 2010 Record-Searchlight
Contact: Redding Record Searchlight
Website: Housekeeping for regulations on medical pot
The City Council on Tuesday will consider more than a half-dozen changes to requirements it imposed on Redding’s cannabis clubs starting in January.
One of those clubs has shut down since the regulations went into effect in January, according to a council report. Eighteen clubs are still operating.
Redding may relent on two of the laws drawing some of the harshest criticism from patients and their advocates — a ban on “clone” plants for sale at cannabis clubs and a requirement that collective members present a doctor’s recommendation specifying medicine amounts.
Police Chief Peter Hansen helped draft the changes after meeting with patient advocates who had sharply criticized the regulations as too restrictive and invasive. In an interview, Hansen called that meeting with advocates productive.
Hansen and City Attorney Rick Duvernay acknowledged in their council report that collective members need to get plants from suppliers at their club, not on the street.
“Requiring members who grow for the collective or want to grow for the collective to exchange plants away from the collective site is onerous and in the end results in plants being exchanged in the ‘back alleys,’” according to the report.
The city would allow clubs to dedicate up 10 percent of their floor space, or 50 square feet, to nonbudding cannabis “clones,” under the proposed changes.
A much-criticized requirement that cannabis club members show a doctor’s recommendation specifying how much dried marijuana they need for treatment was not scheduled to go into effect until January.
But the city will loosen that requirement before it ever takes hold, should the council approve.
The California Medical Association does not recommend doctors provide specific advice about how much cannabis to use for relief. Such advice could be seen as aiding and abetting, because marijuana remains illegal under federal law, according to a council report.
The city would allow a doctor’s recommendation for a maximum amount to treat the illness or a patient’s reported maximum required dose as expressed to the doctor, under the proposed changes.
A third proposed change in the regulations would create new restrictions for indoor industrial grows after officials discovered a cannabis nursery flourishing in a building without permits or the owner’s knowledge.
The new regulations would require indoor nursery growers to get permits and prove the property owner condones the operation. The city would limit nursery grows to industrial areas.
Under other proposed changes, the city also would:
n Require background checks for all collective employees starting in January.
n Forbid collectives within 1,000 feet of a drug or alcohol treatment center.
n Allow tobacco use at collectives.
Redding’s medicinal cannabis clubs tallied an estimated $486,000 from Jan. 1 through March 31, generating $4,860 of sales tax for the city during the first quarter of this year, City Manager Kurt Starman said.
IF YOU GO
What: Redding City Council meeting
When: 6 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Council chambers, 777 Cypress Ave.
Agenda includes: Midyear budget report, medicinal cannabis regulations
NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: redding.com
Copyright: 2010 Record-Searchlight
Contact: Redding Record Searchlight
Website: Housekeeping for regulations on medical pot
