Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
Damaris, an employee of a cannabis cultivation business in Los Angeles, told the City Council on Friday she feared for her life when police officers arrested her at gunpoint earlier this month while she was at work.
"Being detained in that way was humiliating, and I was scared because I didn't know what was going to happen to me or my co-workers," Damaris told the City Council.
The 25-year-old cannabis worker was among several people wearing blue "We are LA" T-shirts who went to City Hall to urge lawmakers to take faster action on regulations that would allow more marijuana businesses to operate legally.
"I don't believe that anyone should go to work and have to be scared of their lives when the city intends to" set up a license for "that industry within 90 days," said Damaris, who wished to keep her last name private because her employers are worried about being further targeted by police.
Many of those who came to speak before the City Council represented various marijuana industry trade groups, including the Southern California Coalition, one of the major funders and supporters of Measure M, which won passage in March.
That measure gives the council the ability to revise the city's existing marijuana laws, which had been locked into place by 2013's Proposition D, a ban on all but 135 medical marijuana dispensaries.
The only way to revise regulations under Proposition D had been to go back to the voters, but Measure M restored the City Council's ability to set marijuana regulation.
Erik Hultstrom, president of the Cultivators Alliance, told the council that marijuana businesses, many of which are "good, tax-paying members of this city," are now stuck in "kind of a limbo where a lot of enforcement has been happening." Some of that enforcement has led to Chris Abkarian needing to shut down his East Hollywood business. Fighting back emotions and struggling to get his words out, Abkarian told the council that he will have to let go 25 workers from a dispensary he's operated for 11 years, the Greenhouse Herbal Center.
"I've been a law-abiding business owner, paying all the taxes and taking care of our patients in the East Hollywood area," he said. "I wish you guys can understand and help out with Prop. M and see what you can do to move the industry forward."
Under state law, the city needs to adopt marijuana regulation by January 2018. With the passage of Proposition 64 by voters statewide, city officials are also looking to work out how to deal with the legalization of recreational marijuana use by adults.
City Council President Herb Wesson has been hosting working group meetings on the anticipated marijuana regulations. A draft of a proposed ordinance is expected by June 1, after which there will be a 60-day circulation period, Wesson spokeswoman Vanessa Rodriguez said.
Marijuana businesses have also been eyed as a significant source of tax revenue for the city's budget, with city officials expected to release a report on setting up a bureau to deal with cannabis tax registration and collection.
But some members of the marijuana trade groups said that while the city works on comprehensive regulation, some interim steps need to be taken to protect businesses that plan to operate according to the rules, or else they might not be around when the regulations are finally in place.
Adam Spiker, executive director for the Southern California Coalition, said the continued crackdowns based on Proposition D rules are "troubling."
That older marijuana measure is "no longer the will of the people of the city of Los Angeles, and we're looking to find a solution to start protecting these folks (marijuana businesses) while you guys take the time that you need to properly put together the bureau and the regulation behind it," he told the council.
The group also submitted a memo urging the council to consider setting up a registry of businesses that are interested in taking part in the legal marijuana industry. The memo also asked that the city consider offering provisional licenses if it takes longer than expected to get regulations into place.
Ellen Mellody, a spokeswoman for the trade group, said their intent is not to ask for "protection for bad actors," and that better regulation may actually give the city tools to enforce its rules.
She noted that Proposition D has not worked, since there is estimated to be around 1,500 marijuana businesses in the city, most of them noncompliant.
Gregory Meguerian, who operates The Reefinery in Van Nuys, said that while his dispensary complies with Proposition D rules, there are currently no permits for the cultivators and other types of businesses that he depends on.
"I would ask you to consider some type of registry program for all the new license types that are coming up in the state now, all the cultivators, manufacturers, deliverers, transporters," he said.
"These types of businesses have never been able to exist legally, and there's going to be a gap time," he said. "And we need to protect the people that want to come into the industry legally during that gap time."
Several council members asked for comment on the issue said they either had not read the Southern California Coalition's memo or needed more time to look it over. Wesson's representative did not provide a comment from the council president.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Pot businesses urge LA City Council to curb harassment of those caught in enforcement ‘limbo’
Author: Elizabeth Chou
Contact: How to contact the Los Angeles Daily News
Photo Credit: Thomson/Reuters
Website: Los Angeles Daily News: Breaking News, Sports, Entertainment
"Being detained in that way was humiliating, and I was scared because I didn't know what was going to happen to me or my co-workers," Damaris told the City Council.
The 25-year-old cannabis worker was among several people wearing blue "We are LA" T-shirts who went to City Hall to urge lawmakers to take faster action on regulations that would allow more marijuana businesses to operate legally.
"I don't believe that anyone should go to work and have to be scared of their lives when the city intends to" set up a license for "that industry within 90 days," said Damaris, who wished to keep her last name private because her employers are worried about being further targeted by police.
Many of those who came to speak before the City Council represented various marijuana industry trade groups, including the Southern California Coalition, one of the major funders and supporters of Measure M, which won passage in March.
That measure gives the council the ability to revise the city's existing marijuana laws, which had been locked into place by 2013's Proposition D, a ban on all but 135 medical marijuana dispensaries.
The only way to revise regulations under Proposition D had been to go back to the voters, but Measure M restored the City Council's ability to set marijuana regulation.
Erik Hultstrom, president of the Cultivators Alliance, told the council that marijuana businesses, many of which are "good, tax-paying members of this city," are now stuck in "kind of a limbo where a lot of enforcement has been happening." Some of that enforcement has led to Chris Abkarian needing to shut down his East Hollywood business. Fighting back emotions and struggling to get his words out, Abkarian told the council that he will have to let go 25 workers from a dispensary he's operated for 11 years, the Greenhouse Herbal Center.
"I've been a law-abiding business owner, paying all the taxes and taking care of our patients in the East Hollywood area," he said. "I wish you guys can understand and help out with Prop. M and see what you can do to move the industry forward."
Under state law, the city needs to adopt marijuana regulation by January 2018. With the passage of Proposition 64 by voters statewide, city officials are also looking to work out how to deal with the legalization of recreational marijuana use by adults.
City Council President Herb Wesson has been hosting working group meetings on the anticipated marijuana regulations. A draft of a proposed ordinance is expected by June 1, after which there will be a 60-day circulation period, Wesson spokeswoman Vanessa Rodriguez said.
Marijuana businesses have also been eyed as a significant source of tax revenue for the city's budget, with city officials expected to release a report on setting up a bureau to deal with cannabis tax registration and collection.
But some members of the marijuana trade groups said that while the city works on comprehensive regulation, some interim steps need to be taken to protect businesses that plan to operate according to the rules, or else they might not be around when the regulations are finally in place.
Adam Spiker, executive director for the Southern California Coalition, said the continued crackdowns based on Proposition D rules are "troubling."
That older marijuana measure is "no longer the will of the people of the city of Los Angeles, and we're looking to find a solution to start protecting these folks (marijuana businesses) while you guys take the time that you need to properly put together the bureau and the regulation behind it," he told the council.
The group also submitted a memo urging the council to consider setting up a registry of businesses that are interested in taking part in the legal marijuana industry. The memo also asked that the city consider offering provisional licenses if it takes longer than expected to get regulations into place.
Ellen Mellody, a spokeswoman for the trade group, said their intent is not to ask for "protection for bad actors," and that better regulation may actually give the city tools to enforce its rules.
She noted that Proposition D has not worked, since there is estimated to be around 1,500 marijuana businesses in the city, most of them noncompliant.
Gregory Meguerian, who operates The Reefinery in Van Nuys, said that while his dispensary complies with Proposition D rules, there are currently no permits for the cultivators and other types of businesses that he depends on.
"I would ask you to consider some type of registry program for all the new license types that are coming up in the state now, all the cultivators, manufacturers, deliverers, transporters," he said.
"These types of businesses have never been able to exist legally, and there's going to be a gap time," he said. "And we need to protect the people that want to come into the industry legally during that gap time."
Several council members asked for comment on the issue said they either had not read the Southern California Coalition's memo or needed more time to look it over. Wesson's representative did not provide a comment from the council president.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Pot businesses urge LA City Council to curb harassment of those caught in enforcement ‘limbo’
Author: Elizabeth Chou
Contact: How to contact the Los Angeles Daily News
Photo Credit: Thomson/Reuters
Website: Los Angeles Daily News: Breaking News, Sports, Entertainment