An ordinance aimed at regulating medical marijuana in Los Angeles will be discussed Monday at a joint session of the City Council's Public Safety and Planning and Land Use committees.Medical marijuana collectives would be allowed to grow pot only for members with serious illnesses under the proposed ordinance, which would limit inventories to five pounds of dried pot or 100 plants at any given time.
The city defines a collective as a group of qualified patients, their primary caregivers and people whom they authorize to cultivate marijuana for them.
Councilman Ed Reyes, chair of the Planning and Land Use Management Committee, said the idea of limiting inventories and how many plants can be grown was sure to be the subject of debate.
"My primary concern is making sure we allow enough flexibility so that people who are sick have access, that we do not create an environment where the only function of the ordinance will be to eradicate them all," Reyes said.
"I don't think that's fair or humane to people who are really sick who really need it," he added.
City Attorney Carmen Trutanich and District Attorney Steve Cooley have said most of the 1,000 or so pot shops in and around Los Angeles County are out of step with state law.
California Attorney General Jerry Brown has said medical marijuana outlets are supposed to operate as nonprofit groups, but few do.
Voters legalized medical marijuana when they approved Proposition 215 in 1996, but there has been little agreement about regulating outlets. Initially, only individuals were allowed to grow pot, but the law was amended in 2003 to allow collectives to grow the plants.Chief Deputy City Attorney William Carter said the city attorney's office, which drafted the proposed ordinance, is willing to make adjustments if necessary.
"Our office is and will continue to work very closely with the council members in both committees, as well as the full City Council, on drafting an ordinance that complies with California law and that meets the requirements of this city," Carter said.
The proposed ordinance was submitted to the Public Safety Committee a day after a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled that the city's extended moratorium on new medical marijuana outlets was invalid.
Earlier versions of the proposed ordinance had been heard exclusively by the Planning and Land Use Management Committee.
Under the proposed ordinance:
-- over-the-counter sales of medical marijuana would be outlawed;
-- anyone convicted of a felony or a crime of moral turpitude within the past 10 years, or who is on parole or probation for the sale of distribution of a controlled substance, would be forbidden from managing a collective or handling its finances;
-- medical marijuana outlets would have to be inspected by the Department of Building and Safety, register with the Office of Finance, and provide information about their members to their City Council representative and their Neighborhood Council;
-- any pot grown by a collective would have to be grown in accordance with the health and safety code;
-- collectives would have to be at least 1,000 feet from other collectives, schools, playgrounds, child care facilities, religious institutions, public libraries, public parks, hospitals and rehab centers;
-- all collectives would have to have video security and barred windows; and
-- operating hours would be limited to 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The proposed permanent ordinance states that outlets that began operating before Sept. 14, 2007, and registered with the city clerk's office before Nov. 12 of that year, would be given 180 days to comply with the ordinance.
Any outlets that opened after Sept. 14, 2007, would have to comply with the rules immediately.
