Pubdate: Sat, 05 Jan 2013
Source: Los Angeles Daily News (CA)
Copyright: 2013 Los Angeles Newspaper Group
Contact: http://www.dailynews.com/writealetter
Website: http://www.dailynews.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/246

ANOTHER MEDICAL MARIJUANA MEASURE QUALIFIED FOR L.A. CITY BALLOT, BUT 
THE SOLUTION SHOULD COME FROM THE STATE

The fight over medical marijuana in California has taken another 
turn. A petition to permit about 100 dispensaries to operate in Los 
Angeles has received enough signatures to force the City Council to 
either adopt it or put it on the ballot. This does not necessarily 
mean a meaningful resolution is at hand.

In fact, this citywide measure only muddies what were already cloudy waters.

The medical-marijuana conundrum won't be solved until California 
leaders create a statewide policy on how to make pot available for 
therapeutic use the way voters intended when they passed Proposition 
215 in 1996.

As long as state legislators fail to act, we'll still have a ragged 
patchwork of policies enacted by officials tugged in different 
directions by compassion for the sick, the need to stop illegal 
for-profit pot shops, conflicting court rulings, and hardline federal 
laws. An Assembly bill to create statewide regulations was withdrawn 
by its author in June over various conflicts. The new Legislature 
must get something done.

The new L.A. measure, titled the "Medical Marijuana Collectives 
Initiative Ordinance," moved forward Wednesday when City Clerk June 
Lagmay announced that a coalition of supporters have gathered the 
necessary 41,138 signatures.

If passed by the City Council or voters, the measure would permit 
about 100 dispensaries to operate and would establish restrictions 
regarding locations and hours. These would be the dispensaries that 
were operating before the city's 2007 moratorium on new outlets. 
That's a fraction of the current estimated number.

The L.A. marijuana initiative actually is the second to meet the 
signature threshold in recent weeks, following one that would permit 
more dispensaries in the city and impose a business tax on them.

This is all happening in the wake of another signature-gathering 
effort that forced the council, in October, to rescind an outright 
ban on storefront dispensaries, enacted in July.

Confused? Exactly.

Even if L.A. sorts out all of this, it won't settle the issue for 
Long Beach and other cities caught in the legal crossfire between the 
good intentions of California voters and the bad intentions of some 
medpot outlet owners.

Marijuana may eventually be headed for outright legalization in 
California. After voters in the states of Washington and Colorado 
legalized pot in November, activists are talking about trying again 
here in 2014 or 2016.

In the meantime, the ongoing battle over medical marijuana isn't 
helping legitimate therapeutic users or the communities with 
troublesome dispensaries.

This remains a state issue. It is up to state officials to provide clarity.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom