Pubdate: Sun, 27 Jan 2013
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2013 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: Maeve Reston
Page: A25

CANDIDATES WEIGH IN ON POT SHOPS

As the Five Top Contenders Start Outlining How They'd Handle the 
Issue, Most Argue for Paring Dispensaries Back.

As Los Angeles voters face the possibility of as many as three 
medical marijuana initiatives on the May ballot, several mayoral 
candidates have begun to outline their own plans to deal with the 
proliferation of pot dispensaries - an issue that has ensnared the 
City Council in countless legal tangles.

At a mayoral forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters last week, 
four of the five leading candidates argued for paring back the 
hundreds of pot dispensaries around the city. But Councilman Eric 
Garcetti said his first goal would be to persuade the federal 
government to reclassify marijuana as a medicine: "I will advocate 
that as mayor," he said.

Garcetti, who presided over many of the battles on the issue as 
council president from 2006 to 2012, said he would also urge state 
lawmakers to set regulations governing the distribution of medical marijuana.

"The courts say wildly different things because there has not been 
clear guidance from the state or federal level," he said. At the city 
level, Garcetti said, he would try to "keep access" while limiting 
the number of dispensaries. "You charge a fee so you have an 
enforcement mechanism, and where possible collect taxes" - steps 
that, he said, would free up law enforcement officers to focus on 
more serious crime.

City Controller Wendy Greuel called for "compassion" but said her 
emphasis would be on tightening regulations on the locations of pot 
shops in the city.

"I think when people voted in the state of California to allow 
medical marijuana, they thought they would go to their local CVS 
pharmacy and get it. They didn't think about the impact it would have 
on neighborhoods," said Greuel, who is targeting many of the more 
conservative San Fernando Valley voters. "The bottom line is we have 
a right to regulate where marijuana clinics are in the city of Los 
Angeles.... The public is demanding that the government actually do their job."

After the forum, aides to Greuel told The Times she also would 
support classifying marijuana as a medicine at the federal level.

The city has struggled for years to regulate the placement of pot shops.

A loophole in the city's 2007 moratorium allowed hundreds of 
additional shops to open. The council's efforts to limit the 
proliferation led to more than 100 lawsuits against the city.

In response to complaints from neighborhood activists, the council 
enacted a ban on storefront marijuana sales last July.

But it retreated in October, repealing the ban after a well-organized 
coalition of marijuana activists mounted an effort to overturn it at 
the ballot box.

Kevin James, a former federal prosecutor and the sole Republican 
among the major contenders, said the confusion and legal wrangling 
illustrated the dysfunction of the council.

"More pot clinics than Starbucks? Unbelievable," James said at 
Thursday night's forum. "Only this City Council could put a 
moratorium on 180 or so pot clinics - and it skyrockets to over 1,000."

The five mayoral candidates were pressed to say how many dispensaries 
should be allowed across the city. James said he favored about 10 in 
each of the 15 council districts. Garcetti said the original number 
of dispensaries - approximately 100 - was "about right."

Greuel and Councilwoman Jan Perry said they were hesitant to name an 
exact number, with Perry adding that she would take her policy cues 
from the voters in May.

Candidate Emanuel Pleitez, a technology executive who read from notes 
throughout the forum, argued that "politicians shouldn't be in the 
business of setting numbers" and should "let the market decide."

Last week the City Council advanced a measure for the May ballot that 
would permit only the dispensaries that opened before the moratorium 
to operate; the measure would also raise taxes on marijuana sales. 
Garcetti backed the request by Councilman Paul Koretz and Council 
President Herb Wesson asking the city attorney to draw up language 
for a ballot measure. Perry was absent for the vote.

Two additional - and competing - medical marijuana initiatives have 
qualified for the May ballot.

One, which is largely backed by dispensaries that opened after the 
moratorium, would allow many pot shops to remain open, but it would 
set new requirements for their operations - such as limited hours and 
maintaining a certain distance from schools. It would raise taxes on 
medical marijuana by 20% to pay for city enforcement.

The other was created by a coalition of medical marijuana advocates 
and the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which began 
organizing dispensary workers last year. Like the City 
Council-sponsored proposal, it would allow only pot dispensaries that 
opened before 2007 to operate. Koretz and Wesson have criticized the 
measure for not mandating that the shops be located farther away from 
schools, churches and parks.

Some advocates for the union-backed measure now say they probably 
will support the council's proposal because it too would allow older 
dispensaries to remain open and has a better chance of passing.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom