ASA California Weekly Alert: 2-13-2009

Weekly Round Up
1. Advocates Meet with LA City Council Member to Contest Proposed Ordinance
2. Coachella Moratorium Set to Expire, Council Draws Plans for Dispensary Ban

Chapter and Affiliate Meetings
3. Tuesday, February 17th – Sacramento: ASA Affiliate Compassionate Coalition
4. Wednesday, February 18th – Fullerton: Orange County ASA Meeting
5. Saturday, February 21st – Los Angeles: L.A. ASA Meeting

6. Tuesday, February 24th - San Francisco: SF ASA Meeting
7. Wednesday, February 25th - Oakland: East Bay ASA Meeting

City and County Hearings
8. Wednesday, February 18th - Palm Springs: City Council to Consider Dispensary Ordinance

Court Support
9. Monday, February 23rd - Los Angeles: Protest to Support Charles Lynch Against Federal Injustice

Special Events
10. Saturday February 14th - San Francisco: Spread the Love Valentine Seed Planting
11. Saturday February 14th - Sebastopol: Valentine’s Day Heart Party!
12. Saturday February 14th - Sacramento: Gardening, Work day & BBQ at the Freedom House in Sacramento
13. Saturday February 14th - Berkeley : Natural Remedies Health Services Presents:
14. Sunday February 15th - San Francisco: Celebrating the History of 215: with Denis Peron featuring an unreleased documentary & local Medical Cannabis films.
15. Monday February 16th - Sacramento: Medical Marijuana Art show & Informational Nights.
16. Tuesday February 17th - Berkeley: Book signing and talk with Doug McVay author of Drug War Facts at BPG
17. Tuesday February 17th - San Francisco: CCA Party!
18. Tuesday, February 17th San Diego: San Diego Protest  Against Local Raids!  “A walk towards freedom”
19. Wednesday February 18th - Oakland: Medical Marijuana University 6pm-9pm
20. Thursday February 19th - Oakland: ASA Organizers Training and Open House
21. Friday February 20th - Oakland: Movie Night at Oaksterdam Student Union
22. Saturday February 21st - Los Angeles: LA-ASA Meeting & Activist Training
23. Sunday February 22nd - Oakland: East Bay Medical Cannabis Activists Mixer
24. Wednesday, March 11th - Riverside County AIDS Conference to Include Medical Cannabis Panel

Weekly Round Up

1. Advocates Meet with LA City Council Member to Contest Proposed Ordinance

The Los Angeles City Attorney issued a revised version of the proposed ordinance regulating medical cannabis dispensing collectives this week. However, the newest version of the draft ordinance changed little from the one published just hours before January's Planning and Land Use Management Committee (PLUM) meeting, to which there was community opposition. 


Patients and advocates who served on the city's working group and other community members joined LA Councilmember Dennis Zine in rejecting the City Attorney's draft and calling on the committee to request a new ordinance incorporating the working group's input.  Many provisions in the draft ordinance are problematic, including those which ban edibles and concentrates (both legal under California law), require disclosure of patient data, and seek to exclude storefront collectives from locating within the city with requirements more stringent than those applied to liquor stores or strip clubs, and despite being recognized as legal by California Attorney General Jerry Brown.  In addition, the City Attorney's draft ordinance is based on faulty assumptions about medical cannabis law and patients' associations.

The City Attorney insists that sales of medical cannabis and storefront facilities that provide it on behalf of legal patients' collectives and cooperatives are illegal. As a result of this outdated and incorrect opinion, the City Attorney developed a draft ordinance that seeks to regulate the collective cultivation of medical cannabis, instead of the storefront facilities from which medicine is provided.   In August of 2008, the California Attorney General published guidelines that make it clear that patient collectives and cooperatives are legal. Section IV(C)(1) of the Guidelines specifically recognizes that legal collectives and cooperatives may maintain storefronts to provide medicine to members.
 
Dozens of cities and counties in California have already adopted guidelines regulating storefront facilities, and none have seen negative legal consequences as a result of exercising their right and responsibility to enact sensible regulations. In fact, research and experience shows that jurisdictions that adopt regulations have fewer complaints and less crime surrounding facilities. 

Advocates met with LA City Councilmember Ed Reyes and city staff to discuss the City Attorney's draft. As Chairman of the PLUM Committee, Reyes will have a tremendous impact on whether the committee forwards the flawed ordinance to the full City Council or sends it back to staff for more work. Councilmember Reyes made no decision based on the meeting, but promised to confer with city staff before the issue comes back to the Committee later this month.  Community members must continue to let Councilmembers Reyes and Huizar on the PLUM Committee know that we do not support the City Attorney¹s draft ordinance! There is as yet no commitment that the committee will reject this unworkable ordinance.