Nov 24, 2009 9:22 pm US/Pacific
Compromise Reached On Medical Marijuana Ordinance
LOS ANGELES (AP) ―
After seven hours of debate, the City Council and City Attorney's Office reached a carefully worded compromise today aimed at allowing medical marijuana to be distributed to qualified patients without severely restricting access to the drug or violating state and federal laws.
Although they will not to allow "sales" of medical marijuana, council members agreed to allow collectives and dispensaries to receive "cash contributions, reimbursements and compensations for the actual expenses of the growth and provision of the collective cultivation ... provided in compliance
with state law."
The wording was good enough to win the backing of the City Attorney's Office, which had warned the council that any ordinance allowing sales of the
drug would be in direct violation of the state law allowing the use of medical
marijuana. District Attorney Steve Cooley also warned that the city could not
legally authorize over-the-counter sales of the drug.
"I think that is broad enough," said Chief Deputy City Attorney William Carter, who initially opposed letting qualified patients exchange cash for medical marijuana cultivated by someone who was not their primary caregiver.
"It gives us that flexibility that we need," said Councilman Ed Reyes, who had proposed not-for-profit sales of medical marijuana so qualified patients and their primary caregivers who could not manufacture pot on their own could still have access to it.
The City Council directed the City Attorney's Office to revise the proposed ordinance to reflect the updated wording and several other proposed amendments, and submit it to the council next week.
The council will take up the issue again Dec. 2. City officials are trying to come up with an ordinance that addresses medicinal marijuana and figure out if the ordinance is permissible under state law.
Hundreds of pot dispensaries have opened their doors in Los Angeles over the past couple of years. Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley said recently he will target any pot clinics engaging in over-the-counter sales.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
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