Medical marijuana supporters plan to submit 50,000 petition signatures to the Los Angeles City Clerk’s Office in hopes of forcing a referendum election to overturn the city’s ban on storefront marijuana dispensaries.
The City Council voted in July to ban the dispensaries, citing conflicting court opinions about whether the city can legally regulate cannabis collectives. While banning storefront dispensaries, the city will allow licensed patients or caregivers to grow and transport their own medical marijuana.
The ban is scheduled to take effect Sept. 6. The City Attorney’s Office sent letters to 1,046 suspected dispensary locations earlier this month warning them to shut down by that date or face court action and a $2,500 fine for every day they remain open after the deadline.
Medical marijuana supporters quickly mounted a signature-gathering effort in hopes of forcing a referendum on the issue. A minimum of 27,425 signatures are required to get the issue on the ballot, according to petition- drive organizers.
“We want a strict regulatory system in place to ensure safe access for patients and a nuisance-free process for neighborhoods,” referendum proponent Norma Schaffer said. “This one-size-fits-all ban not only hurts patients, but it eliminates dispensaries playing by the rules while doing little to shut down rogue dispensaries.
“We need good policy, not knee-jerk bans that make the problem worse,” she said. “We’re confident the voters of Los Angeles will agree with us.”
On Aug. 17, a medical marijuana trade group called the Patient Care Alliance filed a lawsuit in hopes of blocking the marijuana ban, calling it a “reckless, baseless and heartless act of denial of necessary medical services.”
One of the champions of the ban, Councilman Jose Huizar, said after the council’s vote in July that the city’s action still provides safe access to marijuana for patients who need it, but also puts the city on solid legal footing and alleviates quality-of-life issues that constituents complain about.
“Relief is coming in the form of having a more focused and intense crackdown on these dispensaries that cause problems in our neighborhoods,” Huizar said.