CITY COULD ACT ON MEDICAL POT IN NOV.

A Proposal to Ban All Sales of Medicinal Marijuana Unlikely to Be
Taken Up Next Week.

The Los Angeles City Council moved Thursday to consider a
controversial medical marijuana ordinance in early November, as a
poll released by a national organization that supports marijuana
legalization found that more than three-quarters of voters in the
county want dispensaries regulated, not prosecuted and closed.

The council action comes after a Superior Court judge ruled Monday
that the city's moratorium on dispensaries had been illegally
extended. With the city unable to enforce it, Councilman Greig Smith
decided Thursday not to hold a hearing on the proposed ordinance in
the Public Safety Committee, but to send it straight to the council.

Council President Eric Garcetti's office indicated it will not come
up next week but might the week after.

The measure, which was largely drafted by City Atty. Carmen
Trutanich's office, would prohibit sales of medi-cal marijuana.
Smith's aides said he supports the provi-sion and believes it would
force most dispensaries to close. City officials have no idea how
many there are, but estimates range from several hundred to 1,100.

Most dispensaries in the city sell marijuana and pay state sales
taxes. Operators, however, say the transactions are donations that
are intended to recoup their operating costs.

"I would prefer to stop all sales of medical marijuana in the city,
but the ordinance proposed by City Atty. Trutanich comes as close as
the law will allow," Garcetti said.

Trutanich and Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley say that
most, if not all, dispensaries are operated for profit. Under state
law, medical marijuana cannot be cultivated or distributed for profit.

The proposed ordinance would "put the genie back in the bottle and it
will add order to this chaos," Trutanich said. He said he had a team
of lawyers working on the issue and promised to proceed judiciously.

"You don't see me jumping out and doing legal stuff willy-nilly," he
said after a speech at City Hall to members of the Chamber of Commerce.

"We're aware of the public's demand for medical marijuana, and we
have to make sure we don't interrupt that, but we have to make sure
that the public is also protected."

Medical marijuana advocates say the proposed ordinance is a thinly
disguised ban. About 75 rallied Thursday outside City Hall.
Supporters carried placards aimed at Trutanich and Cooley, including:
"LA is unTru!," "Shame on Nuch" and "Cooley = 100% Lies," a reference
to the district attorney's contention that "about 100%" of the
dispensaries operate illegally.

Rumors of raids on dispensaries rippled through the crowd, and
advocates from the Union of Medical Marijuana Patients said they were
exploring whether they could get an injunction to stop Cooley.

The poll, completed Monday and Tuesday, also found that 74% of the
county's voters support the state's medical marijuana law, while 54%
want to see marijuana legalized, regulated and taxed like alcohol.

The Marijuana Policy Project, based in Washington, D.C., commissioned
the poll by an independent firm, Mason-Dixon Polling & Research,
after Cooley and Trutanich threatened to prosecute dispensaries.

"I think the take-home message here is voters in L.A. County
overwhelmingly support the state's medical marijuana law. They think
dispensaries, properly regulated, can be a part of that, and Mr.
Cooley's really out of step," said Bruce Mirken, the California-based
spokesman for the organization.

The poll of 625 regular voters found that 77% want to regulate
dispensaries, while 14% want them closed. Both Democrats (83 vs. 7%)
and Republicans (62 vs. 30%) support regulation over prosecution.