CITY COUNCIL PROPOSAL WOULD SHUT DOWN NEARLY ALL POT CLINICS

Ordinance: Restrictions Could Close, Move All but Five Facilities,
Officials Say

All but five of the city's estimated 800 to 1,000 medical marijuana
clinics would be forced to shut down or move under the latest
restrictions being considered by the Los Angeles City Council,
officials said Wednesday.

The council had intended to reduce the number to no more than 137.
But members learned that the actual rules they drafted, including
keeping them away from schools and residential areas, went further
than they intended, making almost all of the city off-limits to the
dispensaries.

Despite mounting anger and frustration by both supporters and
opponents of the clinics, the council pushed off final consideration
of its law.

"This started four years ago and, somehow, four years later we have
still not taken action," said Councilman Dennis Zine. "In that time,
we have up to 1,000 illegal operations in the city. It is time for us
to move forward."

Council members, however, pushed the matter over to Jan. 13, when
they said they wanted to explore a full range of options on where the
dispensaries can be located in the city.

Alan Bell of the city Planning Department said the latest proposal -
preventing clinics from locating within 500 feet of residential areas
and 1,000 feet from schools, parks, libraries and religious
institutions - would result in a dramatic reduction of space where
the clinics could locate.

"It would mean that 132 of the 137 clinics that the city considers as
being properly registered would have to relocate," Bell said.

The council ultimately wants to reduce the number to 70, spread
evenly throughout the city, but has said it would allow the 137
clinics that registered properly under the city's original rules to
remain in operation.

All of which served to please at least three council members -
Richard Alarc n, Jan Perry and Greig Smith - who are seeking more
restrictive measures on the location of the clinics.

Perry said her South Los Angeles district has been working to fight
problems with liquor stores and she did not want to have new problems
created with the medical marijuana dispensaries.

Smith said he did not want any clinics in his district.

"The one thing we haven't had before us is the LAPD with their maps,"
Smith said. "I would be interested in having the LAPD come in with a
crime map that shows every time one of these open there is an
increase in crime.

"If we had a system where I had a say, I would not allow one in my
district. Those council members who don't have a problem with this,
let them sign off on it."

Councilman Bill Rosendahl, however, said he did not want to see
marijuana sales return to the back alleys.

"This is a medicinal herb that should be treated with the same
respect as we do drug stores," Rosendahl said. "The idea of putting
this back in the alleys of the streets is wrong. I will vote no, no,
no every time we put more restrictions on these uses."

Council President Eric Garcetti also said he opposed the wider restrictions.

"I don't think we want to see mega-dispensaries in just some parts of
the city," Garcetti said. "I also don't think we want to see people
who are sick have to drive miles to get medicine they need."

Alarc n said he wanted to see the 500-foot limit from residential
areas to protect his neighborhoods, while Perry said she wanted to
see that the definition of residential neighborhoods include
commercial and industrial-zoned land that is used as housing in her district.

Representatives of different organizations in favor of the medical
marijuana clinics said they are prepared to go to court if the
council adopts the tough restrictions.

"I think they made it so egregious that it will end up closing every
dispensary in the city," said Dan Lutz of the Los Angeles Collective
Association.