L.A. CAN'T GO IT ALONE ON POT

To Make the City's New Ordinance Work As Effectively As Possible,
Legislators Need to Clarify the State's Medical Marijuana Laws

The Los Angeles City Council last week finally adopted a medical
marijuana ordinance. Though not perfect, it balances the needs of
local communities with those of patients who truly need access to
medical marijuana. And it will rein in an out-of-control situation in
which a federally banned substance has been sold for the last four
years as hundreds of dispensaries proliferated in the city of Los
Angeles, with no local regulations and ambiguous state laws to guide us.

To make the new ordinance work as effectively as possible,
legislators need to clarify the state's medical marijuana laws --
Proposition 215 and its accompanying SB 420. Both are silent or vague
on critical issues for the practical implementation at the local level.

As cities throughout California draft ordinances, they are grappling
with issues that they have no power over and that should be handled
at the state level. Moreover, they are trying to pinpoint evolving
and changing court rulings interpreting state law.

In Los Angeles, one of the most difficult issues was what constitutes
a "sale." My colleagues on the City Council and I addressed this by
stipulating that although no collective shall operate for profit,
"cash and in-kind contributions, reimbursements and reasonable
compensation" are allowed as long as they comply with current state
law. However, we don't know how this provision will be enforced
because we are relying on state law that is unclear and in litigation.

It is also unclear whether the over-the-counter dispensary model was
what voters intended when they approved Proposition 215. The law
might have intended a much more limited distribution of marijuana,
such as having either patients or their caregivers grow their own
product or having collectives grow a small amount and reimburse
members for their labor.

Without clarity from the state, the council also had to punt on the
issues of cultivation and transportation of marijuana by saying that
the ordinance would abide by state law.

Cultivation is important because the ordinance as written does not
address where the collectives will obtain their marijuana. Will it be
grown locally, imported from Northern California or bought on the
black market? And are people who transport the marijuana to and from
collectives immune from prosecution?

Another issue that is not being addressed locally but perhaps is the
biggest impediment to properly regulating dispensaries relates to the
wide discretion and relative immunity that physicians have in
recommending medical marijuana to patients. When most of us have a
medical issue, we don't look through the pages of alternative
weeklies to find a physician. We go to the doctor who knows the most
about our medical history -- our primary-care physician.

Yet under state law there is no requirement to curb abuse by having
people see their primary-care physician first, or, as Oregon does, to
require that a patient get a note from an "attending physician" with
whom he or she has an established patient/physician relationship.

It's interesting to note that Oregon, like several other states, only
allows medical marijuana for a narrow list of conditions. In
contrast, in California, marijuana can be recommended for anything
from cancer to writer's cramp. So, although California voters have
not (yet) directed the state to legalize marijuana for nonmedical
use, the state medical marijuana law has created de facto
legalization because practically anyone can become a qualified patient.

Given these ambiguities, the city has provided an ordinance within
existing state law that does its best to create access for medical
marijuana patients while protecting local communities from potential
negative consequences.

The council voted to support a requirement that dispensaries be at
least 1,000 feet from sensitive-use areas where children and families
gather, such as schools, playgrounds and places of worship -- and
from other dispensaries.

We also capped the number of collectives at 70 (instead of the
estimated 700-plus that exist) and required notification to
neighborhood councils before new dispensaries open in their areas. To
control profiteering, we also required annual audits and outlawed
common ownership of multiple collectives.

I, like a majority of California voters, voted in favor of
Proposition 215 because I believe that patients dealing with cancer,
AIDS, chronic pain and other serious ailments should have access to
medical marijuana.

However, I remain concerned about profiteers looking to make a quick
buck, recreational users looking to use an ambiguous state law to
their advantage and less-than-scrupulous doctors willing to play
along by writing quick and unverified recommendations. Though
seemingly innocuous to some, these unchecked activities can lead to
real problems in local communities should the state refuse to further
regulate medical marijuana. I encourage state legislators to
immediately amend SB 420 to deal with its ambiguities.

In the future, if the voters legalize marijuana for recreational use,
I would hope that the state provides clear and practical rules for
local implementation, unlike what has occurred with medical marijuana.