Robert Celt
New Member
A legal medical marijuana delivery service may be able to open in Long Beach in January 2017, assuming the City Council votes to approve a newly-drafted dispensary law and events that follow go according to officials' plans.
Long Beach's new ordinance would initially create a delivery-only environment in which four dispensaries would be able send medicinal cannabis to patients' homes. The ordinance is written to outline a process by which City Hall may eventually allow storefront dispensaries to operate in Long Beach.
The council is scheduled to vote on the law Tuesday. The City Attorney's office drafted the law after the council's somewhat surprising Dec. 8 decision to accept Councilwoman Suzie Price's proposal to let marijuana delivery services operate in Long Beach while, perhaps temporarily, continuing to prevent storefront dispensaries from opening in the city.
By going along with Price on a 5-4 vote, the council effectively killed a more permissive version of the law that would have allowed up to nine dispensaries to operate in Long Beach, subject to the state's new regulatory system for medical marijuana.
Price, whose day job is that of an Orange County deputy district attorney, indicated Friday the new version of the law is mostly what she wanted, although she may ask for additional restrictions.
"I may want to add a change regarding where the brick and mortars can (go)," she said in a text message.
THE CURRENT PROPOSAL
Long Beach officials may allow storefront dispensaries at some point in the future, depending upon a review of how the delivery-only policy works out.
If the council adopts the law, City Manager Patrick West has advised the council as to how things may play out:
- Marijuana providers seeking to become one of the four delivery services that would be allowed in Long Beach would be required to turn in their applications in April.
- City officials' review of permits would be completed around November, clearing the way for the first delivery service to open for business in January 2017.
- Long Beach staffers would be able to deliver a report on how marijuana deliveries may affect city finances or crime as early as July 2017. If the council decides dispensaries have had a benign influence on Long Beach, marijuana providers would be able to apply for permission to commence with storefront sales.
- October 2017 is the earliest time a retail dispensary may be able to begin serving patients.
- The council would be able to decide whether to allow as many as seven retail dispensaries in April 2018. If the decision favors more outlets, March 2019 would be the earliest the additional dispensaries could open in Long Beach.
Long Beach has generally banned dispensaries since 2012.
LONG BEACH'S EVOLVING APPROACH TO MEDICAL MARIJUANA
In October 2014, the city's Planning Commission recommended allowing up to 18 dispensaries to operate in Long Beach. That council sent that proposal to a special citizens panel that met over the course of four and a half months until August, when its members recommended several restrictions for marijuana providers, such as buffer zones between dispensaries and schools.
The council has made the proposed law more restrictive since September.
Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal shrunk the maximum amount of dispensaries to nine when she won support for a new law in late September. And then Price in December obtained the further restrictions included in the current version of the proposal.
Cities near Long Beach have gone further. Cerritos' council voted Thursday to expand its ban against dispensaries by prohibiting the cultivation or delivery of medical marijuana. Signal Hill, Lakewood and Seal Beach have also moved in similar directions.
The California Secretary of State's office, however, has received several proposals for ballot measures that would legalize marijuana outright or expand medical marijuana rights. Nearly all of those proposals are related to legalization.
Asked if the she may advocate for an ordinance that would be similar to earlier drafts allowing storefront dispensaries, Lowenthal said in a text message that "anything can happen on the floor of a council meeting," but she expects the job of crafting workable medical marijuana regulations for the entire state will eventually be up to the voters.
"There also has to be some mechanism that addresses the plethora of illegally operation facilities that wreak havoc in communities and increase crime in surrounding areas," she also said.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Long Beach Council To Decide Whether To Allow Medical Marijuana Deliveries
Author: Andrew Edwards
Contact: Press-Telegram
Photo Credit: Flickr
Website: Press-Telegram
Long Beach's new ordinance would initially create a delivery-only environment in which four dispensaries would be able send medicinal cannabis to patients' homes. The ordinance is written to outline a process by which City Hall may eventually allow storefront dispensaries to operate in Long Beach.
The council is scheduled to vote on the law Tuesday. The City Attorney's office drafted the law after the council's somewhat surprising Dec. 8 decision to accept Councilwoman Suzie Price's proposal to let marijuana delivery services operate in Long Beach while, perhaps temporarily, continuing to prevent storefront dispensaries from opening in the city.
By going along with Price on a 5-4 vote, the council effectively killed a more permissive version of the law that would have allowed up to nine dispensaries to operate in Long Beach, subject to the state's new regulatory system for medical marijuana.
Price, whose day job is that of an Orange County deputy district attorney, indicated Friday the new version of the law is mostly what she wanted, although she may ask for additional restrictions.
"I may want to add a change regarding where the brick and mortars can (go)," she said in a text message.
THE CURRENT PROPOSAL
Long Beach officials may allow storefront dispensaries at some point in the future, depending upon a review of how the delivery-only policy works out.
If the council adopts the law, City Manager Patrick West has advised the council as to how things may play out:
- Marijuana providers seeking to become one of the four delivery services that would be allowed in Long Beach would be required to turn in their applications in April.
- City officials' review of permits would be completed around November, clearing the way for the first delivery service to open for business in January 2017.
- Long Beach staffers would be able to deliver a report on how marijuana deliveries may affect city finances or crime as early as July 2017. If the council decides dispensaries have had a benign influence on Long Beach, marijuana providers would be able to apply for permission to commence with storefront sales.
- October 2017 is the earliest time a retail dispensary may be able to begin serving patients.
- The council would be able to decide whether to allow as many as seven retail dispensaries in April 2018. If the decision favors more outlets, March 2019 would be the earliest the additional dispensaries could open in Long Beach.
Long Beach has generally banned dispensaries since 2012.
LONG BEACH'S EVOLVING APPROACH TO MEDICAL MARIJUANA
In October 2014, the city's Planning Commission recommended allowing up to 18 dispensaries to operate in Long Beach. That council sent that proposal to a special citizens panel that met over the course of four and a half months until August, when its members recommended several restrictions for marijuana providers, such as buffer zones between dispensaries and schools.
The council has made the proposed law more restrictive since September.
Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal shrunk the maximum amount of dispensaries to nine when she won support for a new law in late September. And then Price in December obtained the further restrictions included in the current version of the proposal.
Cities near Long Beach have gone further. Cerritos' council voted Thursday to expand its ban against dispensaries by prohibiting the cultivation or delivery of medical marijuana. Signal Hill, Lakewood and Seal Beach have also moved in similar directions.
The California Secretary of State's office, however, has received several proposals for ballot measures that would legalize marijuana outright or expand medical marijuana rights. Nearly all of those proposals are related to legalization.
Asked if the she may advocate for an ordinance that would be similar to earlier drafts allowing storefront dispensaries, Lowenthal said in a text message that "anything can happen on the floor of a council meeting," but she expects the job of crafting workable medical marijuana regulations for the entire state will eventually be up to the voters.
"There also has to be some mechanism that addresses the plethora of illegally operation facilities that wreak havoc in communities and increase crime in surrounding areas," she also said.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Long Beach Council To Decide Whether To Allow Medical Marijuana Deliveries
Author: Andrew Edwards
Contact: Press-Telegram
Photo Credit: Flickr
Website: Press-Telegram
