Marijuana Dispensary Group Seeks L.A. Laws to Regulate Pot Shops, Let Them Live

By Dennis Romero Mon., Oct. 1 2012 at 11:36 AM

Blind Nomad / Flickr

Added at 3:56 p.m: See the proposed ordinances at the bottom.

A group representing L.A. city marijuana dispensaries plans to ask the City Council tomorrow to approve two laws that will circumvent Los Angeles' pot shop ban.

Either way the council will have to upend its own ban or send the issue to voters after those who mostly supported overturning the prohibition turned in enough signatures last month to get the matter on the ballot.

The Union for Medical Cannabis Patients says it has a solution:

It says it will propose two laws that will both satiate the council's concerns about retailers selling weed for profit and allow what it says are 250,000 weed patients in L.A. get their medicine legally.

Details about the proposals were not forthcoming, but in a statement today the union indicated that a key element of the ordinances would be using the services of a company called AgSite Secure, which claims to insure that stores are not selling for profit, selling pot out the backdoor, or getting weed from black market sources.

In fact the company purports to make sure that retailers are growing their own.

AgSite

This then would comply with some of the more stringent interpretations of state law.

The union says its proposals have already been submitted to the city Planning Commission (we couldn't find them in the city's file database).

James Shaw, director of the union:

Instead of fruitlessly trying to manage by quantity by limiting the number of associations, we should be regulating for quality. We've done the heavy-lifting in figuring out how to make regulation work, while avoiding further litigation, and we invite the City and the patient associations to study our proposals

The group will hold a 9:30 a.m. press conference -- ahead of tomorrow's City Council meeting -- outside council chambers tomorrow.

[Added at 3:56 p.m.]: The Union for Medical Cannabis Patients sent us the proposed ordinances:

Ordinance Revised La Preemption

And:

La Ordinance Revised State

[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

Tags:

City Council, dispensaries, dispensary ban, marijuana, pot shops

We Recommend

bar288

INVEST in the full legalization movement with stock symbol MJNA (Medical Marijuana Inc) -- With the most recent polls surging in Washington (37 and 23 point leads) and Colorado (11 point lead), ALL with majority support, there's no telling where this will go in November!

muzzylu

Unbelievable stupidity of the L.A City council! The state of California is near economic collapse, so it wastes time and money going after legal medical marijuana dispensaries! It's so stupid to fight marijuana; it is effective, safe, and has over a thousand years of use. Marijuana is a very healthy food if taken as an edible, not smoked. There is a great $2.99 e-book on medical marijuana: MARIJUANA - Guide to Buying, Growing, Harvesting, and Making Medical Marijuana Oil and Delicious Candies to Treat Pain and Ailments by Mary Bendis, Second Edition. This book has great recipes for easy marijuana oil, delicious Cannabis Chocolates, and tasty Dragon Teeth Mints.