Vice Mayor Suja Lowenthal, who chaired the council discussion that night, originated the motion. She said it was “the right thing for the council” to consider.
The new version of the draft ordinance will be expected to include a number of restrictions on where the businesses can be located. Lowenthal proposed that nine businesses should be allowed to do business in the city, but they would not be allowed to be located near where children and youth go to school.
Lowenthal proposed a 1,500-foot buffer from high schools and 1,000-foot buffers from elementary schools, libraries, childcare facilities that are located in commercial corridors and other schools in surrounding cities like Signal Hill.
The proposal would allow cultivation sites to operate, but there were no specifics discussed at Tuesday night’s meeting. Lowenthal also recommended to allow home-delivery services by dispensaries.
While Lowenthal stressed that the city attorney’s office return with an ordinance draft as soon as possible, it is unclear at this time how soon the department will be able to complete a new draft.
Councilmembers Suzie Price, Stacy Mungo and Al Austin were the dissenting votes against the proposal. They all acknowledged the needs of the patients, however they voiced concerns about drafting an ordinance now and took issue with various aspects of Lowenthal’s proposal.
“I think we should be working to get a policy that’s going to work for everybody, not just the collectives,” Austin said. He had proposed offering an additional 1000-foot buffer away from instructional facilities for kids. “We want to be sure that it is fair to our neighbors and our businesses as well.”
Lowenthal refused to include that particular amendment to her proposal.
The city manager’s office will be expected to bring back a report on how the Long Beach will handle the staffing needs of the departments affected by the new medical-marijuana regulations. The City staff will also provide maps that would highlight high-crime areas and the buffer zones discussed.
This is not the first time the council has pondered how to create the rules on medical cannabis. A few years ago, the City did have an ordinance on its books, however, the Council eventually banned the dispensaries, especially after the municipal law was challenged in a number of lawsuits. One court eventually found that parts of the ordinance conflicted with federal law.
Now that three key bills have been passed by the California Legislature on Sept. 10 and are waiting for Gov. Jerry Brown’s final stamp of approval before mid October, the Long Beach City Attorney’s Office offered its own analysis of just how the new regulatory framework as drafted by state lawmakers could affect any municipal ordinance. Cities can continue a ban on these businesses.
The city attorney’s office acknowledged last Tuesday that three bills (collectively known as the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act or MMRSA) will eventually establish a regulatory agency within California’s Deptartment of Consumer Affairs and develop the infrastructure necessary for testing, certification and licensing. However, the city attorney’s office noted in a report that that will take some time to accomplish.
The council did have the option to wait for the regulatory framework to be in place before they passed an ordinance, but before they voted on her proposal, Lowenthal urged the Council and the staff to move forward on the issue.
About two dozen people took the time to speak during the public-comment section of the meeting. Michelle Jouvence, a resident and business owner of a lingerie boutique in Bixby Knolls, opposed having dispensaries located near the business districts, stating that she feared that the dispensaries could attract “criminal elements” to the area.
“This is not something that I would like to have next door to my business,” Jouvence said. She recommended that dispensaries be located near police stations.
Others told the council of their personal experiences with medical marijuana. There was a mix of those residents who feared for the youth and children’s exposure to the drug. Others told of their own pain and problems obtaining their medication.
Jennifer Johnson, a medical-marijuana patient, told the council that it took her 90 minutes one way on two busses to get access to her medicine. She said that her own teenager has never tried marijuana. Johnson explained to the council that it was because she had a healthy conversation with her child about drugs.
Her voice rose in frustration.
“You guys have regulated and regulated and regulated it to death,” Johnson said. “Please let us have our medicine.”
She argued that kids stand outside liquor stores frequently, requesting adults to buy alcohol for them, and the City did not choose to shut down all the liquor stores in the city.
“This is ridiculous,” she said, as she reminded the council that state voters had passed a medical cannabis act in 1996. “We voted it 20 years ago.”
