Medical marijuana measure going on the ballot

A ballot initiative that would repeal Laguna Beach’s current ban on medical marijuana dispensaries will go before voters in November, the City Council decided Tuesday night.

The authors of the initiative want a local source of medical cannabis so residents don’t have to go outside city limits, Charnel James, their attorney, said in a phone interview Wednesday.

James said those behind the initiative want to remain anonymous, though a city staff report noted Laguna Beach residents Elizabeth Toomey and Corey Aufhammer as sponsors of the measure.

The Orange County registrar of voters determined on March 24 that 2,414 signatures gathered to get the initiative on the ballot were valid, eight more than required.

The matter then went before the council members because, according to City Atty. Phil Kohn, state election code gives the council two options: adopt the initiative when presented or place it on the ballot for a public vote.

Laguna banned medical marijuana dispensaries in 2009.

This is the second time in three months that a marijuana-related issue has come before the council. In a unanimous vote in January, the council banned commercial cultivation and large-scale deliveries of medical marijuana within the city.

“They aren’t just bringing 8 ounces to a house. They are bringing more than that,” Laguna Police Chief Laura Farinella said at the time, referring to smugglers seeking to reap profits from sales of the drug. “I’m fearful of the dispensary now at someone’s doorstep.”

In 1996, California voters passed Prop. 215, known as the Compassionate Use Act, which allows for personal use and cultivation of marijuana for medical reasons after a patient has received a physician’s recommendation.

Once someone receives a doctor’s approval, he or she may possess up to 8 ounces of marijuana and cultivate either six mature or 12 immature plants.

James said the initiative creators went into action after the council’s January vote.

According to the initiative, dispensaries would be allowed only in commercial zones and could not abut residential areas or be less than 1,000 feet from a public or private school.

The initiative authors propose two dispensaries at most in Laguna.

The measure, they wrote, would provide “a uniform and enforceable set of rules for the operation of medical marijuana businesses, in compliance with state law and to future statewide regulation, to prevent the proliferation of unlawful medical marijuana businesses, and to protect the public health, safety and welfare of residents and businesses.”

Farinella got the council’s OK to research enforcement and legal concerns regarding the proposed conditions and report back, with the thought that the city could come up with a competing ballot initiative.