Medical marijuana dispensaries should be up to voters, city says

Laguna Beach City Council members agreed Tuesday that they still wanted voters to decide whether medical marijuana dispensaries should be allowed in the city.

The issue came to the fore in April, when the council learned authors of a petition that would repeal the city’s current ban on dispensaries gathered enough signatures to place the matter on the November ballot. Since then, the city has wrestled with how to respond.

In May, the council suggested that staff craft two possible competing measures, including one that would maintain the status quo of no dispensaries.

In a 4-0 vote Tuesday, the council directed staff to return July 26 with a competing ballot measure calling for a city ordinance regarding dispensaries to counter an initiative sponsored by Laguna Beach residents Corey Aufhammer and Emily Toomey that could allow two businesses in town.

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The authors of the initiative, who want to remain anonymous, want a local source of medical cannabis so residents don’t have to go outside city limits, Charnel James, their attorney, told the Coastline Pilot earlier this year.

The city has until Aug. 12 to submit a measure to qualify for the November ballot.

The council on Tuesday veered from Laguna Beach Police Chief Laura Farinella’s suggestion to not develop a competing ballot measure.

Farinella said she did not want to confuse voters with more than one option, and instead favored educating the community on language within the sponsored initiative.

A majority of speakers favored a competing measure, hailing medicinal marijuana as an ally in helping patients cope with chronic health conditions.

“Every day there is news about what an incredible invention cannabis is in things like children’s seizures, glaucoma, [post-traumatic stress disorder], sleep disorder...,” said Billy Fried, owner of La Vida Laguna, a company that offers outdoor recreational activities.

Resident Matt Lawson favored a competing measure, but one that maintains the existing dispensary ban.

“We’re dealing with people who are trying to promote the sale of a schedule 1 narcotic,” Lawson said. “They are no different than heroin dealers.”

On Tuesday the secretary of state’s office confirmed a measure that would legalize recreational marijuana throughout California qualified for the ballot.

The city outlawed medical marijuana dispensaries in 2009, and in January the council banned commercial cultivation and large-scale deliveries of the drug.

Patients and caregivers are still allowed to pick up doctors’ prescriptions for marijuana, often used as a cancer treatment, that are filled outside of Laguna and bring them into the city.

Under the initiative, businesses would only be allowed in commercial zones and could not abut residential areas or be less than 1,000 feet from public or private schools.

The city’s finance director would screen all applicants and determine whether to issue licenses, according to the initiative, available on the April 12 City Council meeting agenda on the city’s website.

Operators could be refused a license if they had been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor within the last 10 years, or had a prior medical marijuana business license revoked within two years of filing their applications with Laguna.

The proposed rules contain flaws, Farinella said Wednesday, suggesting prospective business owners prove they could operate for at least a year without additional revenue.

Owners should also be subject to a more thorough vetting process, including Planning Commission and City Council review, Farinella said.

Aufhammer did not return a message seeking comment.

The city’s measure would include a provision allowing the council to modify the ordinance, if adopted, without voter approval. Farinella indicated Wednesday the city’s measure could propose one dispensary instead of two.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration considers marijuana and heroin among the “most dangerous drugs...with severe psychological or physical dependence,” according to the organization’s website.

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Bryce Alderton, bryce.alderton@latimes.com

Twitter: @AldertonBryce