Advertisement

Fountain Valley moves to ban marijuana dispensaries, cultivation in town

Share

All commercial forms of marijuana cultivation and dispensation will be illegal in Fountain Valley if an ordinance approved by the City Council on Tuesday is passed during a second reading in December.

The council voted 4 to 1 to ban all commercial cannabis activity within Fountain Valley. However, the council moved to add a provision to allow residents with a permit to obtain medicinal marijuana from another city and take it home.

The provision also would allow primary caregivers to acquire marijuana for local patients who are unable to leave their homes because of health problems.

Advertisement

To give people an opportunity to provide feedback, the council will take up the ordinance again Dec. 1.

Other cities have taken similar action in response to California’s Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act, which Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law Oct. 9. The act, which becomes effective Jan. 1, seeks to regulate the distribution, processing, transportation and testing of medical marijuana across the state.

It will create California’s first statewide licensing and operating rules for pot growers, manufacturers of cannabis products and retail outlets since state voters legalized medical marijuana in 1996 with the passage of Proposition 215. That measure permitted people to consume marijuana for medicinal purposes under the guidance of a primary caregiver.

The Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act states that unless cities enact rules or bans for medical marijuana in their areas, the state will become the sole authority for licensing and regulation. That has caused cities to work to establish their own laws regarding medical marijuana cultivation and dispensation by the March 1 deadline.

On Nov. 10, Newport Beach approved the first reading of an ordinance that would prohibit growth, distribution and delivery of marijuana in the city.

The Fountain Valley ordinance would be largely similar, but council members were concerned about medical situations that require compassion.

Advertisement

“Banning it completely is a hardship for people with terminal cancers,” Councilman Mark McCurdy said. “I just don’t want to be cruel to these people.”

Resident Patrick Tucker echoed that sentiment, saying, “I have a problem with denying somebody that has cancer and their best treatment is marijuana.”

Councilman John Collins called the ordinance “reasonable … but we need to clarify some things in the second reading.”

McCurdy was the lone dissenter in the vote, arguing that the council “needs to honor Proposition 215 and honor the vote of the people.”

If the council adopts the ordinance on the second reading, it would take effect 30 days later.

Advertisement