Laguna might target recreational pot
Laguna Beach already bans medical marijuana dispensaries, and businesses that supply recreational pot could be next.
The Laguna Beach City Council on Tuesday will consider a proposed ordinance that would prohibit the sale, distribution and commercial cultivation of recreational marijuana, which California voters last November legalized for people 21 years and older.
Proposition 64, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, allows cities to ban all or some cannabis businesses.
The Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation is drafting licensing rules, expected to become effective next year, regarding cultivation, manufacture, distribution, transportation, laboratory testing and sale, the Daily Pilot reported in January, when the council directed city staff to craft an ordinance.
With the passage of Proposition 64, a person may grow up to six plants in a locked area inside a private residence for personal use, as long as the plants are not visible from a public place.
Laguna’s ordinance would not change that provision but would ban outdoor pot cultivation.
City officials have said allowing sales of recreational marijuana in the city could attract loitering, criminal activity and increased traffic — the same concerns raised last year regarding medical marijuana dispensaries.
Laguna voters in November rejected a ballot measure that would have lifted the city’s current ban on medical marijuana dispensaries and allowed up to two of those businesses.
Tuesday’s meeting begins at 6 p.m. at City Hall, at 505 Forest Ave.
Twitter: @AldertonBryce
