Pubdate: Wed, 22 May 2013
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2013 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: Kate Linthicum

MEDICAL POT SHOPS MAY FACE LIMITS

Proposition D, Which Would Cut the Number of Dispensaries to About 
130, Was Leading.

After years of futile attempts by lawmakers to regulate the medical 
marijuana industry in Los Angeles, a ballot measure to sharply limit 
the number of pot dispensaries in the city was leading in early 
returns Tuesday.

Proposition D would reduce the number of pot shops to about 130 from 
around 700 by allowing only those that opened before the adoption of 
a failed 2007 city moratorium on new dispensaries. A rival 
initiative, Measure F, which would have allowed an unlimited number 
of dispensaries to operate, was trailing. Both measures would raise 
taxes on medical marijuana sales 20%.

Yami Bolanos, a Proposition D supporter who opened PureLife 
Alternative Wellness Center in 2006, cried with happiness as the 
first election results came in.

"Voters had the heart to stand up for the patients like the City 
Council never did," Bolanos said.

Measure F, which called for additional regulations on dispensaries 
such as city audits and tests of cannabis for toxins, was pushed by a 
coalition of shops that opened after the 2007 moratorium. They said 
they weren't ready to give up.

David Welch, an attorney who supported that measure, said he was 
prepared to sue if Proposition D was declared the winner. He said the 
proposition was unconstitutional because it favored dispensaries that 
opened before 2007.

He also predicted that Proposition D would be difficult to enforce, 
saying that many shops that opened after 2007 probably would continue 
to operate until the city ordered them closed.

"What I've learned is that there is no end," Welch said of the pot 
battles in Los Angeles.

The contentious campaign over how to regulate pot shops divided the 
city's dispensaries, employees, customers and officials. Measure F 
supporters warned that Proposition D would create a monopoly for 
older shops and allow the rise of "pot superstores."

Backers of Proposition D, which included a coalition of older shops 
as well as a labor union that has organized workers at many of them, 
cautioned that Measure F could lead to thousands of new dispensaries.

A third measure, Initiative Ordinance E, would have permitted only 
the older shops to remain open but without raising taxes. It was put 
on the ballot by the coalition of older shops and the dispensary 
employees union, but that coalition shifted its support to the 
council-backed Proposition D.

The stakes were raised this month when the California Supreme Court 
upheld the right of cities to ban dispensaries. Supporters of both 
initiatives warned that if voters failed to pass one of the ballot 
measures, the city would be left with no law regulating medical 
marijuana and might be tempted to enact a total ban.

The City Council attempted a ban last year, voting 14 to 0 to outlaw 
over-thecounter sales of marijuana while allowing small groups of 
patients to grow the drug for their own use. It reversed the action 
after the coalition of older dispensaries and union workers qualified 
a measure for the ballot that would have repealed the ban.

At least one council member, Jose Huizar, has spoken of revisiting 
the ban now that cities have been given the authority to outlaw dispensaries.

L.A. has struggled for years to regulate dispensaries, in large part 
because of contradictory court rulings. The city is battling more 
than 60 lawsuits over its earlier attempts at regulation.

Los Angeles voters have generally supported the availability of 
medical marijuana. In 1996, California became the first state to 
legalize medicinal use of pot, although subsequent state laws failed 
to make explicit how the drug should be distributed. In 2011, L.A. 
voters approved a ballot measure to tax sales.

Still, a USC Price/Los Angeles Times poll conducted this month found 
strong support for more regulation of pot shops, with 61% of 
respondents saying they felt the city should regulate dispensaries 
more than it currently does. In contrast, 13% said the city should 
regulate less, and 19% said regulation should not change.

The poll also found that 54% of voters supported a 20% tax increase 
on medical marijuana sales and 33% opposed it.

Many voters confessed to confusion over the differences among the 
ballot measures. "The pot stuff was hard," said Sue Maberry, 64, of 
Silver Lake. She voted yes on Measure F because she believed 
Proposition D would create a monopoly.

Early returns also suggested voters favored a measure aimed at 
overturning Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, the 
Supreme Court ruling that corporations and unions have a 1st 
Amendment right to spend their money to influence voters.

The measure would "instruct" members of Congress from the Los Angeles 
area to support a constitutional amendment to change the law, 
although the lawmakers would not be bound by it.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom