Pubdate: Thu, 20 Nov 2014
Source: Chicago Sun-Times (IL)
Copyright: 2014 Sun-Times Media, LLC
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/5QwXAJWY
Website: http://www.suntimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/81
Author: Fran Spielman
Page: 10

CITY COUNCIL SHELVES SECURITY CRACKDOWN FOR MEDICAL POT

Despite concern that medical marijuana is a "cash only" business that 
breeds crime, the City Council on Wednesday squelched - probably for 
good - a security crackdown that would have required cultivation 
centers and dispensaries to hire around-the-clock security guards and 
prevent "public viewing" of pot.

Mayoral challenger Bob Fioretti ( 2nd) and his Progressive Caucus 
colleague Ald. Scott Waguespack ( 32nd) used a parliamentary maneuver 
to put off consideration of the watered-down security ordinance until 
the next Council meeting, but the delay is likely to be permanent.

That's because Fioretti claims to have an opinion from the city's Law 
Department that says the ordinance championed by Finance Committee 
Chairman Edward Burke ( 14th) and Zoning Committee Chairman Danny 
Solis ( 25th) oversteps the city's home-rule authority.

Burke and Solis initially proposed a strict ordinance that would have 
required dispensaries and cultivation centers to load and unload 
marijuana out of sight.

They agreed to soften the ordinance - and drop the requirement for a 
secure loading area not visible to the public- amid concern that it 
would create an "undue burden" for the fledgling medical marijuana 
industry. Instead, their revised ordinance approved by the Zoning 
Committee last week without a word about the legal issues was worded 
more generally.

A copy of the legal opinion prepared for the Mayor's Office of 
Intergovernmental Affairs makes it rather clear that the advanced 
ordinance goes too far.

It concludes that state law already outlines security and 
transportation measures that marijuana dispensaries and cultivation 
centers must follow and that "no local municipality shall impose" 
restrictions beyond those terms.

"The requirements set forth in the proposed ordinance would not be in 
the city authority to enact," the opinion states.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom