Pubdate: Wed, 16 Dec 2015 Source: Orange County Register, The (CA) Copyright: 2015 The Orange County Register Contact: http://www.ocregister.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/321 Author: Erika I. Ritchie RESPONDING TO STATE LAW, DANA POINT BANS MARIJUANA DANA POINT In an effort to stay ahead of more legal wranglings with pot dispensaries, cultivators or delivery services, the Dana Point City Council on Monday voted unanimously to ban all such uses in the city. The vote was in response to a new state law that requires cities to specifically prohibit cultivation by March 1 if they want to have control over it. Other Orange County cities are adopting similar ordinances. Santa Ana was scheduled to vote on a measure Tuesday night reaffirming a ban on marijuana cultivation and delivery. The Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act, which becomes effective Jan. 1, sets up a dual state and local licensing system for all commercial cannabis activities. While the law protects a city's ability to ban marijuana-related uses through permissive zoning, which means uses that aren't explicitly listed as allowed are prohibited, there are two distinct exceptions. If a city wants to regulate marijuana cultivation, it has to adopt an ordinance or other regulation by March 1 or the state becomes the sole licensing authority. To prohibit marijuana deliveries, cities must do so explicitly by local ordinance. Dana Point has adopted a permissive zoning code, which already bans marijuana dispensaries and cultivation. City officials adopted the new ordinance to address all uses related to marijuana. "We already do prohibit it, but to avoid fights with the pro-marijuana folks, who have shown in the past that they are willing to be very aggressive and take outlandish positions, we wanted to have an express ban in place before March," Dana Point City Attorney Patrick Munoz said. The new ordinance will go into effect 30 days after its second reading, which will be well before the March 1 deadline. A string of cases attempted to interpret California's medical marijuana law approved by voters in 1996 and provide guidance for cities and counties that want to limit pot shops. Their conflicting opinions were no surprise, however, considering marijuana continues to be illegal under federal law. Cities including Lake Forest, Dana Point and Laguna Niguel were successful in forcing out dispensaries before the Supreme Court ruling, but it cost them. The cities spent about $2 million over the past five years in legal fees fighting marijuana. Dana Point was among one of the first Orange County cities to get monetary penalties tacked onto lawsuits against medical-marijuana dispensaries. Santa Ana, on the other hand, is the only Orange County city to have legally operating medical marijuana dispensaries, selecting 20 operators through a lottery process. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom