Pubdate: Wed, 06 Jul 2016
Source: Orange County Register, The (CA)
Copyright: 2016 The Orange County Register
Contact:  http://www.ocregister.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/321
Author: Erika I. Ritchie

LAGUNA BEACH TO COUNTER VOTER INITIATIVE ON MEDICAL POT

LAGUNA BEACH - City officials will draft a medical marijuana ballot 
meas ure as an alternative to a citizen-backed initiative pushing for 
two dispensaries in the city.

The measure, considered a way for the city to keep local control, 
could include allowing one dispensary under certain circumstances, 
with the operator being vetted by the city's Planning Commission, 
City Manager John Pietig said.

City officials said they are hopeful that by providing an 
alternative, voters may see no need to support the citizen-backed 
initiative. Voters also can choose to keep the city's ban on 
dispensaries in place by voting no on both measures.

At last week's meeting, the City Council voted 4-0 to direct Laguna 
Beach police Chief Laura Farinella to return to the July 26 meeting 
with a ballot measure to counter the initiative sponsored by Laguna 
Beach residents Elizabeth Toomey and her nephew, Corey Aufhammer.

The initiative would repeal the city's ban on dispensaries and make 
access to medical marijuana easier for residents who have a legal 
right to use it.

The owners, operators and employees of two dispensaries would be 
vetted through background checks and other security measures, said 
Debbie Tharp, who with Toomey and Aufhammer collected 2,414 
signatures to qualify the initiative for the November ballot.

The dispensaries would be licensed to operate in industrial or 
commercial areas and would be required to stay 1,000 feet from 
schools. The only locations that could allow this would be along 
Laguna Canyon Road or on Coast Highway.

The City Council vote followed a proposal by Farinella to provide 
voters education about the citizen-backed initiative instead of 
creating a competing ballot measure. Farinella said she thought a 
city ballot measure might be confusing for the voters, adding another 
piece of legislation to an already packed ballot.

"The worst case for me is if the citizen-backed initiative moves 
forward," Farinella said.

The council passed on the education effort and pushed for its own 
ballot measure partly because of news from a recent survey that 
showed residents were split - 49 percent for and 45 percent against - 
when asked if they would support a dispensary in town.

In addition, a consultant who conducted the survey told the council 
that the presidential election will likely bring out more younger voters.

News that a measure to legalize marijuana for recreational use in 
California had made it on the ballot also led to the council's 
decision, Pietig said.

The council decided that its measure should include a provision to 
make changes to the ordinance, if it is adopted. Those changes could 
be made without voter approval.

The city has until Aug. 12 to submit a measure to qualify for the ballot.

"The only choice we have to defeat this thing is to have our own," 
Mayor Pro Tem Toni Iseman said. "Look at the lines at Urth Caffe. Can 
you imagine the lines and parking issues we would have?"

Many who spoke during public comments agreed that a competing measure 
was the best option.

Resident Matt Lawson suggested a measure that would support the 
continued ban on dispensaries.

"We're dealing with people who are trying to promote the sale of a 
Schedule 1 narcotic," he said. "We do not need drug tourism here in 
Laguna Beach."

Billy Fried, who operates La Vida Laguna, an outdoor recreation 
company, told the council that marijuana is medicine and offers help 
for many people fighting cancer, pain, seizures and PTSD.

"We run a terrible mistake of not having a competing measure," he 
said. "We don't know anything about these people (the citizen-backed 
initiative.)"
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom