Council bans pot clinics

The right to use medical marijuana has been legal in California since Proposition 215 was passed in 1996 and later refined in the Medical Marijuana Program to include a statewide identification card system for qualified patients.

Terms of the program allow caregivers and one to three of their qualified patients to collectively or cooperatively cultivate marijuana for medical purposes. The city’s prohibition of dispensaries does not infringe on that right, Deputy City Atty. Robert Pittman said.

A staff report advised commission and council that dispensaries are not mentioned in the program and nothing in Proposition 215 or the program authorizes collectives, cooperatives or individuals to profit from the sale or distribution of marijuana or by-products.

The Planning Commission recommendation, given preliminary approval Tuesday by the council, prohibits the dispensaries or collectives in any zone in Laguna Beach and all zones are to be updated to reflect the prohibition.

Adoption of the amendments requires a second reading. The land use amendment also requires a resolution for a Local Coastal Program amendment, which will be included in the second reading.

An extension of the moratorium on applications to establish dispensaries passed unanimously on the recommendation of staff, until Oct. 2, 2010, or until the effective date of the ordinance adopting the land use regulations on establishing medical marijuana dispensaries.

The amendments will become effective Nov. 6, if the ordinance is adopted at the second reading scheduled for the Oct. 6 council meeting.