By Andrea Swayne
The Dana Point City Council voted unanimously on Monday to a first reading for adoption of an ordinance explicitly banning the sale of marijuana by dispensaries along with its cultivation in and delivery to the city.
The special meeting was set in response to the state’s new law, The Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act, set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2016, establishing a combined state and local licensing system for commercial marijuana businesses.
According to City Attorney Patrick Munoz, the special meeting was necessary in order to allow time for the required second reading and vote by City Council, 30 days after the first reading, to officially adopt the ban before the state’s March 1, 2016 deadline.
Because commercial medicinal marijuana business are not expressly permitted by the city’s zoning laws, the practice is technically considered banned in Dana Point.
But with the new state law cities wishing to enact bans on the cultivation and delivery of cannabis are required to adopt specific ordinances to do so. In cities that choose not to, state law will take precedence.
The city’s new ordinance, Munoz said, explicitly bans all commercial marijuana activities in Dana Point.
The law will not prohibit qualified medicinal marijuana patients in Dana Point from filling their prescriptions at legally operating dispensaries outside of the city but they may neither grow nor receive cannabis via delivery service.
Growing Medical Weed Is NOT a Crime, California Appeals Court Rules ! (East Bay Express -12/18/2015) “Part 11362.71 of California’s Health and Safety Code, imposes an “obligation” on local officials not to criminalize medical possession and cultivation. Sen. Mark Leno’s Medical Marijuana Program immunizes card-holding patients from criminal arrest, the court ruled.
“The Supreme Court’s clearly expressed position is exactly the opposite of the county’s view,” Judge Donald Franson wrote for the panel.”
Growing weed of any kind is not a crime 🙂
As a Dana Point resident and a person who suffers from Psoriatic Arthritis all I can say is shame on you all for making it even more difficult to obtain the medication that has benefited me the most for the past three years. Very soon marijuana will be legal for recreational use in California and most of this will be moot, however until that time I will be voting against every one of you for your lack of compassion and your lack of foresight
I am disgusted with people who think they know enough to take away everyone’s Freedoms. Shame on them for denying people the basic right to grow their own medicine. I hope this backfires on them. No compassion is bad policy.
I’m utterly disgusted that these city council members think they can prohibit medical cannabis patients from growing their own medicine. I don’t have a problem with a ban on commercial operations in the city, but to ban an individual from cultivating a few plants for personal use is going too far.
It’s interesting how cannabis is subjected to so much persecution from these small-minded halfwits, yet they most likely all partake in the consumption of alcohol – a far more dangerous drug, with much more disastrous effects / consequences.
Ask a police officer what substance is usually involved in domestic disturbances, disorderly conduct, violent altercations, obnoxious behavior, DUI-related accidents, etc, etc — it’s ALCOHOL, not cannabis.
I’m making a note of each and every person responsible for implementing this misguided ordinance, and I will be voting against every one the next chance I get. I’m sure that I’m not the only one, either. These idiots in the city council don’t represent me, nor do they represent the majority of the population, who view cannabis as a safer alternative to alcohol – not a threat.
If the city council members wish to strip us of our personal freedoms, I want to strip them of their jobs.
I agree. I have been a resident for 22 years. I know that the cultivation of cannabis is not a problem. These people don’t realize that others rely on this medicinal plant. Growing your own is the most cost effective and safest way to procure one’s medicine. Together let’s vote these ignorant politicians out of office. They ruined the town and now they outlawed the cultivation of a natural herb with healing power.
There is always someone sticking their nose into other peoples business. I do not believe marijuana is a problem, the only problem is the current laws.