VIDEOS: City Council Amends Medical Marijuana Ordinance

It was the start of a new year for the city council of Grand Terrace with an agenda full of new items to cover during the Jan. 12, 2016 meeting. People trickled in, settled down and found their seats; silence quickly fell over the chamber in anticipation of one specific item. On the docket was a particular ordinance that has peaked special interest in the area. An ordinance to amend the Grand Terrace municipal code by adding chapter 5.90 to title 5 prohibiting the issuance of a business license for medical marijuana dispensaries and re-chaptering an amendment of chapter 9.28 of title 9 to newly created chapter 18.91 of title 18 to preserve local authority to regulate and prohibit medical marijuana dispensaries and cultivation. The meeting began with pleasantries, city council's greetings, and well wishes for the new year. Items where checked off one by one down the list until the council reached the issue concerning medical marijuana. The city's attorney addressed the room covering what the ordinance entails along with any issues and concerns. “The primary reason for the presentation of this ordinance was so that the city can maintain control of this area without ceding it to the state,” said Ivy Tsai, attorney for the City of Grand Terrace. According to the Agenda Report for the Jan. 12 meeting, the cities in the state of California have the authority to write, and enforce local laws as long as they do not conflict with state or federal laws. Health and safety is the primary concern facing the city. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not established regulations for the cultivation of cannabis crops intended for human consumption. Some cultivators use pesticides, insecticide, fungicide, and rodenticide that can run off into neighboring properties, and or leach into the groundwater, said the report. The report also mentioned that the EPA has yet to establish appropriate tolerances, and or permitted regulation, registration, and lawful use of these substances on cannabis crops. The ordinance will give the city the framework to regulate, and control medical marijuana while the federal government, and the state of California write new regulations. The report continued, the smell from medical marijuana dispensaries has been known to be pungent. Crime in other cities has been reported related to medical marijuana dispensaries such as theft, and violence resulting from owners defending their property. Attorney Ivy Tsai went on to advise the city council, “If you don’t have local control, your hands will be tied in the future and that’s where this is primarily coming from.” As noted in the council meeting's Agenda Report, “California is attempting to create a new statewide framework to regulate medical marijuana cultivation, sale, and use (see AB 243 (Wood), AB 266 (Bonta, Cooley, Jones-Sawyer, Lackey, and Wood), and SB 643 (McGuire)). These efforts are partially an acknowledgment of the confusion and lack of uniform regulation created in the wake of Proposition 215 (1996), which enacted the Compassionate Use Act, and passage of the Medical Marijuana Program Act of 2003. All three of these bills have been passed by the Legislature and were signed by Governor Brown on Oct. 9, 2015. Their passage significantly affects the City’s regulation of this subject." "If a city.. does not have land use regulations or ordinances regulating or prohibiting the cultivation of marijuana, either expressly or otherwise under principles of permissive zoning, or chooses not to administer a conditional permit program pursuant to this section, then commencing March 1, 2016, the [State Department of Food and Agriculture] shall be the sole licensing authority for medical marijuana cultivation applicants in that city.. (Health & Safety Code § 11362.777(c)(4).)” according to the report. After the attorney covered the issues concerning medical marijuana, the forum opened to the public. In total, three residents voiced their perspectives. Grand Terrace resident Patsy Taylor made her way to the podium with some assistance. She addressed the council. “My name is Patsy Taylor, Grand Terrace. I have MS, I have had MS since the 1980s. There is no cure for MS. I don’t want to end up in a wheel chair. I eat right, I exercise. I use medical marijuana to help me cope with this life threatening disease. I have it delivered to my home. Please don’t take my medicine away from me.” She slowly made her way back to her seat as Judy Harrison rose and approached the podium with the use of her cane. “I’m Judy, and I’ve lived in Grand Terrace for ten years. I have brain cancer. I’ve been fighting it for about 6 or 7 years. As of today, my doctor did not think I would live this long with the other crises of cancer. I don’t know what’s in store for me tomorrow if all these laws pass. I do know my medical marijuana has helped me survive long enough so I can stand here and talk to you. It’s still very overwhelming for me. As you know, my medicine has helped me insanely; having helped me with the disease and not getting depressed. The treatments they force, is what I have to endure. If you take away my medicine.. that will be the death for me. Because I don’t have my medicine. It will have a death sentence on me. Thank you.” It was Jeff McConnell who addressed the council next, identifying himself as Patsy’s caregiver, and not a medical marijuana patient himself. “This is going to be an ongoing issue. It will come back before us again, I’m sure. But I told Planning Commission on this I’m just hoping that we don’t have to end up in a lawsuit. Especially a lawsuit we can’t afford.” According to the Feb. 20, 2003 Legislative Counsel’s Digest, the three residents fall under what is called the Compassionate Use act of 1996, which “prohibits any physician from being punished, or denied any right or privilege, for having recommended marijuana to a patient for medical purposes. The act prohibits the provisions of law making unlawful the possession or cultivation of marijuana from applying to a patient, or to a patient's primary caregiver, who possesses or cultivates marijuana for the personal medical purposes of the patient upon the written or oral recommendation or approval of a physician.” The only residents to speak that night were against the city amended ordinance. No one in opposition of medical marijuana spoke that night. After taking into consideration the comments made during the public forum, the city council motioned to put the item up for a vote. The ordinance passed overwhelmingly. A conversation took place in the chambers of city hall that night. One of which only poses more questions as time continues. On one hand the city has an obligation to keep its city, and constituents safe from harm. On the other, regulating something that has never been done before raises opposition. We stand on the frontier of an evolving multifaceted conversation that involves many people. As the city, the state, and the federal government continue to consider all sides of this issue, let us remember: a conversation is happening.