Avalon City Council introduced an ordinance that outlaws medical marijuana dispensaries Tuesday, Aug. 6.
The ordinance will also ban marijuana delivery services.
The ordinance, which will have to come back to the council for a second reading and final approval, abolishes both medical marijuana outlets and mobile medical marijuana dispensaries.
According to City Attorney Scott Campbell’s staff report, California voters legalized medical marijuana in 1996. But federal law forbids making, processing or distributing marijuana.
Avalon City Council introduced an ordinance that outlaws medical marijuana dispensaries Tuesday, Aug. 6.
The ordinance will also ban marijuana delivery services.
The ordinance, which will have to come back to the council for a second reading and final approval, abolishes both medical marijuana outlets and mobile medical marijuana dispensaries.
According to City Attorney Scott Campbell’s staff report, California voters legalized medical marijuana in 1996. But federal law forbids making, processing or distributing marijuana.
The California Supreme Court recently ruled that city governments may regulate medical marijuana dispensaries.
“Avalon’s Municipal Code does not contain an express definition of ‘medical marijuana dispensaries,” Campbell’s report said. Instead, the city has prohibited them because they are not specifically allowed in any of the city’s zoning districts.
“Medical marijuana advocates have taken anarrow interpretation that the California Supreme Court’s holding merely upheld local bans on MMDs from a stationary storefront,” Campbell’s report said.
According to his report, the dispensaries process paperwork to join a dispensary to receive payments and then deliver the marijuna.
“The exact number of mobile or on or off site standalone delivering services operating in California is unclear, since the state does not keep a registry of these distributors,” Campbell’s report said.
Council Member Ralph Morrow said he would vote for the ban.
However, he pointed out that there were some people who really did need medical marijuana.
“There are people here in Avalon that have a prescription that really need it,” Morrow said.
However, anyone transporting marijuana across the channel was subject to federal law.
