Chronic City: L.A.'s Marijuana Dispensary Ban Could Cost City Millions
By Steve Elliott, Monday, Oct. 26 2009 @ 11:59AM
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Health, Law & Order
Los Angeles' proposed medical marijuana ordinance -- which would ban the sale of pot at dispensaries -- could cost the city $36 million to $74 million in lost sales tax, according to a marijuana advocacy group.
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| Photo by lavocado, Wikimedia Commons |
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No other city or county in California has regulated collectives while banning sales, according to NORML.
Under the proposed ordinance, also prominently backed by L.A. City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, only nonprofit medical marijuana collectives -- groups of qualified patients with physicians' recommendations and their primary caregivers -- would be allowed to cultivate the herb to relieve the symptoms of serious illnesses.
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| NORML.org |
| Dr. Dale Gieringer, California NORML: L.A. dispensary ban "Ill-conceived" |
In Oakland,
considered by many a statewide model for the orderly regulation of
medical marijuana dispensaries, voters recently passed, with 80
percent of the vote, a special tax on dispensary sales that is expected to
put millions of dollars into city coffers. Cities that NORML lauds as
having "successful dispensary regulations" also include San Francisco
and West Hollywood. According to the pro-pot organization, these city
governments are already collecting millions in taxes and license fees
from dispensaries.
A survey by California
NORML found the dispensaries pay an average of $82,000 in sales
tax. At this rate, some $74 million per year in sales tax would be
generated if Los Angeles has 900 dispensaries.
According
to NORML, other cities and counties that regulate dispensaries allow
them to sell to their members as nonprofit collectives as long as they
pay sales tax. NORML estimates that there are 100,000 to 200,000
medical marijuana patients in the Los Angeles area, generating between
$400 million and $800 million annually in retail sales.
Under
the proposed ordinance, which has come under heavy criticism from the
medical marijuana community, over-the-counter sales of pot would be
outlawed. The collectives would have to be at least 1,000 feet from
other collectives, schools, playgrounds, child care facilities,
religious institutions, public libraries, public parks, hospitals, and
rehab centers.
The normal committee hearing
process is being bypassed so that the L.A. city council can fast-track
the vote on the hastily written measure as soon as Nov. 3.
There are an estimated 800 to 1,000 marijuana dispensaries in
L.A. County. A judge recently ruled the city's temporary
moratorium banning new dispensaries was invalid.
NORML
said the proposed ordinance would hamper the distribution of medical
marijuana in Los Angeles by limiting collectives to a single, 100-plant
garden, meaning each dispensary could only serve a handful of members.
This would require tens of thousands of collectives and growing
operations throughout the city, the pro-pot organization said.
According to the group, nothing in state law authorizes such
limitations. Most collectives serve hundreds or thousands of members
and draw from many gardens.
NORML also objects
to a provision in the ordinance that would ban marijuana extracts and
edibles, which enable many patients to ingest the herb without smoking
it. Oral preparations are especially important for patients who want to
avoid the possible respiratory hazards of smoking.
Patient
advocates are expected to sue if the restrictive proposed ordinance is
passed, on the grounds that it would limit patients' rights to
collectively cultivate and obtain medicine, as guaranteed under
Proposition 215 and Senate Bill 420.
Last week, a Mason-Dixon poll found that 77 percent of L.A. residents favor regulating marijuana dispensaries rather than banning them.
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