TITLE
Recommendation to request City Attorney to prepare and return to the City Council for its consideration, a sensible, financially sustainable, fiscally prudent, Medical Marijuana regulatory ordinance for possible placement on the November 8, 2016 General Election ballot. Such Council initiated ordinance would be placed on the ballot only in the event a proposed Initiative Petition regarding the same subject matter qualifies for placement on the November 2016 ballot. The ordinance prepared by the City Attorney for Council consideration and placement shall be modeled upon an ordinance considered by the City Council on February 2, 2016, which contained a phased in regulatory approach to Medical Marijuana in Long Beach.
DISCUSSION
On February 18, 2016, the proponents of an initiative petition filed a notice of intent with the City Clerk to circulate a petition aimed at regulating commercial cannabis activities and marijuana businesses in the City. The petition proponents fulfilled the City and State requirements to circulate the petition and it was circulated for signature between March 11, 2016 and June 1, 2016. The City Clerk is currently undertaking the process to determine if the proponents obtained a sufficient number of valid signatures to have the item placed on the ballot for the November 8, 2016 general election. It is anticipated that the City Clerk will complete the signature validation process no later than June 27, 2016.
If it so chooses, the City Council has the ability to place a competing ballot measure on the November ballot in order for the City's voters to have options when considering the best method to regulate medical marijuana businesses in the City. In 2013, the City of Los Angeles used this approach to offer a range of alternatives for its citizens.
The initiative ordinance that was recently circulated for signatures contains the following significant provisions: It completely repeals a tax on the recreational use of marijuana tha...
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