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BACKGROUND In 1996, California voters approved Prop. 215, the Compassionate Use Act. The Act allows people who need marijuana for specified medical purposes to obtain and use marijuana under limited circumstances. The Act decriminalizes marijuana possession by qualified patients and their caregivers. Nevertheless, marijuana remains a controlled substance under federal law. In 2003, the State enacted the Medical Marijuana Program. The Program established regulations regarding the issuance of identification cards to qualified patients, possession and cultivation limits, and other restrictions. State laws regulating medical marijuana have been subject to legal challenges. In 2005, the City adopted a moratorium (Ord. 1923) on medical marijuana dispensaries due to reports from other communities about armed robberies, vagrancy and diversion of medical marijuana to non-qualified persons. The moratorium was extended (Ord. 1925) until 2007 when the City adopted (Ord. 1955) Municipal Code Ch. 6.18 to prohibit the operation of medical marijuana dispensaries, while acknowledging that qualified persons may use medical marijuana in private in compliance with State law. More recently, in 2015, the State legislature adopted the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act comprised of three bills (AB 243 & 266 and SB 643) related to medical marijuana licensing, cultivation and delivery. The Act would allow for commercial cultivation and commercial delivery of medical marijuana regulated only by the State unless a local community enacts its own regulations by March 1, 2016. According to news reports', one of the bill's authors, Assemblyman Jim Wood, did not intend to set this March 1 deadline and urgency legislation will be introduced in Sacramento to correct this issue. At the time of the writing of this report, staff did not have information about such corrective State legislation. Therefore, the proposed urgency ordinance is presented to meet the March 1, 2016 deadline. Such authority for local regulations are acknowledged by AB 266, which provides: "Nothing in this chapter, or any regulations promulgated thereunder, shall be deemed to limit the authority or remedies of a city, county, ... under any provision of law, including, but not limited to, Section 7 of Article XI of the California Constitution" [authority for local ordinances and regulations]. DISCUSSION Commercial cultivation, commercial delivery and licensing of medical marijuana activities now allowed by the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act poses the same public health, safety and welfare concerns that predicated the City's original prohibition on medical marijuana dispensaries. The Police Department, citing reports from other communities that allow commercial cultivation and commercial delivery of medical marijuana, finds that such activities have created a record of armed robberies, home invasions, environmental pollution, illegal use of water and electricity, odor from the plants, as well as other negative impacts to adjacent residents and property owners. Increased availability of medical marijuana may also lead to increased diversion to non- qualified persons, such as youth in the community.2 ' Bay Area News Group, The Valley Times, Dec. 28, 2015, Rush on to Pass Laws by Karina loffee. z The Indicators of Alcohol and Other Drug Risk and Consequences for California Counties(2010) shows that marijuana is most frequently cited for youth admitted to drug treatment programs in Alameda County. Page 2 of 3