SR 06:185 - Laserfiche WebLink

Honorable Mayor and Members ofthe City Council: BACKGROUND California voters enacted "The Compassionate Use Act of 1996" (Proposition 215), which allows a person to use marijuana for medical purposes with a doctor's recommendation, without violating State law. Proposition 215 specifically de-criminalized the possession and cultivation of medical marijuana by qualified patients (which includes their caregivers). Thereafter, in 2003, the State legislature adopted the Medical Marijuana Program (MMP) pursuant to SB 420 (Vasconcellos) which implemented and clarified Prop. 215 by: (a) requiring the State Dept. of Health Services to establish a voluntary identification card program for qualified patients; (b) requiring county health departments to issue such identification cards;2 (c) authorizing the State Attorney General to establish cultivation and possession limits; and (d) authorizing the State Attorney General to establish guidelines to prevent diversion of medical marijuana for non-medical uses. The MMP also de-criminalized the sale or giving away, transportation, and maintenance of a location for sale or giving away, of medical marijuana. In addition, the MMP reserves to cities the power to enact laws consistent with the MMP laws. However, Proposition 215 is a State initiative that did not change existing Federal law. Pursuant to the Federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) marijuana is considered a controlled substance without any accepted medical uses, and therefore makes it illegal to cultivate, possess or consume under Federal law. The legal question of whether Federal law superceded Proposition 215 was decided by the United States Supreme Court in 2005 in Gonzales v. Raich. The Raich court generally held that under the Commerce Clause, the Federal government can regulate and prohibit the private growth of marijuana for personal use, even if it is authorized by State law. Based on this continuing conflict between State and Federal law, cities and counties throughout California have adopted varying approaches to medical marijuana and the related dispensaries.3 . Approximately 26 cities and counties have adopted ordinances regulating medical marijuana dispensaries within their jurisdictions. Locally, this includes the cities of Berkeley, Hayward, Martinez, Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and Alameda County. Regulations include, 2 City staff contacted the Alameda County Public Health Department and was advised that Alameda County will begin accepting applications for such identification cards in August 2006. 3 City staff did not contact each city or county to verifY the status of each ordinance, ban, or moratorium, but relied in information presented by the Contra Costa City Attorney's Assoc. in April 2006 , as well as the Americans for Safe Access website in June 2006 at: http://www.safeaccessnow.net/countyguidelines.htm SR06:185