This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Blog: 'Gentle Ban' on Pot Clinics to City Council Committee Soon

City Councilman Paul Koretz introduced a motion to have the city attorney draft an ordinance with the "gentle ban" approach. It was seconded by Councilman Herb Wesson Jr.

On Wednesday, May 9, L.A. City Council member Paul Koretz introduced a motion to have the city attorney draft an ordinance with the "gentle ban" approach to marijuana dispensaries. It was seconded by Herb Wesson. The motion notes that this would be instead of the total ban approved by the city planning commission.

Back in January, the City Attorney Carmen Trutanich and several of his lawyers called on the council to adopt the "gentle ban." Basically the city would not prosecute patients, or caregivers for growing or possessing marijuana as long as there was no third party involved, or no money changes hands--essentially, making storefront dispensaries illegal in the city of Los Angeles.

How long it will take for this to get to a full vote of the council is unknown. But a draft ordinance could be finished within the next week or two. Then it would go before the council's Public Safety Committee where there would be public comments, then off to a first reading from the City Council with more public comments. (Expect a lot of people to comment.) There would then be a second reading a vote t with no more comments to be heard.

Find out what's happening in Echo Park-Silver Lakewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

If the motion goes ahead and passes as is--based on how it was appearing back in January--dispensaries would have 30 days to shut down after passage. It could be passed in as soon as three weeks.

It is unclear whether the motion will survive the anticipated lawsuits that will undoubtedly surface. The city has already spent millions of dollars fighting lawsuits related to their efforts to regulate medical marijuana.

Find out what's happening in Echo Park-Silver Lakewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

If this goes through they will likely spend even more. The city of Long Beach has already had a dispensary ban struck down as unconstitutional. This "gental ban" may likely see the same fate.

A funny irony in this: Councilman Koretz heavily lobbied the medical cannabis community for votes in his close election back in 2009. He won 50.5 percent to Vahedi's 49.5 percent. Without their turnout, he may have lost his race for District 5.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Echo Park-Silver Lake