HALT ANY FURTHER ACTION UNDER CITY’S INTRINSICALLY BROKEN CANNABIS ORDINANCE: PROPOSITION D
LOS ANGELES—Southern California Coalition (SCC), the largest, most inclusive cannabis industry trade organization in Southern California, led its members, along with backers, supporters, and endorsers of Proposition M in a letter calling on the Mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti and the Los Angeles City Council to begin taking immediate steps to implement Proposition M’s framework while simultaneously halting any further actions under the City’s broken Proposition D.
The letter—authored by SCC’s President and Co-Founder Virgil Grant and Executive Director Adam Spiker—urgently requests that Mayor Garcetti, the Los Angeles City Council, and all other City Departments refrain from taking any further action against critical segments of the cannabis industry until Proposition M’s regulatory regime can be implemented, or until a temporary registration program in the interim period can be enacted.
On March 7th, 80 percent of voters in Los Angeles said “yes” to Proposition M. In addition to the mandate by Angelenos, the measure was supported by countless elected officials, civic and community leaders, groups and organizations, including Lieutenant Governor of California Gavin Christopher Newsom, Americans for Safe Access, California Growers Association, California Minority Alliance, Los Angeles Branch of the NAACP, Los Angeles County Democratic Party, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, The Los Angeles Times, The Los Angeles Daily News, The Californian, UFCW International, among a host of others [see addendum].
Below is SCC’s letter to The Honorable Mayor Eric Garcetti and the Los Angeles City Council.
March 30, 2017
Southern California Coalition
President and Co-founder Virgil Grant
Executive Director Adam Spiker
241 South Figueroa St. Suite 100
Los Angeles, CA 90012
The Honorable Mayor Eric Garcetti
200 North Spring St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Dear Mayor:
On Election Day, Angelenos overwhelmingly voted to pass the Southern California Coalition- and Los Angeles City Council-backed Proposition M, setting the stage for the world’s most comprehensive and responsible cannabis regulatory regime to lead our state and nation in sound cannabis policies and practices. This judicious framework arms you and the Los Angeles City Council with the ability to address the City’s and the cannabis industry’s issues in real time, and provides you with an opportunity to implement responsible and inclusive policies to fairly license, tax, regulate, and enforce Los Angeles’ state-legal cannabis industry.
On behalf of, and as mandated by, the 80 percent of voters in Los Angeles who said “yes” to Proposition M, we respectfully request that you and the Los Angeles City Council immediately begin working to fix the holes created by Proposition D’s limited nature, which has provided no protection for many responsible cannabis operators, dispensary owners, cultivators, delivery companies, manufacturers, and workers in our City. Specifically, we request that you, the Los Angeles City Council, the Office of the Los Angeles City Attorney, the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, and all other City Departments begin working to implement Proposition M while refraining from taking any further action against any segments of the cannabis industry until Proposition M’s comprehensive regulatory system can be implemented.
Should the request above be ignored, we fear that our painstaking efforts to create an open and transparent process could deteriorate. It would likely leave operators saddled with fears that their public participation in this process could result in their businesses being singled out or targeted, which would only force these small business owners to remain in the shadows. The City would also miss out on a meaningful opportunity to obtain invaluable and critical input from a variety of key stakeholders. This could place the City in exactly the same place it is now—with harmful policies that are ineffective at best.
Halting enforcement actions under Proposition D against operators, cultivators, delivery companies, product manufacturers, and others who fully intend to comply with Proposition M and its regulations—soon to be implemented and enacted—can be done by creating a bare-bones temporary registration program in the interim period before Proposition M regulations are implemented, which would:
1 provide the City with a clear separation between those who intend to fully comply with Proposition M and its regulations, and those operators, who do not;
2 deliver desperately needed statistics to the City regarding the true size of its cannabis industry; and
3 finally put an end to the needless criminalization of otherwise law-abiding citizens.
If we work together to implement and enact Proposition M starting now, we will be able to create a world-class regulatory regime that works on behalf of our City, while giving those who intend to comply with the new regulations a meaningful chance to participate in a legitimate, fair, and inclusive process. Our communities will have a much-needed voice in what happens in their own neighborhoods regarding zoning, store and facility locations, the number of businesses in an area, store hours, and the marketing and advertising of products. Our City Departments will also have the ability to tell good actors from bad ones, and the authority needed to enforce a responsible state-legal cannabis market in Los Angeles.
We thank you in advance for your cooperation in helping to move Proposition M forward, and for your consideration in creating a temporary registration process, and in halting enforcement during this brief, interim period. We look forward to working closely with you, the Los Angeles City Council, the Office of the Los Angeles City Attorney, the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, and other City Departments to begin fixing many of the challenges facing our communities and Los Angeles’ state-legal cannabis industry.
Respectfully,
Vigil Grant
President and Co-founder, Southern California Coalition
Adam Spiker
Executive Director, Southern California Coalition
cc:
The Honorable President of the Los Angeles City Council Herb J. Wesson, Jr.
The Honorable Los Angeles City Councilmember Gilbert Cedillo
The Honorable Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Kerkorian
The Honorable Los Angeles City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield
The Honorable Los Angeles City Councilmember David E. Ryu
The Honorable Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Koretz
The Honorable Los Angeles City Councilmember Nury Martinez
The Honorable Los Angeles City Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson
The Honorable Los Angeles City Councilmember Curren D. Price, Jr.
The Honorable Los Angeles City Councilmember Mike Bonin
The Honorable Los Angeles City Councilmember Mitchell Englander
The Honorable Los Angeles City Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell
The Honorable Los Angeles City Councilmember Jose Hussar
The Honorable Los Angeles City Councilmember Joe Buscaino
ADDENDUM
The following is a sampling of elected officials, civic and community leaders, groups and organizations, who have endorsed and/or expressed support for Proposition M:
The Honorable Lieutenant Governor of California Gavin Christopher Newsom
Alliance of San Fernando Valley Neighborhood Councils (all 34 Neighborhood Councils)
Americans for Democratic Action
Americans for Safe Access
Daniel Andalon – First Vice President of the Historic Highland Park Neighborhood Council
Donnie Anderson – Chair of the Los Angeles Branch of the NAACP
Anahuak Youth Sports Association
Sarah Armstrong – Americans for Safe Access
Avance Democratic Club
Jill Banks Barad – Founder and Chair of the Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Councils
Charlie Beck – Chief of Police for the Los Angeles Police Department
Yamileth Bolaños – Medical Marijuana Advocate
Cheryl Branch – Executive Director of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Churches
Luis Cabrales – Executive Director of Inclines Undos
The Reverend John Edward Cager, III – Paster of the historical Ward African Methodist Episcopal Church of Los Angeles
California Friends of the African-American Caucus
California Growers Association
California Minority Alliance
California Teamsters
Central Hollywood Neighborhood Council
Cultivators Alliance
Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley
Drug Policy Alliance
Father Richard Estrada – Founder of Jovenes Inc., President of the Board of Directors, Episcopal Priest at Church of the Epiphany
Dr. E. Wayne Gaddis, Sr. – President of the California Missionary Baptist State Convention
Greater Los Angeles Collective Alliance
Minnie Hadley-Hempstead – President of the Los Angeles Branch of the NAACP
Rusty Hicks – Executive Secretary-Treasurer, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO
IBEW Local 11
Craig Lally – President of the Los Angeles Police Protective League
Mary Leslie – President of the Los Angeles Business Council
Los Angeles Cannabis Task Force
Los Angeles Branch of the NAACP
Los Angeles County Democratic Party
Los Angeles County Federation of Labor
Los Angeles County Young Democrats
Los Angeles Delivery Alliance
Los Angeles UCBA Trade Association
The Honorable Steven K. Lubell, Retired, former Trial Court Commissioner of the Superior Court of the State of California
Mid-Town North Hollywood Neighborhood Council
Minority Business Alliance
Northridge South Neighborhood Council
North Valley Democratic Club
Pacoima Beautiful
Plaza Community Services-Youth Services Division
San Fernando Valley Young Democrats
Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council
David Sifuentes – Los Angeles Fire Department Captain and Former President of Los Bomberos de Los Angeles
Stonewall Democratic Club
Supernova Women
UFCW International
UFCW Local 770
UFCW Western States Council
The Californian
The Los Angeles Daily News
The Los Angeles Times
Valley Industry and Commerce Association
Weedmaps
Richard Zaldivar – Founder and Executive Director of The Wall Las Memorias Project
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