Could Oakland's Medical Marijuana Law Work In L.A.?

L.A. Weekly's latest issue hit newsstands today, featuring a longform article by Hillel Aron on the city's longstand struggle to regulate the sale of medical marijuana.

The piece, which can be read in full here, focuses on Los Angeles' inability to craft a workable marijuana ordinance while cities that acted early and decisively--like Oakland and San Francisco--have been more successful.

According to Aron's piece, more than 50 California municipalities have created medical marijuana ordinances that have never been challenged in court.

From L.A.'s Pot Prohibition Playbook

"The Oakland ordinance has never been challenged because Oakland was on the ball — they were ahead of it," says [David] Berger, [an] attorney and L.A. ban opponent.

Berger's opinion echoes comments made by councilman Ed Reyes in an interview for KCET's "Reefer Madness" special--which documented the city's failure to successfully regulate medical marijuana.

"We could have done better if we would have known about all these other factors that we didn't have any control over," Reyes said.

Reyes' fellow Northeast L.A. Councilman José Huizar is attempting to pass a ban of all medical marijuana dispensaries through the Los Angeles City Council, pending the Supreme Court's review Pack Vs. City of Long Beach.

In Pack, the Supreme Court found Long Beach's medical marijuana ordinance--which is very similar to the one currently standing in Los Angeles--unlawful, as it went beyond decriminalizing a federally banned substance.

With the city's medical marijuana laws in limbo, it's worth asking: would Oakland's ordinance work in Los Angeles?

Here's a rundown of how the law works:

• Collectives not to exceed three patient members

• Only four licensed dispensaries to be allowed by the City 

• Dispensaries limited to eight ounces and six mature plus 12 immature plants per patient member at any given time

• No on-site consumption allowed

Of course, Oakland's law is not without loopholes. As the L.A. Weekly notes, the IRS ruled in October that Oakland's Harborside Health Center owed $2.5 million in back taxes because business engaged in the sale of federally banned substances can't declare a standard tax deduction.

Still, Oakland's handling of medical marijuana laws has been more graceful than Los Angeles', and has resulted in far less legal action against the city.

With major changes undoubtedly on the horizon in Los Angeles' legal landscape, do you think the city should consider adopting an ordinance like Oakland's? If not, what kind of medical marijuana regulation should the city pursue. Tell us what kind regulations you'd like to see in Los Angeles' medical marijuana ordinance.