Pasadena City Council meeting on Monday, Nov. 6, 2017 (Photo – Garrett Rowlan).
Resolutions, Auld Lang Syne sentiments, parties, and football games, these are some of the reasons why many New Year’s start out on a high note, and with the passage of the recreational marijuana act—Proposition 64—last year, that high note may take on a wave of intoxication.
By Garrett Rowlan
Still, the people have spoken, and how to regulate, monitor, and otherwise make safe the circumstances surrounding the sale of marijuana, beginning next year, was the main subject of Monday night’s meeting of the Pasadena City Council.
The issue is getting an ordinance in place prior to the State law going into effect in January.
First the council members listened to a staff report breaking down the issue of management into four components. Personal cultivation (6 plants per residence will be permitted), commercial activity (delivery, warehousing), health, and taxation. Also, the current situation of pop-up businesses which are shut down and reopened raises some thorny about licensing, and who should be licensed or not and does that matter, because if the surcharge on pot gets too costly the black market that legalization is supposed to end may be back in business.
In the end, the Council voted basically to go slow—that is, keep a watchful eye on other communities and states to see what’s best and what works. One thing was certain—an amendment to limit the delivery of marijuana only for medical needs was adopted.
Hampton:
The problem
is we
don’t know!
The vote was taken after an hour of presentation and discussion within the Council, and another forty minutes of public comment, where a dozen speakers voiced varying opinions about marijuana’s legalization. As Mayor Tornek aptly noted, this is an issue that people are for until it comes to putting a business in their neighborhood. Tornek, however, also noted the historical issue of Prohibition. Marijuana dispensaries are likely to become public nuisances like liquor stores, but it is a side effect of the people’s wish.
Councilmember Tyron Hampton best summed up the situation by saying, “The problem is we don’t know.” It is hoped that keeping a watchful eye on surrounding communities—also struggling with the complications of the issue—will show a way to go.
Other news
In other news, one public speaker urged the city to abandon over time the use of fossil fuels, and another speaker described the issues of crime around the Fillmore Station on the Gold Line. A police presence will make itself known.
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