Splitting down predictable lines, on Tuesday night the Long Beach City Council voted 5-4 against extending temporary exemptions to the City of Long Beach’s ban on medical-marijuana dispensaries, meaning that the City will require all collectives to close by August 12.
Councilmember Rae Gabelich’s motion to extend the temporary ban exemptions currently enjoyed by approximately 18 collectives until the Pack decision, which last October invalidated most of the City’s regulatory ordinance permitting collectives, can be heard by the California Supreme Court, was defeated when Councilmembers Gary DeLong, Patrick O’Donnell, Gerrie Schipske, Dee Andrews (who had been the only potential swing vote), and James Johnson lined up against it, with Robert Garcia, Suja Lowenthal, and Steven Neal supporting the doomed motion.
Tuesday’s outcome was exactly that which was feared by medpot proponents when in February Garcia pushed through a ban with six-month exemptions, as opposed to Gabelich’s version offering exemptions for one year or until the final resolution of the Pack case. Those fears were made worse in June when Business Relations Manager Erik Sund claimed, and Garcia confirmed, that the intent of the exemptions was to give collectives time to “phase out.”
The council’s decision not to extend the exemptions came one day after the California Court of Appeals (2nd District) became the second appeals court since the February ban was implemented to rule that dispensary bans violate state medpot law. The Second Appellate District includes the City of Long Beach.
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