(UPDATE:) Erik Sund (Not) to Speak on Medpot(?)

UPDATE (June 9, 10:30am): Director of Government Affairs and Strategic Inititatives Tom Modica has contacted the Long Beach Post and clarified that The Good Neighbors of North Long Beach invited Business Relations Manager Erik Sund “to speak on general issues related to Business Licensing” and that Tuesday’s breakfast meeting “will not be about medical marijuana in particular. Instead, Mr. Sund will give a general overview of the City’s Business Licensing function.”

The clarification was in response to our article yesterday (see below) quoting a Good Neighbors’ press release that states Sund “will speak about the status of the marijuana ordnance and other business issues” at the breakfast.

Modica also points out that Long Beach does have an ordinance concerning medical marijuana, referring to Municipal Code 5.89, which is City’s ban on medpot dispenaries.

The Long Beach Post has contacted Modica and requested clarification on whether Sund will speak about medicial marijuana at all.

[Original article appears below:]

On Tuesday, June 12, The Good Neighbors of North Long Beach will host a breakfast at which Business Relations Manager Erik Sund “will speak about the status of the marijuana ordnance and other business issues,” according to an event press release.

Because currently Long Beach does not have a medpot ordinance, presumably Sund, who has been at the center of much controversy regarding medical marijuana in Long Beach (such as with his presence at dispensary raids where police used what a judge labeled “strong-arm tactics […] without a warrant and without exigent circumstances”), will discuss the status of temporary ban exemption that approximately 18 collectives currently enjoy. That exemption ends in August, and shortly the city council is slated to revisit the issue to consider extending said exemption.

Members of the general public are invited to attend the breakfast, which will be held at Spires (1935 Dela Amo Blvd., LB 90805). The breakfast begins at 7 a.m., with Sund slated to speak beginning at 7:30 a.m.