By Matt Garland, Guest Columnist and Legal Cannabis Advocate
Recreational cannabis will be available legally Jan. 1, 2018. This past fall, we collectively voted to approve Prop. 64 and regulate commercial adult use of cannabis in California. Californians decided the marijuana industry needs to be taken out of the illicit market and regulated as a legal substance. As a strategy to address neighborhood concerns, Prop. 64 requires local licensing before applying to the state. Municipalities are given local control over the details that will most impact our communities. Zoning restrictions, business types and density, education, and enforcement decisions are largely left up to local governments.
The Los Angeles City Council is in the final stages of creating a regulatory ordinance for commercial cannabis following nearly a year long process of public meetings, town halls, working group advisory sessions and stakeholder input. The L.A. County Office of County Management is also incorporating community voices from a months long process of soliciting stakeholders input.
The county has hosted 20 community listening sessions and weekly advisory working group meetings this past summer. County staff digested these recommendations into a draft ordinance for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to consider. It is clear that our city leaders are putting community concerns at the forefront of cannabis regulations.
A motion by L.A. County Supervisors Janice Hahn and Sheila Kuehl to establish a regulatory framework for cannabis directs the county to “prioritize the protection of public safety and health as well as the quality of life in our communities. It must also include a robust public education and prevention campaign.”
City Councilman Joe Buscaino emphasized the importance of health equity in cannabis regulations in a recent amendment to the current draft of the commercial cannabis ordinance for Los Angeles. Health equity is the concept of community health and wellbeing. The motion he presented seeks to clarify and strengthen a community benefits clause in the regulatory ordinance.
Buscaino is asking that the city attorney study defining community benefits agreements as financial contributions to city controlled funds and nonprofits, neighborhood beautification, and community infrastructure projects. Buscaino wants them to be priorities for cannabis businesses to focus on as part of their community stewardship ethic.
As commercial cannabis businesses prepare for licensing and seek to locate in our communities, health equity is recognized as a guiding principle our local lawmakers are embracing. The concept of health equity, understood as the attainment of the highest level of health for all people, addresses two primary concerns of community stakeholders: Community protections rooted in guarding against exposure and youth access to cannabis; and equity in ownership and job opportunities in this newly legal industry.
The most effective tool that our lawmakers have in addressing these fundamental concerns is a robust outreach and education campaign. The city’s DARE program, a youth education program on drugs spawned during “war on drugs” of the 1980s and early 90s, needs to be replaced with a curriculum grounded in science, compassion, health and human rights. Our youth need to be provided the emotional and intellectual tools they need to make the best decisions for themselves amidst a changing social landscape around drugs and drug policy.
Community outreach is also an important tool for our local governments and the newly licensed, community stewardship oriented cannabis industry. Cannabis consumers need to be educated on neighborhood issues. Drugged driving, public consumption, addiction recovery, responsible use, personal cultivation, and health and social implications of marijuana use are some standout issues that are important to address in every neighborhood.
Cannabis use has been stigmatized for nearly a century. The industry in California has operated in the shadows of a loosely regulated medical marijuana program for two decades.
The results have been dysfunctional at best. Our communities have suffered the blight of cannabis businesses unable or unwilling to invest in our neighborhoods.
Cannabis consumers have suffered a lack of access to safe and regulated products. Our local ordinances hold promise to address these concerns with fair, equitable licensing and strong enforcement on illegal operators.
To address the current and future market for cannabis products, robust licensing must be made available to responsible businesses entrepreneurs. Strong enforcement against illicit operators must accompany licensing opportunities as a tool to safeguard against unregulated business activities and unregulated exposure in our neighborhoods.
Licensed operators are investing in our communities. These businesses are required to contribute tax dollars and engage in community outreach efforts. Ownership and living wage job opportunities are being created in the legal cannabis market. It is unreasonable to allow the illicit market to hold a market share.
Our lawmakers are invested in creating a pathway to licensing for responsible existing operators. Strong social equity provisions are being considered in addressing the concerns of small business owners and local job opportunities. This effort has to address the true size of current and future cannabis marketplace. An effective ordinance will provide enough opportunities for legal businesses to serve the market and provide for meaningful enforcement against operators that do not pursue the legal pathway.
The end of cannabis being traded on the illicit market is a major reason California voted “Yes” on Prop. 64. After 20 years of medical marijuana in our state it is apparent that cannabis can be a used responsibly and safely by consumers. It can be a useful and effective health and wellness supplement under medical supervision. Personal use, possession and cultivation have been decriminalized for almost a year in California. Commercial cannabis is set to roll out in 2018 in an effort to legitimize the cannabis industry. But until cannabis is removed from the Drug Enforcement Agency’s controlled substance drug schedule it is going to be an upstream effort. Our local lawmakers have the right intentions. Health equity for our communities is the right priority.
Education is the most important tool.