BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 2650
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          ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
          AB 2650 (Buchanan)
          As Amended  May 28, 2010
          Majority vote 

           PUBLIC SAFETY       4-2         APPROPRIATIONS      12-5        
           
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Ayes:|Hagman, Gilmore, Hill,    |Ayes:|Fuentes, Ammiano,         |
          |     |Portantino                |     |Bradford,                 |
          |     |                          |     |Charles Calderon, Coto,   |
          |     |                          |     |Davis,                    |
          |     |                          |     |Monning, Ruskin, Skinner, |
          |     |                          |     |Solorio, Torlakson,       |
          |     |                          |     |Torrico                   |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
          |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
          |Nays:|Ammiano, Beall            |Nays:|Conway, Harkey, Miller,   |
          |     |                          |     |Nielsen, Norby            |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
           SUMMARY  :  Prohibits any medical marijuana cooperative,  
          collective, dispensary, operator, establishment, or provider who  
          possess, cultivates, or distributes medical marijuana, as  
          specified, from being located within 600 feet of a school,  
          public or private, k-12.  Specifically,  this bill  :   

          1)States that the 600-foot restriction shall be the horizontal  
            distance measured in a straight line from the property line of  
            the school to the closest property line of that lot on which  
            the medical marijuana cooperative or dispensary is located  
            without regard to intervening structures. 

          2)Provides that the 600-foot restriction shall not apply to  
            medical marijuana cooperatives or dispensaries, as specified  
            that are also licensed residential medical or elder care  
            facilities. 

          3)Provides that this restriction shall apply to medical  
            marijuana cooperatives, collective, dispensary, operator,  
            establishment or providers that are authorized by law to  
            possess, cultivate or distribute medical marijuana and that  
            has a storefront or mobile retail outlet which is ordinarily  
            requires a business license. 








                                                                  AB 2650
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          4)States that nothing in this restriction shall preempt local  
            ordinances, adopted prior to January 1, 2011, that regulate  
            the location or establishment of a medical marijuana  
            cooperative, collective, dispensary, operator, establishment  
            of provider. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Assembly Appropriations  
          Committee, unknown, significant General Fund costs, well into  
          the hundreds of thousands of dollars, to the Department of  
          Justice (DOJ), to defend the state against imminent litigation.   
          Based on the current experience in L.A. (see comment 2), where  
          several suits were filed within weeks of the signing of a  
          related ordinance, preliminary indications from DOJ concur with  
          this assessment.  

           COMMENTS  :  According to the author, "January 2010, the Los  
          Angeles City Council passed an ordinance to regulate the  
          collective cultivation of the medical marijuana in order to  
          ensure the health, safety and welfare of the residents of the  
          City of Los Angeles.  Several cities in our district, including  
          Danville, Walnut Creek and Isleton, have recently passed  
          ordinances to move, restrict or ban marijuana dispensaries  
          within their city limits.  As Medical Marijuana Dispensaries are  
          increasing throughout the state, more and more are opening  
          closer to our schools.  Currently, there is no guidance as the  
          most appropriate locations for these dispensaries to open.  As a  
          result, we have cases of dispensaries opening up close to  
          schools and other places where children congregate.  As Medical  
          Marijuana Dispensaries continue to open throughout the state,  
          they are increasingly located near schools and parks, public  
          libraries and child care facilities.  To keep Medical Marijuana  
          Dispensaries from further encroaching from places where children  
          and families congregate, we believe we need to keep them a  
          measured distance from these locations."

          Please see the policy committee for a full discussion of this  
          bill.
           

          Analysis Prepared by  :    Kimberly Horiuchi / PUB. S. / (916)  
          319-3744 










                                                                  AB 2650
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                                                                FN: 0004648