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Medical Marijuana Anaheim

Anaheim Cannabis Laws

Anaheim is banning marijuana-related businesses 

May 17, 2017

Orange County’s largest city is banning commercial marijuana operations, including the cultivation, manufacturing and distribution of pot for recreational or medical use.

With recreational pot use legalized by voters in November, the City Council chose Tuesday, April 25, to get ahead of the state’s planning for how to regulate related businesses.

By early next year, officials expect the state to start issuing licenses for the commercial cultivation, transportation and purchase of recreational marijuana. City officials say the ordinance Anaheim is putting in place gives the city control of the issue, rather than deferring to yet-to-be-known state laws.

The council’s move maintains the city’s stance against marijuana collectives. The city banned medical marijuana dispensaries in 2007; a judge upheld the city’s prohibition after it was challenged in 2011 by medical-marijuana patients. The city still has about dozen medical marijuana dispensaries running illegally.

Since January, adults age 21 and over have been allowed by state law to carry up to an ounce of marijuana or 8 grams of concentrated cannabis. Residents may also grow up to six marijuana plants at their home.

The city’s ordinance, which will go into effect next month after a second ratifying vote, will also limit people to growing marijuana plants in their homes or backyards, but not in a front yard.

Anaheim cannabis laws 

The following summary of Anaheim cannabis laws is for informational purposes only. If you need legal advice, consult an attorney.

On July 23, 2013, the Anaheim City Council passed an interim urgency ordinance prohibiting the operation of mobile medical cannabis dispensaries and collectives.

CHAPTER 4.21 – MOBILE MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

4.21.010 PURPOSE AND FINDINGS.
The City Council finds that federal and state laws prohibiting the possession, sale and distribution of marijuana preclude the establishment or operation of City-sanctioned or permitted Mobile Medical Marijuana Dispensaries within the City of Anaheim. In order to promote and ensure the health, safety and welfare of the City and its residents, the declared purpose of this chapter is to prohibit Mobile Medical Marijuana Dispensaries as provided in this chapter.

4.21.020 MOBILE MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARY DEFINED.
Mobile Medical Marijuana Dispensary” means any facility, location, clinic, cooperative, collective, club, individual, business or group that transports, delivers, or arranges the transportation or delivery of, medical marijuana to a “qualified patient,” a person with an “identification card” or a “primary caregiver,” as those terms are defined in Section 4.20.020 of this Code. All other terms applicable to this Chapter 4.21 shall be defined as set forth in Chapter 4.20 of this Code, unless otherwise defined differently in this Chapter 4.21.

4.21.030 MOBILE MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES PROHIBITED.
Mobile Medical Marijuana Dispensaries are prohibited in the City of Anaheim. It shall be unlawful for any person or entity to own, manage, conduct or operate any Mobile Medical Marijuana Dispensary, or to participate as an employee, contractor, agent or volunteer, or in any other manner or capacity, in any Mobile Medical Marijuana Dispensary in the City of Anaheim.

4.21.040 MARIJUANA DELIVERY PROHIBITED.
4.21.040.010 No person shall deliver marijuana to any location within the City of Anaheim from a Mobile Medical Marijuana Dispensary, regardless of where the Mobile Medical Marijuana Dispensary is located, or engage in any action or operation in furtherance of this purpose.

4.21.040.020 No person shall deliver any marijuana-infused product, such as tinctures, baked goods or other consumable products, to any location within the City of Anaheim from a Mobile Medical Marijuana Dispensary, regardless of where the Mobile Medical Marijuana Dispensary is located, or engage in any action or operation in furtherance of this purpose.

4.21.050 PUBLIC NUISANCE DECLARED.
Operation of any Mobile Medical Marijuana Dispensary within the City of Anaheim in violation of the provisions of this chapter is hereby declared a public nuisance and may be abated by all available means.

4.21.060 USE OR ACTIVITY PROHIBITED BY STATE OR FEDERAL LAW.Nothing contained in this chapter shall be deemed to permit or authorize any use or activity which is otherwise prohibited by any state or federal law.

SECTION 2. EXISTING NONCONFORMING USES.
Any Mobile Medical Marijuana Dispensary existing or operating within the City of Anaheim on the effective date of this ordinance shall cease operations forthwith.

SECTION 3. COMPLIANCE WITH CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT.
The City Council finds that this ordinance is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) (the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment) and 15060(c)(3) (the activity is not a project as defined in Section 15378) of the CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3, because it has no potential for resulting in physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly.

SECTION 4. DECLARATION OF FACTS SUPPORTING URGENCY MEASURE; EFFECTIVE DATE.

This ordinance is adopted as an urgency measure pursuant to, and as authorized by, Section 511 of the Anaheim City Charter. The statements of fact set forth in the preamble to this ordinance are incorporated herein by this reference. Based on those facts, the City Council finds, determines and declares that the immediate preservation of the peace, health, safety and welfare of the City and its residents necessitates the enactment of this ordinance as an urgency ordinance. Accordingly, this ordinance shall become effective immediately upon adoption.

SECTION 5. SEVERABILITY.The City Council of the City of Anaheim hereby declares that should any section, paragraph, sentence or word of this ordinance hereby adopted be declared for any reason to be invalid, it is the intent of the City Council that it would have passed all other portions of this ordinance independent of the elimination herefrom of any such portion as may be declared invalid.

SECTION 6. SAVINGS CLAUSE.
Neither the adoption of this ordinance nor the repeal of any other ordinance of this City shall in any manner affect the prosecution for violations of ordinances, which violations
were committed prior to the effective date hereof, nor be construed as a waiver of any license or penalty or the penal provisions applicable to any violation thereof. The provisions of this ordinance, insofar as they are substantially the same as ordinance provisions previously adopted by the City relating to the same subject matter, shall be construed as restatements and continuations, and not as new enactments.

The urgency ban on mobile medical cannabis dispensaries was preceded by Ordinance 6067, Anaheim’s 2007 ban on storefront dispensaries. The reliance of that ordinance on federal drug laws was the subject of an important appellate court ruling. The codified portion of Ordinance 6067 appears below:

SECTION 1


That new Chapter 420 be and the same is hereby added to Title 4 of the Anaheim Municipal Code to read as follows:

Chapter 4.20 – MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

4.20.020.010 “Identification Card” is a document issued by the State Department of Health Services which identifies a person authorized to engage in the medical use of marijuana and the pserson designated primary caregiver, if any.

4.20.020.020 “Medical Marijuana” is marijuana used for medical purposes where that medical use is deemed appropriate and has been recommended by a physician who has determined that the person’s health would benefit from the use of marijuana in the treatment of cancer, anorexia,AIDS, chronic pain, spasticity, glaucoma, arthritis, migraine, or any other serious medical condition for which marijuana is deemed to provide relief as defined in subsection (h) of Health and Safety Code Sec. 11362.7.

4.20.020.030 “Medical Marijuana Dispensary” or “Dispensary” is any facility or location where medical marijuana is made available to aonrd distributed by or to three or more of the following: a qualified patient, a person with an identification card, or a primary caregiver. Each of these terms is defined herein and shall be interpreted in strict accordance with California Health and Safety Code Sections 11362.5 and 11362.7 et seq. as such sections may be amended
from time to time.

4.20.020.040 “Primary Care Giver” is the individual designated by a qualified patient or by a person with an identification card who has consistently assumed responsibility for the housing, health, or safety of that patient or person.

4.20.020.050 “Physician” is an individual who possesses arecognition in good standing to practice medicine or osteopathy issued by the Medical Board of California or the Osteopathic Medical Board of California and who has taken responsibility for an aspect of the medical care, treatment, diagnosis, counseling, or referral of a patient and who has conducted a medical examination of that patient before recording in the patient’s medical record the physician’s
assessment of whether the patient has a serious medical condition and whether the medical use of marijuana is appropriate.

4.20.020.060 “Qualified Patient” is a person who is entitled to the protections of California Health and Safety Code Section 11362.5 but who does not have an identification card issued by the State Department of Health Services.

4.20.030 MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARY PROHIBITED
It shall be unlawful for any person or entity to own manage conduct or operate any Medical Marijuana Dispensary or to participate as an employee, contractor, agent, or volunteer or in any other manner or capacity in any Medical Marijuana Dispensary in the City of Anaheim.

4.20.040 USE OR ACTIVITY PROHIBITED BY STATE OR FEDERAL LAW
Nothing contained in this chapter shall be deemed to permit or authorize any use or activity which is otherwise prohibited by any state or federal law.

SECTION 2 – EXISTING NONCONFORMING USES
Any Medical Marijuana Dispensary existing within the City of Anaheim on the effective date of this ordinance shall cease operations forthwith.

SECTION 3 – SEVERABILITY
The City Council of the City of Anaheim hereby declares that should any section, paragraph, sentence, phrase, term, or word of this ordinance be declared for any reason to be invalid, it is the intent of the City Council that it would have adopted all other portions of this ordinance independent of the elimination herefrom of any such portion as may be declared invalid.

SECTION 4 – SAVINGS CLAUSE
Neither the adoption of this ordinance nor the repeal of any other ordinance of this City shall in any manner affect the prosecution for violations of ordinances which violations were committed prior to the effective date hereof nor be construed as awaiver of any license or penalty or the penal provisions applicable to any violation thereof. The provisions of this ordinance insofar as they are substantially the same as ordinance provisions previously adopted
by the City relating to the same subject matter shall be construed as restatements and continuations and not as new enactments.

SECTION 5 – PENALTY
Except as may otherwise be expressly provided, any person who violates any provision of this ordinance is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall upon conviction thereof be punished in the manner provided in Section 1.01.370 of the Anaheim Municipal Code.