SR - ORD-10-15 - SECOND READING PROHIBITING SELLING CULTIVATING DISTRIBUTINGORDINANCE NO. 10 -15
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF ORANGE AMENDING CHAPTER 5.89 OF
THE OMC PROHIBITING THE BUSINESS OF
SELLING, CULTIVATING OR DISTRIBUTING
CANNABIS.
WHEREAS, the City of Orange has historically prohibited commercial cannabis
activity; and
WHEREAS, in 1996 California voters approved Proposition 215, the Compassionate
Use Act ( "CUA "), which provides that a patient or the patient's primary caregiver who possesses
or cultivates marijuana for the personal medical purpose of the patient upon an oral or written
recommendation from a physician may assert these facts as an affirmative defense to prosecution
under California's marijuana laws; and
WHEREAS, except as provided above, possession, distribution, cultivation and
transportation of marijuana is still a violation of state law and can be prosecuted as such; and
WHEREAS, in January 2004, the state legislature enacted the Medical Marijuana
Program (MMP) to clarify the scope of the CUA; and
WHEREAS, notwithstanding the CUA and MMP, the Federal Controlled Substances
Act classifies marijuana as a Schedule I narcotic and under federal law the manufacture,
distribution, or possession of marijuana is a criminal offense and physicians are still prohibited
from prescribing marijuana because the federal Food and Drug Administration regulates
prescription drugs; and
WHEREAS, in City of Riverside v. Inland Empire Patients Health and Wellness Center,
Inc-(2013) 56 Cal.4 729, the California Supreme Court held that nothing in the CUA or the
MMP limits the inherent authority of a local jurisdiction, by its own ordinances, to regulate the
use of its land; and
WHEREAS, Governor Brown has recently signed three (3) bills into law (AB266, AB
243 and SB 643) which, among other things, allow the City to completely prohibit commercial
medical cannabis activities.
NOW THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Orange hereby ordains as follows:
SECTION I
Chapter 5.89 of the Orange Municipal Code shall be deleted in its entirety and replaced
with a new Chapter 5.89 to read as follows:
I
ITEM: DATE OF MEETING: --