City of South Lake Tahoe looks at temporary ban of marijuana sales

There is no need to rush into an ordinance regulating the sale of marijuana in South Lake Tahoe. That was the overwhelming opinion of the SLT City Council Tuesday night after a special, four-hour long Cannabis Workshop.

"We owe it to our community to make sure we take every measure to protect them," said SLT Mayor Austin Sass.

An overflowing crowd attended the workshop which was held to discuss what a future ordinance concerning the sale of marijuana would look like in the city. People from all sides of the spectrum from doctors to out-of-town pot growers gave their views on what those rules should be.

After voters approved Proposition 64 in November, 2016, communities around the state have been grappling with their own ordinances as the State of California prepares for the sale and taxation of recreation marijuana starting January 1, 2018.

If a jurisdiction does not have their own rules in place by that date the State will dictate who can have a license to operate in a municipality.

Questions were prepared and presented by Mayor Austin Sass to the public so they could give Council their opinion:

Should the City Council direct staff to circulate a survey?
Should the City allow retail sales?
Does the Council wish to distinguish between medical and adult use cannabis? Don’t have to allow either.
Should they limit the number of retailers in SLT?
Should they allow sales on in certain locations? Should they be forbidden near schools, day care centers and youth centers?
Should the City impose additional restrictions as long as they don’t impede on what is allowed by state law?
Should there be commercial cultivation?
Should there be delivery services without a storefront?
Should they allow testing laboratories?
Should there be manufacturing licenses since one method uses a volatile substance and the other is a non-volatile solvent?
Should they allow people to hold more than one license?
What process to utilize in giving licenses, a lottery, pre-qualification with subjective review? A combination of these?
Should there be qualifications for cannabis business owners and managers, such as no prior felonies and requirement of a live scan?
If sales are allowed, who should approve the licenses> What would be the appeal process?
Will there be a tax measure?

Sass didn't get all the input from the audience he was looking for, as he asked for what the ordinance should look like.

"The way to approach this is similar to other areas," said Sass. "Have a Council subcommittee that meets with stakeholders on both sides of the fence, legal and law enforcement, and come up with an ordinance on each area of licenses (sales, testing, production, etc)."

All of the councilmembers said they are in favor of a 45-day temporary ban on sales until the ordinance can be worked out. The ban can be renewed up to 10 months and 15 days (per government code) and would become effective the day the council approves it.

Current medical marijuana sales in South Lake Tahoe will not be affected.

Assistant City Attorney Nira Doherty started off the workshop with an overview of what the City could do in relation to the sale and taxation of marijuana, then wrapped up the evening with an explanation of a timeline for the City should they go with a 10 month 15 day extension of the temporary ban.

Doherty also serves as the Assistant City Attorney for the cities of St. Helena and Pacifica, and will be on board for SLT through the process after the current City Attorney Tom Watson leaves for a new position in Tracy, Calif.

She said the City needs some sort of regulation, or ban, in place by January 1, 2018. The State will not issue licenses if the issuance would violate a local ordinance.

There are six types of licenses that will be available: Cultivation, manufacturing, testing, retailer, distributor and microbusiness.

During the renewal of the ban, it would take the whole 10 months to work through the process of regulations and approvals said Doherty. If there are area plan changes (zoning restrictions for sales), then TRPA needs to be involved, and if the City wants to add taxes to the sales, then an election would have to be held.

“Its very important, and if we’re going to do it, lets get ahead of it and do it right," said Councilwoman Brooke Lane. "Implement a temporary ban on recreational sales so we have time to look into it, wait for State to lay out their foundation."

"We can do something good for this community going forward,” said Lane.

"Go slow, do it right, and learn from other's mistakes," said Councilman Tom Davis of creating an ordinance. "We need to take a balanced, proactive approach to this and do the best job we can to make sure we have the best ordinance on the books. It needs to have strong standards, reportability, testing and quality controls."

A few doctors from Barton Health spoke, all sporting a badge that said "Not Here Now." Dr. Lance Orr, Emergency Services Director for Barton, said sales of marijuana was counter to the healthy lifestyle branding South Lake Tahoe was after. He said he was concerned about youth experiencing anxiety and psychosis from the THC in marijuana and asked the Council to think about the impacts the sales of the drug would have on the health of the community.

"With increasing recreational use we are normalizing cannabis, and marijuana use shouldn’t be normal," said pediatrician Dr. Rhonda Sneeringer. She asked for help to educate and protect the youth should sales be allowed. Psychiatrist Dr. Tracy Prottell said there are great reports on the negative aspects of marijuana use but she is still looking for the positive ones. She said she sees many patients who don't realize the impacts of THC on brain development and IQ resulting in mental disorders and cannabis psychosis.

Parent Christy Wilson asked the Council to develop a "smart cannabis policy."

As a community we must take control of our local ordinance. or someone else will," said Wilson. "Everything that is sold must be tested, every product must be controlled and have stringent guidelines."

"Take control of the policy now," said parent, and lawyer, Jenny Peterson. "We don’t want others defining the policy. We want protection for the community. Define smart cannabis policy. Choose local operators, ones that invest in drug educations and who have a level of community dedication."

"We can do this the right way, if we don’t, it’s a pusher market," said South Shore resident Robert Fehskens. "Its been a great exchange tonight." He related to a couple of dispensaries he visited and how they were very different. One was "scary," had bouncers, loud music and dark, and how another was high end, professional and responsible. He said that education is what is needed.

Cody Bass, owner of the Tahoe Wellness Cooperative, said the sales of marijuana in the City would be an economic stimulus but care needed to be given in creation of an ordinance, one that would prevent conglomerates from moving in to run sales.

The affect of legal marijuana sales on youth in South Lake Tahoe was a major concern expressed during the workshop.

Kelsey Magoon, Coordinator of the South Lake Tahoe Drug Fee Coalition, said
32 percent of students at South Tahoe High and South Tahoe Middle School already believe there is no risk to using marijuana, and 57 percent believe its easy to get pot in town (according to the 2015-16 Healthy Kids Survey).

She urged a moratorium on sales and not be an experiment for the rest of the state.

"I urge the City to consider all sides of this issue before considering sales," said Magoon. "I'm worried about the impacts on our small community. Teens in Colorado and Washington think if marijuana is sold in stores, then its okay and perception of harm is gone."

"I will not support marijuana,"aid SLT Police Chief Brian Uhler. I will not flip flop on this topic, the risks to the community remain the same as they did in December (when he last presented Prop. 64 issues to the Council)."

Uhler said his police force sees the effect of marijuana on families and children in the City daily. The City would be left holding the bag of abuse without getting funds to help," said Uhler. "It is a mismatch of the recreational, family friendly destination with new marijuana laws. Let the experiment play out elsewhere and learn."

Bass offered his services to be on the City's committee to work out an ordinance, as did several others.

"I want to protect our youth, whatever decision I make I want to protect the youth first," said Mayor Pro Tem Wendy David. "Lets take this cautiously and have the very best solution for our community."

"I don’t think a temporary ban reduces access," said Councilman Jason Collin. "I am in favor of taking time to figure out what is the best choice for the community."

The participants were thanked and congratulated for having a respectful conservation, for being honest and solution oriented, something that isn't always the case during public workshops on volatile issues in the City.

Next steps will be for the issue to come back to the City Council at a near future meeting, take a vote on a temporary ban on sales, then work through the process with community stakeholders on what the ordinance will look like by the end of 2018.