REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Introduce an Ordinance Amending Sunnyvale Municipal Code Chapter 9.86 and Title 19 to Expressly Prohibit Medical Marijuana Cultivation, Commercial Activity, Distribution, and Delivery; Exempt from CEQA Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections 15060(c)(2) and 15061(b)(3)
Report
BACKGROUND
In 1996, California voters approved Proposition 215, the "Compassionate Use Act of 1996" ("CUA") to allow seriously ill Californians to legally possess, use and cultivate marijuana for medical use under state law. In 2003, the Legislature adopted SB 420, the "Medical Marijuana Program ("MMP") to allow qualified patients and their primary caregivers to cultivate medical marijuana without being subject to criminal prosecution.
Neither the CUA nor the MMP require local governments to allow or otherwise authorize facilities that cultivate marijuana within their jurisdictions. Under the Federal Controlled Substances Act, the use, possession, and cultivation of marijuana remain unlawful and are subject to federal prosecution without regard to medical needs.
In October 2015, Governor Brown signed into law three bills (AB 243, AB 266, and SB 643) collectively referred to as the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act ("MMRSA"). The MMRSA establishes licensing requirements for cultivation, distribution and transportation of medical marijuana, along with safety and testing requirements for marijuana and marijuana products, and regulations for physicians who recommend or prescribe the drug. The MMRSA expressly preserves local rights to regulate or ban medical marijuana through the exercise of local land use powers, but requires that local agencies wishing to regulate cultivation and delivery of medical marijuana have local ordinances in place.1
Municipal Code Chapter 9.86 has explicitly prohibited fixed and mobile medical marijuana dispensaries (called "medical marijuana distribution facilities") since 2010, and those distribution faciliti...
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