Sandbox: Clearing the smoke
by Damian A. Martin, Esq., M.B.A.
Over five years ago, the citizens of Redondo Beach overwhelmingly supported passage of State Proposition 64 for the legalization of cannabis for adults over the age of 21, with 65 percent of the vote. Yet in the past five years, as support for legal and regulated cannabis continues to grow, there has been no real progress to provide adults over the age of 21 in Redondo Beach reasonable access to legal, high quality and tested cannabis products. That is until the filing of The Redondo Beach Cannabis Regulation & Public Safety Measure (also the “Measure”).
The Redondo Beach Cannabis Regulation & Public Safety Measure is a citizen ballot measure being proposed by Redondo Beach resident Samuel Nicosia.
Like many of you, Samuel is a consumer of cannabis (in his case medical cannabis) who is tired of only being able to purchase legal, high quality and tested cannabis products in cities like Los Angeles and Long Beach, and tired of seeing cannabis-related tax revenue flow out of Redondo Beach.
I assisted in this process by drafting The Redondo Beach Cannabis Regulation & Public Safety Measure. I have been an attorney practicing in the cannabis industry since the beginning of its treatment as a normal, regulated industry, in 2016. I have helped shape beneficial and reasonable local cannabis policy in Southern California, and my regulatory language has become the law of the land in multiple cities, including Culver City, Pomona, and El Monte. I am also a co-founder of one of California’s most successful emerging cannabis companies, Catalyst Cannabis Co.
As supporters of the current initiative effort, we’re not hiding who we are, or what we hope to achieve. The Redondo Beach Cannabis Regulation & Public Safety Measure’s supporters include two highly successful and highly committed to the local community cannabis companies, Catalyst Cannabis Co. and Tradecraft Farms. Both Catalyst Cannabis Co. and Tradecraft Farms hope to win permits to operate cannabis retailers in Redondo Beach under the Measure. But let me tell you, the standards set by the measure will not be easy standards to meet. Indeed, the Redondo Beach Cannabis Regulation & Public Safety Measure includes the highest standards for cannabis regulations in the State, and only the best of the best cannabis businesses can receive permits under the Measure — the Measure is the gold standard in California, exactly what the citizens of Redondo Beach deserve.
To illustrate:
Under the Measure, the maximum number of cannabis retailers would be limited to three (and may not be increased by City Council); this based on the ratio of one retailer per 20,000 residents. It is designed to provide fair access without oversaturation.
Cannabis cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, and/or testing would not be permitted unless the City Council, at its discretion, established permit limits, regulations, and zoning rules for those businesses.
The Measure would prohibit the establishment of cannabis retailers within 1,000 feet of any school, or day care ,and 600 feet of youth centers, (including parks), and limit cannabis retailers to non-pedestrian-based commercial zones.
The Measure uses a stringent merit-based process to select permit winners, which provides extra points for cannabis retailers located over 1,500 feet away from schools and daycares.
The Measure requires cannabis products to be independently tested to ensure public health and safety.
Cannabis businesses would have to comply with various safety and security requirements, including but not limited to, alarm systems, 24-hour security, and 24-hour security cameras with live remote access by the Redondo Beach Police Department.
Despite all these great features, some members of the Redondo Beach City Council appear to be opposed to The Redondo Beach Cannabis Regulation & Public Safety Measure. But what exactly is there to oppose about the Measure? A reasonable number of permits? Proper and fair zoning rules? The highest standards for selecting permit winners? Extremely stringent regulations?
Obviously, there’s nothing objectionable about The Redondo Beach Cannabis Regulation & Public Safety Measure. Therefore, if you are reading this and agree, please reach out to your City Councilmember and let her, or him know that you support The Redondo Beach Cannabis Regulation & Public Safety Measure, and that you think they should support it too.
Even though the Measure is a great piece of policy, once it passes there is still a great deal of work to be done. For instance, the City Government needs to implement the Measure. Most importantly for the City Council, they can and should develop, and place on the ballot an effective tax regime for cannabis businesses. For that task, the City Council has our full support. To demonstrate, in March 2020, we helped the City of El Monte pass Measure PC, a cannabis tax to provide funding to public safety, parks, recreation, and youth programs, with over 71 percent of the vote. And in November 2020, we helped the City of Pomona pass Measure PO to protect high quality cannabis regulations similar to, but not quite as stringent as The Redondo Beach Cannabis Regulation & Public Safety Measure against watered down regulations backed by others in the cannabis industry. We look forward to achieving something similar in Redondo Beach and working with the City Council to do so. ER