Medical marijuana advocate Jason Thompson

Medical marijuana advocate Jason Thompson

It looks like a medical marijuana initiative may be coming to Anaheim next year.

A new city political committee was filed with the Anaheim City Clerk on June 12 called “Anaheim Safe Access,” which describes its purpose as being “to implement a plan to provide for the safe and affordable distribution of cannabis to all Anaheim patients in medical need.”

The treasurer is Jason Ryan Thompson, a Riverside-based attorney and owner of Thompson Advocacy – which counts medical marijuana dispensaries among its clientele. The principal officer is a Richard Baker of Anaheim. I’ve e-mailed and left a voice-mail for Mr. Thompson for additional information on the committee’s plans, and I’ll report back on what he tells me.Medical marijuana advocate Jason Thompson

In May of this year this California Supreme Court ruled that municipalities had the right to ban medical marijuana dispensaries. As Councilwoman Kris Murray wrote in her May e-newsletter:

This ruling is a significant victory for Anaheim, as the City has been working for years to ban dispensaries from operating within our community.  

As background, in 2007, the City adopted Ordinance No. 6067, which banned the establishment and operation of medical marijuana dispensaries in Anaheim. Soon thereafter, the City was sued in an attempt to overturn the ordinance and that litigation continues. In 2011, the City Council approved a moratorium to prevent new medical marijuana dispensaries from opening while we continued to work through the courts on the existing litigation and that moratorium expired in January of this year. This moratorium was passed in the wake of numerous dispensaries opening within Anaheim neighborhoods.

The state Supreme Court clears the way for the City of Anaheim to move ahead with a permanent ban on pot dispensaries.

My guess is formation of this “Anaheim Safe Access” political committee is the first step in qualifying a ballot initiative allowing medical marijuana dispensaries in Anaheim.

Dude!

Stay tuned.