6090938 Resolution 21-504, Medical Marijuana Cultivation Center Relocation Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2016

A RESOLUTION

                                                        

21-504

 

IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

 

June 7, 2016        

 

                                                                                                                                             

To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the need to amend the Legalization of Marijuana for Medical Treatment Initiative of 1999 to provide certain medical marijuana cultivation center applicants with the ability to relocate to another election ward.

 

 

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this resolution may be cited as the “Medical Marijuana Cultivation Center Relocation Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2016”.

 

Sec. 2. (a)  The Council passed the Medical Marijuana Cultivation Center Amendment Act of 2013, effective December 13, 2013 (D.C. Law 20-59; 60 DCR 15484) (“Act”), which amended the Legalization of Marijuana for Medical Treatment Initiative of 1999 to limit the number of medical marijuana cultivation centers and dispensaries that may locate in any election ward to 6.

(b) In 2015, 4 cultivation centers applied for the last available license in Ward 5, handing in their applications on the same day with the understanding that the applications would be processed, and the final registration awarded, on a first-come, first-serve basis. Instead, the Department of Health awarded the license based on other criteria.

(c) The District of Columbia Office of Administrative Hearings recently determined that the Department of Health’s process in ascertaining which cultivation center would be awarded the final registration for Ward 5 was arbitrary, capricious, or was otherwise not in accordance with the law. 

(d) Currently, applicants cannot modify the proposed cultivation center location on their applications subsequent to submission of that application. By allowing the affected applicants to modify the location listed on their pending application with the Department of Health, a new location for their cultivation center, in a different election ward, may be selected without forfeiting the “active” status of their application.

(e) This emergency legislation will permit cultivation centers applicants who were unable to secure the final license in Ward 5 due to an unclear process to change the location on their application and keep their “active” status as they continue to find a suitable location elsewhere within the District of Columbia.

 

(f) This legislation shall not result in the registration of more than 6 cultivation centers to operate within a single election ward established by the Council in section 4 of the Redistricting Procedure Act of 1981, effective March 16, 1982 (D.C. Law 4-87; D.C. Official Code § 1-1041.03).

 

Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia determines that the circumstances enumerated in section 2 constitute emergency circumstances making it necessary that the Medical Marijuana Cultivation Center Relocation Emergency Amendment Act of 2016 be adopted after a single reading.

 

Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately.