Petition to Lift Ban on Medicinal Marijuana in Costa Mesa

In 1996 California voted in on Proposition 215, also known as the Compassionate Use Act. Proposition 215 was a ballot proposition regarding medical use of marijuana. It passed with 5,382,915 (55.6%) votes in favor and 4,301,960 (44.4%) against. It allows patients with a valid doctor's recommendation, and the patient's designated Primary Caregivers, to possess and cultivate marijuana for personal medical use, and has since been expanded to protect a growing system of collective and cooperative distribution. The Act added Section 11362.5 to the California Health and Safety Code. This law has caused much conflict in the United States between states' rights advocates and those who support a stronger federal presence.

In 2009, the Obama administration through a decision by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder outlined a shift in the enforcement of federal drug laws, saying the administration would effectively end DEA raids on state-approved marijuana dispensaries.

California and 12 other states allow the cultivation, sale and use of medical marijuana.

If this is all true, why does the City of Costa Mesa still have an unenforceable city ordinance making it a crime for qualified medical marijuana patients, primary caregivers and collective members to cultivate, dispense or by any other means make available medicine which has been legal in the state of California for the past 13 years?

We, the undersigned, are concerned citizens who urge our city council and city attorney to act now and adhere to the Compassionate Use Act of 1996.