The purpose of this Chapter is:
(a)
To
de-prioritize law enforcement of marijuana offenses where the marijuana
is intended for adult personal use — specifically, to make investigations,
citations, arrests, property seizures, and prosecutions for those
offenses the City of Santa Monica's lowest law enforcement priority;
and
(b)
To
transmit notification of the enactment of this initiative to State
and Federal elected officials who represent the City of Santa Monica.
(Added by Ord. No. 2215CCS, adopted 11/7/06)
This Chapter shall be known as the "Lowest Law Enforcement Priority
Policy Ordinance."
(Added by Ord. No. 2215CCS, adopted 11/7/06)
(a)
Current
marijuana policies needlessly harm medical marijuana patients.
(b)
The
Federal Government's war on drugs has failed.
(c)
Santa
Monica should determine its marijuana policies locally, not hand them
over to the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration.
(d)
Otherwise
law-abiding adults are being arrested and imprisoned for nonviolent
marijuana offenses, which is clogging courts and jails in California.
(e)
Each
year, California spends more than one hundred fifty million dollars
of taxpayer money enforcing marijuana laws.
(f)
Law
enforcement resources would be better spent fighting serious and violent
crimes.
(g)
Decades
of arresting millions of marijuana users have failed to control marijuana
use or reduce its availability.
(Added by Ord. No. 2215CCS, adopted 11/7/06)
For the purposes of this Chapter, the following words and phrases
shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this Section:
means an individual who is twenty-one years of age or older.
means a member of the Santa Monica Police Department or any
other City agency or department that engages in law enforcement activity.
means a priority such that all law enforcement activities
related to all offenses other than adult, personal-use marijuana offenses
shall be a higher priority than all law enforcement activities related
to marijuana offenses, where the marijuana was intended for adult
personal use, other than the exceptions designated in this Chapter.
means all parts of the cannabis plant, whether growing or
not; the seeds thereof; the resin extracted from any part of the plant;
and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation
of the plant, its seeds, or its resin.
(Added by Ord. No. 2215CCS, adopted 11/7/06)
(a)
Santa
Monica law enforcement officers shall make law enforcement activity
relating to marijuana offenses, where the marijuana was intended for
adult personal use, their lowest law enforcement priority. Law enforcement
activities relating to marijuana offenses include, but are not limited
to, investigation, citation, arrest, seizure of property, or providing
assistance to the prosecution of adult marijuana offenses.
(b)
This
lowest law enforcement priority policy shall not apply to use of marijuana
on public property or driving under the influence.
(c)
This
lowest law enforcement priority policy shall apply to cooperating
with State or Federal agents to arrest, cite, investigate, prosecute,
or seize property from adults for marijuana offenses included in the
lowest law enforcement priority policy.
(d)
Santa
Monica law enforcement officers shall not accept or renew formal deputization
or commissioning by a Federal law enforcement agency if such deputization
or commissioning will include investigating, citing, arresting, or
seizing property from adults for marijuana offenses included in the
lowest law enforcement priority policy.
(e)
Santa
Monica shall not accept any Federal funding that would be used to
investigate, cite, arrest, prosecute, or seize property from adults
for marijuana offenses included in the lowest law enforcement priority
policy. This shall not prevent Santa Monica from receiving any Federal
funding not used for purposes contrary to this Chapter.
(Added by Ord. No. 2215CCS, adopted 11/7/06)
(a)
The
Santa Monica City Council shall ensure the timely implementation of
this Chapter by:
(1)
Designing, with consultation with the Santa Monica Police Department,
a supplemental report form for Santa Monica law enforcement officers
to use to report all adult marijuana arrests, citations, and property
seizures and all instances of officers assisting in State or Federal
arrests, citations, and property seizures for any adult marijuana
offenses. The supplemental report form shall be designed with the
goal of allowing the City Council to ascertain whether the lowest
law enforcement priority policy was followed;
(2)
Receiving grievances from individuals who believe they were subjected
to law enforcement activity contrary to the lowest law enforcement
priority policy;
(3)
Requesting additional information from any Santa Monica law enforcement
officer who engaged in law enforcement activity relating to one or
more marijuana offenses under circumstances which appear to violate
the lowest law enforcement priority policy. An officer's decision
not to provide additional information shall not be grounds for discipline;
and
(4)
Reporting semiannually on the implementation of this Chapter, with
the first report being issued nine months after the enactment of the
ordinance codified in this Chapter. These reports shall include but
not necessarily be limited to: the number of all arrests, citations,
property seizures, and prosecutions for marijuana offenses in Santa
Monica; the breakdown of all marijuana arrests and citations by race,
age, specific charge, and classification as infraction, misdemeanor,
or felony; any instances of law enforcement activity that the City
Council believes violated the lowest law enforcement priority policy;
and the estimated time and money spent by the City on law enforcement
and punishment for adult marijuana offenses. These reports shall be
made with the cooperation of the Los Angeles County District Attorney's
Office, the Santa Monica Police Department, and any other Santa Monica
law enforcement agencies in providing needed data.
(b)
Santa
Monica law enforcement officers shall submit to the City Council a
supplemental report within seven calendar days after each adult marijuana
arrest, citation, or property seizure or instance of assisting in
a State or Federal arrest, citation, or property seizure for any adult
marijuana offense in Santa Monica.
(Added by Ord. No. 2215CCS, adopted 11/7/06)
Beginning three months after the enactment of this Chapter,
the City Clerk shall execute a mandatory and ministerial duty of sending
letters on an annual basis to Santa Monica voters' U.S. representative
or representatives, both of California's U.S. senators, Santa Monica
voters' senators and Assembly members in the California State Legislature,
the Governor of California, and the president of the United States.
This letter shall state, "The citizens of Santa Monica have passed
an initiative to de-prioritize adult marijuana offenses, where the
marijuana is intended for personal use, and request that the Federal
and California State governments take immediate steps to enact similar
laws." This duty shall be carried out until State and Federal laws
are changed accordingly.
(Added by Ord. No. 2215CCS, adopted 11/7/06)
All sections of this Chapter are mandatory. If any provision of this Chapter is not carried out properly, any resident of Santa Monica may seek a writ of mandate to ensure the law is fully implemented. Notwithstanding Section 1.08.010 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code, a violation of this Chapter is not a criminal offense.
(Added by Ord. No. 2215CCS, adopted 11/7/06)
