The Los Angeles City Council has approved a motion to create a Cannabis Licensing Commission, which will oversee legal recreational marijuana sales.

The council’s approval on March 22 came two weeks after voters approved Measure M, which grants the city authority to regulate marijuana businesses. The state plans to have a regulatory framework in place by the end of the year,  ahead of recreational marijuana businesses opening in 2018. State law allows cities to draft their own laws to regulate the industry.

The commission will have five members – two appointed by the city council and three by the mayor. The commissioners will serve four-year terms. One of the mayor’s appointees is required to be an elected member of a neighborhood council. The council also barred lobbyists who have represented cannabis-related businesses within 12 months from being appointed to the commission.

(photo courtesy of Brett Levin)

The city attorney will draft an ordinance required to create the commission, and it will come back before the council for a final vote before members are appointed. The commission will oversee licensing and the public hearing process for businesses that sell marijuana.

It will also administer the inspection program to ensure businesses are complying with regulations.

The council also asked the City Administrative Officer and Chief Legislative Analyst to report in early April on budgeting for the commission and requested information about creating an online license application program to be available by Sept. 1.

The city is still in the process of adopting other regulations for recreational marijuana sales, including where marijuana can be sold and how much marijuana businesses will be taxed.

The taxes are tentatively estimated to be 5 percent on gross receipts of medical marijuana, and 10 percent on gross receipts of recreational marijuana. Marijuana dispensaries that are already registered with the city under Proposition D, approved in 2007, are expected to be given priority for business licenses.

The council plans to continue working with neighborhood councils and community groups to draft regulations. The goal is to limit disruptions in residential communities.

The city is also examining regulations in Oregon and Washington, which have already legalized recreational marijuana.

Measure M was supported by organizations representing the marijuana industry including the Southern California Coalition, Americans for Safe Access, the California Minority Alliance and the Pain Free Society of California.

It was also supported by the South Robertson Neighborhood Council and Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson, 10th District.

Calls and emails to Wesson’s office seeking comment about the Cannabis Licensing Commission were not returned.