Nov. 19--The City Council on Wednesday held off on voting on a measure to toughen security standards at Chicago marijuana dispensaries after aldermen raised questions about whether the rules would be legal.
The council deferred the proposal to require Chicago dispensaries to have around-the-clock security guards and to keep marijuana and drug paraphernalia out of view from outside because Ald. Bob Fioretti said he was waiting for the city Law Department to weigh in on whether aldermen are allowed to put in place stiffer local regulations than those laid out in the state's medical marijuana program.
Fioretti, 2nd, and Ald. Scott Waguespack, 32nd, used a parliamentary maneuver to prevent a vote while they wait for the Law Department to respond.
Fioretti, who is planning to challenge Mayor Rahm Emanuel in the Feb. 24 election, said the council could be overstepping its authority, since the state law sets out various security rules for the dispensaries and growing operations.
"I think it's in the interest of everybody to have a correct legal opinion," he said.
The Law Department did not respond to requests to address the security question. City Corporation Counsel Stephen Patton declined to comment following Wednesday's council meeting when asked by a reporter whether the Chicago proposal runs afoul of the state law. "We will opine when the time is right," Patton said.
State law, which allows for 13 dispensaries and two cultivation centers in the city, requires 24-hour video surveillance, "enclosed, locked" facilities and provisions for "safe delivery" but not around-the-clock guards.
