Compton residents to vote on competing marijuana measures

Compton residents will head to the polls Tuesday to weigh in on a pair of competing proposals for regulating cannabis businesses in the city, which currently bans marijuana dispensaries and other pot-related operations.

With the state's passage of Proposition 64, which permits the recreational use of marijuana, the city drafted proposed regulations for marijuana dispensaries, while a petition drive led to a second competing measure on the same ballot.

The city's proposal, known as Measure C, would allow marijuana sales while imposing a 10 percent business tax and banning commercial cultivation of marijuana in the city.

The competing initiative, Measure I, includes many of the same provisions as Measure C, but it calls for a 5 percent business tax and would allow indoor marijuana-cultivation businesses.

The measures have other differences, with the city's calling for a hard cap of 10 dispensaries in the city, and the initiative allowing up to 10 with more possible depending on population increase. The city's measure would
require dispensaries to be at least 1,000 feet from schools, churches, parks and child care or community centers, while Measure I calls only for a 600-foot distance from schools. Measure C also includes a 30 percent local-hiring requirement, while Measure I has no such mandate.

If both measures fail, the city's existing ban on marijuana business will remain in place. If both pass, the one receiving the most votes will take effect.

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