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The City Council will try again tomorrow night to approve the Medical Marijuana Ordinance, which has been bogged down between the Community Health Commission and the city manager’s office for nearly two years. 

The City Council ran out of time last Tuesday night before it could resolve the sticking point that has plagued the completion of the ordinance. The commission and city manager have not been able to agree on how many plants are reasonable for an individual patient to grow at one time.  

The council postponed a decision until tomorrow despite outbursts by advocates who said the ordinance has taken too long as it is.  

Advocates want the council to approve 144 plants per household if grown indoors and 60 if grown outdoors. City staff including the health and police departments want the ordinance to not allow individuals more than 10 plants whether grown indoors or out. 

Advocates also endorsed a plan allowing patients to have as much as six pounds of marijuana in their possession at any one time. City staff recommended 2.5 pounds unless a doctor prescribed more. 

Councilmember Betty Olds reminded advocates in the audience that the ordinance is important and they should be patient because if the council hurried a decision it might approve the lower amount just to be safe. 

Director of Health and Human Services Fred Medrano emphasized to the council that both sides of the issue support the Medical Marijuana Ordinance. He reminded the council that 85 percent of voters approved Proposition 215, the state medical marijuana bill, in 1996 and there was no question that an ordinance “is a point of agreement.” 

But he said Prop. 215 does not recommend amounts of allowable plants and there is no exact science for local communities to determine these numbers. Medical staff thought it was wisest to keep allowable plant numbers low and “include a provision in the ordinance for additional amounts if a doctor says it’s OK,” he said.  

Police are concerned that large