The Livermore City Council decided on Jan. 11 to suspend the sale of medical marijuana for 18 months in order to make sure that the licenses are going to the patients who need it.

“The benefit is to have local control of who gets medicinal marijuana and to preserve the rights,” said John Marchand, Livermore mayor and graduate of Cal State East Bay, at the Jan. 11 meeting.

It was not immediately clear when the suspension would go into effect and council members said they would set a cutoff date at a later meeting.

Currently, consumers with a license can purchase medicinal marijuana, but when the ban goes into effect, consumers with or without a license will not be able to purchase it in Livermore. According to a website used to locate medical marijuana businesses, Where’s Weed, there are 190 dispensaries in Livermore, which has a population of 86,870, estimated by the 2014 census.

The ban would give the members of the council, including Vice Mayor Stewart Gary, time to formulate a law that will ensure only people with medicinal reasons will receive a medical card in order to get medicinal marijuana.

“So far,” Gary said. “There is no cost to the plan of the 18 month ban, but it will take time for the council to make the ban happen so that medicinal marijuana is bought for medical reasons only.”