While the Los Angeles City Council this week approved a plan that will grant priority to retail cannabis applicants with marijuana convictions, in Culver City, the City Councilman Goran Eriksson is driving in the opposite directions.

He concedes that he will not be able to change the mindsets of his three opponents on the Council when the cannabis rules discussion resumes at Monday evening’s 7 o’clock meeting.

Concerned about the safety and health of residents once retail marijuana stores open in about 10 months, Mr. Eriksson has been stumping to convince colleagues to indefinitely delay arrival of the three proposed retail stores.

An international business entrepreneur, Mr. Eriksson always emphasizes that his views are data-based.

He cited a clear distinction between the quality of his data and that of his opponents.

Alluding to Mayor Jeff Cooper, Vice Mayor Thomas Small and Councilwoman Meghan Sahli-Wells, Mr. Eriksson said:

“They made their conclusion, and I came to a different one.

“I am basing mine on recent studies.

“No study in the last two years has said anything different.

“There is a health and safety issue with retail marijuana locations.”

By contrast, “research my colleagues refer to is old. UCLA researchers have done two more since then that found there are dangers to health and safety. They found their original methodology was not up to par.

“They themselves do not consider results of their earlier research to be valid. Their original study is the one people usually refer to when they say  retail outlets are not a threat to health and safety.”