ASA Sues Los Angeles Over Dispensary Ordinance

[PharmaCan]

Medical marijuana advocates file lawsuit challenging L.A. ordinance
By Tony Barboza Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

March 2, 2010 | 11:02 a.m.


Medical marijuana advocates upped the ante Tuesday in the legal battle over Los Angeles' pot dispensaries by suing the city, claiming the ordinance that takes effect later this month is so restrictive it will cause even law-abiding businesses to shut down.

Americans for Safe Access, the nation's main medical marijuana advocacy nonprofit, filed the lawsuit with the Venice Beach Care Center and the PureLife Alternative Wellness Center, two dispensaries that have operated in Los Angeles since 2006 -- before the city's moratorium on the centers took effect.

The 11-page suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court says the sweeping marijuana ordinance passed by the City Council in January and signed into law by the mayor Feb. 3 "severely restricts access to medical marijuana by effectively forcing plaintiffs, as well as the vast majority of collectives in the City, to close their doors."

The suit alleges the city ordinance violates state law, and it seeks a court injunction and restraining order to stop the measure from being enforced. In the suit, dispensary operators object to the "onerous restrictions" of the law that is scheduled to take effect March 14, such as a rule that gives them only seven days to relocate to 1,000 feet away from schools, parks and places of worship but does not provide maps to show where they are allowed under the law.

"We want to work with the city to comply with its regulations, but such unreasonable requirements make compliance impossible," Yamileth Bolanos, operator of the PureLife Alternative Wellness Center, said in a statement. The city attorney's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The city prosecutor's office filed three lawsuits last month seeking court injunctions to force Organica in the Venice area and two Holistic Caregivers stores in South Los Angeles to stop all sales.

Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich has said that state law authorizes collectives only to grow marijuana and recover their actual costs, not to sell it.

Voters passed the state's medical marijuana initiative in 1996, and the Legislature adopted a law to expand access in 2003, but the courts still have not ruled directly on whether collectives can sell marijuana to their members.

Americans for Safe Access threatened to sue the city last week if it did not drop the Organica/Holistic Caregivers lawsuits, calling it part of a crackdown that goes beyond the scope of the new ordinance.

Kris Hermes, spokesman for the advocacy group, said the lawsuit filed Tuesday takes aim at the new ordinance, not the city attorney's prosecutions.

PC

 

[bigbrokush]

Thank God for ASA, and I feel for the city of Los Angeles right now.................................... No I don't feel sorry for their asses at all.

 

[Blue Dot]

This lawsuit has no basis.

The 11-page suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court says the sweeping marijuana ordinance passed by the City Council in January and signed into law by the mayor Feb. 3 "severely restricts access to medical marijuana by effectively forcing plaintiffs, as well as the vast majority of collectives in the City, to close their doors."

There is nothing in the law that says the city must allow access to collectives that are profit driven.

 

[Olias]

Define profit driven. Everyone deserves to be paid for their labor.

Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich has said that state law authorizes collectives only to grow marijuana and recover their actual costs, not to sell it.

That makes no sense. You cannot recover actual costs without requiring the product be purchased.

 

[kmk420kali]

This lawsuit has no basis.



There is nothing in the law that says the city must allow access to collectives that are profit driven.

News Flash....it does not depend on what their Profits are...it is based on Restrictions that will virtually mean there is no place in the City, that D's can operate--
That is a very big "Basis"--

 

[Blue Dot]

Define profit driven. Everyone deserves to be paid for their labor.

It's actually labor plus costs of goods.

Imagine how ridiculous it would sound to try and justify $60 1/8th just on labor alone when in reality it costs about $7 in labor to produce an 1/8 th of pot.

I mean you're not expecting to get paid the same labor wage as a doctor are you?

 

[kmk420kali]

*EDIT* Nevermind...I seen something before it was corrected--

 

[planty]

How much is your time worth to you Blue Dot? Mine is valuable...Maybe it takes $7 of your time to grow YOURSELF an 8th under your 400w but some one producing meds for a cooperative spends much more time and wattage on producing those VALUABLE doses of medicine!

 

[Blue Dot]

How much is your time worth to you Blue Dot? Mine is valuable...Maybe it takes $7 of your time to grow YOURSELF an 8th under your 400w but some one producing meds for a cooperative spends much more time and wattage on producing those VALUABLE doses of medicine!

But then you could charge whatever you wanted to based on that logic.

You could think in some fantasy land that your time SHOULD be worth $100/hr and therefore reflect that in the price of the meds.

The problem with that is it's an insult to all those who have worked hard and studied their whole life who really make $100/hr while all your doing is growing a plant, which a lot of people with no study and not very hard work can do.

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

All laws restricting pot to adults are wrong. that is the bottom line.

 

[johnnyla]

But then you could charge whatever you wanted to based on that logic.

You could think in some fantasy land that your time SHOULD be worth $100/hr and therefore reflect that in the price of the meds.

The problem with that is it's an insult to all those who have worked hard and studied their whole life who really make $100/hr while all your doing is growing a plant, which a lot of people with no study and not very hard work can do.

that last statement is patently false. post pics of your moldy half asses scrimpy buds BD. you are about to see how hard it is to grow quality meds. have you been to any collectives that started growing their own? umm....yeah. there is a learning curve. good luck with that.

 

[PharmaCan]

But then you could charge whatever you wanted to based on that logic.

You could think in some fantasy land that your time SHOULD be worth $100/hr and therefore reflect that in the price of the meds.

The problem with that is it's an insult to all those who have worked hard and studied their whole life who really make $100/hr while all your doing is growing a plant, which a lot of people with no study and not very hard work can do.

Blue Dot - First of all the American middle class has been getting screwed for the last 40 years by the ever-increasing multi-national corporate control of our government. American workers have not seen a wage increase in that entire time and, in fact, our wages have decreased significantly in terms of buying power. In 1970 I was making minimum wage of $2.50/hour. If you translate that into today's dollars, minimum wage (and by that I mean the bottom of the economic ladder, not some arbitrary number assigned by a corrupt government) should be $25 - $30 per hour. Instead of railing against the high cost of mmj, you should be fighting against the corporate machine that is enslaving us.

But aside from that, your ego is so expansive, it boggles the mind. Where in the hell do you get off thinking that you have either the intellect or the authority to tell the rest of the word what their wages should be for their particular job. I've got news for you, chump, $100/ hour isn't squat! It's $200,000/year which, while a decent salary that any good plumber should easily pull down, is far from the road to excessive wealth. You seem to value education, perhaps you should leave economic commentary to those who have a better understanding of it than you do.

BTW - I make $150/hour twisting pipes together - it doesn't take a lot of brains, just a lot of muscle. When I teach at the university, I make $60/hour for teaching time, which works out to about $40/hour for actual hours worked. (If I was full-time it'd be a lot more, especially with benefits, but I only teach part-time so...) When I do plumbing or electrical work, my helper, whose main qualifications are using a drill or shovel and following orders, makes $20/hour.

Your contention that some adult should settle for $7/hour is simply absurd. It shows that you have absolutely no contact with the reality of what an adult can/should make.

Regardless of that, there's a difference between a wage earner and a person who takes a risk to make either a profit or loss. If I'm growing a crop and it gets infested with spider mites in the last week and I have to dump the whole crop, who's going to pay my wages and my expenses? Will I get paid even if I fail? I don't think so, and that's where the whole risk/reward thing enters into the economics. If you are truly too stupid to understand how the person who takes risks deserves a larger reward than someone like say, you, whose biggest daily challenge is remembering the answer to, "Paper or plastic?", then perhaps you shouldn't comment on the subject.

You do realize, don't you, that when you start spouting your $7/hour mantra you sound like a fifteen-year-old with his/her first job? Really, you have no idea how stupid, immature and out of touch with reality you sound with your silliness about wages.

PC

 

[planty]

Blue Dot - Every one already told you what I would want to say. I have mouths to feed and bills to pay. $7/hr won't even put fuel in my truck monthly to handle the commute it takes for me to work. The amount my time is worth IS $100+/hr why? I am an educated individual and I excel in the field I choose to have involved myself in - producing MMJ.. I have to make back what it costs to produce, enough to pay my bills and eat, and put some away -- just like with any other adult job...So yes bro..you're right..My time is worth whatever I want it to be..Honestly I feel like it is worth even more than 100 per hour and I feel like knowing in my mind I deserve success and am allowed to achieve it is what has brought me to where I'm at today.

Bro..you said "when all you're growing is a plant" do you really think I put 20+ lights on 1 plant? No...

 

[bigbrokush]

Blue Dot - First of all the American middle class has been getting screwed for the last 40 years by the ever-increasing multi-national corporate control of our government. American workers have not seen a wage increase in that entire time and, in fact, our wages have decreased significantly in terms of buying power. In 1970 I was making minimum wage of $2.50/hour. If you translate that into today's dollars, minimum wage (and by that I mean the bottom of the economic ladder, not some arbitrary number assigned by a corrupt government) should be $25 - $30 per hour. Instead of railing against the high cost of mmj, you should be fighting against the corporate machine that is enslaving us.

But aside from that, your ego is so expansive, it boggles the mind. Where in the hell do you get off thinking that you have either the intellect or the authority to tell the rest of the word what their wages should be for their particular job. I've got news for you, chump, $100/ hour isn't squat! It's $200,000/year which, while a decent salary that any good plumber should easily pull down, is far from the road to excessive wealth. You seem to value education, perhaps you should leave economic commentary to those who have a better understanding of it than you do.

BTW - I make $150/hour twisting pipes together - it doesn't take a lot of brains, just a lot of muscle. When I teach at the university, I make $60/hour for teaching time, which works out to about $40/hour for actual hours worked. (If I was full-time it'd be a lot more, especially with benefits, but I only teach part-time so...) When I do plumbing or electrical work, my helper, whose main qualifications are using a drill or shovel and following orders, makes $20/hour.

Your contention that some adult should settle for $7/hour is simply absurd. It shows that you have absolutely no contact with the reality of what an adult can/should make.

Regardless of that, there's a difference between a wage earner and a person who takes a risk to make either a profit or loss. If I'm growing a crop and it gets infested with spider mites in the last week and I have to dump the whole crop, who's going to pay my wages and my expenses? Will I get paid even if I fail? I don't think so, and that's where the whole risk/reward thing enters into the economics. If you are truly too stupid to understand how the person who takes risks deserves a larger reward than someone like say, you, whose biggest daily challenge is remembering the answer to, "Paper or plastic?", then perhaps you shouldn't comment on the subject.

You do realize, don't you, that when you start spouting your $7/hour mantra you sound like a fifteen-year-old with his/her first job? Really, you have no idea how stupid, immature and out of touch with reality you sound with your silliness about wages.

PC

I don't think that I ever seen it put any better that you just put it. I was going to say that my labor cost per hour or per crop is what I feel my time is worth. And I'm sorry I'm not a $7 a hour worker, nor do I work for free when LEO will still take you to jail even if you are a patient.
BD, for the record what is your true line of work? We don't want to know the company/city that you work for, but just what you do.

 

[Zoolander]

Bluedot please show us the wonderful meds you say are so easy to grow . Once again you look the fool to most with your post and I'd love to hear what you do for work and how well you live since you think most things don't deserve proper pay.

 

[BiG H3rB Tr3E]

because by blue dots logic....$7 per 8th = $898 per pound, which is fucking ridiculous



im guessing blue dot is either a freshman living off mommy ++ daddys tit studying some bullshit holier than thou business morals class at some over priced university for under educated spoiled rich kids...


-or-

he some old ass angry disabled prick living on SSI who hates the world and lives off the goverments tit and absorbing all the free benefits that goes along with it. meals and wheels the whole deal and has lost all sense of reality

either way blue dot your a fucking prick living in a delusional world...

 

[BiG H3rB Tr3E]

This lawsuit has no basis.



There is nothing in the law that says the city must allow access to collectives that are profit driven.

profit driven??? so what are we in fucking china now?? there is not 1 other fuckign industry that has any rules like that. every other biz can make profit yet it is illegal for a dispensary to make a profit???? then why the fuck does pfizer see profits in the billions?????

 

[Babbabud]

Please lets stick to facts and stay away from personal attacks. thanks.♠

 

[qdavid]

Sure are a lot of angry ass self righteous out of work dispensary owners here. Welcome to the party. The fact is that 215 was meant only to help sick people, and MMJ has become a business, way different than intended. So therefore, outrage, all around.

Oh, BTW, F...U!
" some old ass angry disabled prick living on SSI who hates the world and lives off the goverments tit and absorbing all the free benefits that goes along with it. meals and wheels the whole deal and has lost all sense of reality".

I sure as hell never wanted to be disabled or any part of any of this shit, asshole. Calm down. There have been plenty of good points made without having to slam people.

 

[jayburtonboy]

Check this out guys!!!!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35673362/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

i woulda started a new thread but i dont have enuff posts. Plz add to the mj news whomever has access.