Hundreds of L.A. Pot Dispensaries To Face Closure

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By John Hoeffel
Source: Los Angeles Times

medical California -- Hundreds of Los Angeles medical marijuana dispensaries will soon be notified that they must shut down in June, when the city's ordinance to control the stores is expected to take effect.

On Friday, the City Council approved the last piece of its ordinance, the fees that dispensaries will pay to operate, ending a drawn-out legislative process and a legal vacuum that allowed dispensaries to spread unchecked. The council first started to debate marijuana dispensaries nearly five years ago and took almost two years from the time it first received a draft ordinance to adopt the final version.

"It was the wild, Wild West for weed in Los Angeles for some time, and we are going in the direction to finally take control of the situation," said Councilman Jose Huizar, who pressed for some of the toughest restrictions after residents in Eagle Rock complained about the proliferation of dispensaries.

The council approved the medical marijuana ordinance in January, but it cannot be enforced until the fees are approved by the mayor and published. That is expected to be around June 4.

Under the ordinance, the only dispensaries that can remain in business are those that registered when the city adopted a moratorium in 2007 and are still in business.

City officials have estimated that number is 137. All other collectives will receive warning letters after the mayor signs the law and cease-and-desist letters in June.

Operators of the dispensaries that would be forced to shut down have been weighing their options. At least 25 dispensaries plan to file lawsuits next week. "We believe we have a legitimate right to exist," said Dan Halbert, who runs Rainforest Collective in Mar Vista.

David Welch, the attorney representing the 25 collectives, said the suits would challenge the preferential treatment for collectives that registered under the moratorium. He noted that a Superior Court judge has ruled that the City Council illegally extended the moratorium, so the ban was not in place when most dispensaries opened.

Only a few medical marijuana activists showed up for the council's vote. Most were dispensary operators who will be allowed to stay open. They complained the ordinance was too restrictive, saying many operators have not found sites that comply with the location requirements, including the 1,000-foot setback from churches, schools and parks.

"It has a lot of holes that need to be plugged up, and if they don't get plugged up, we may end up without an ordinance, and that would be the worst thing that could happen in Los Angeles today," said Yamileth Bolanos, who runs PureLife Alternative Wellness Center on South La Cienega Boulevard and heads an association of collectives.

Bill Rosendahl was the only council member to vote against the fees. He lambasted the overall medical marijuana ordinance as too prohibitive. "I think it's just totally insane and over the top," he said.

Huizar said the council could amend the ordinance. "We will see how it works in practical terms and come back and adjust it if we have to," he said.

The dispensary fees were not controversial. In addition to standard costs, a manager registering a dispensary would have to pay about $1,200 in special fees. Huizar called them "reasonable and sensible."

 

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Medical Marijuana Advocates Intervene in LA City Attorney's Effort to Shut Down Dispensaries
Amicus brief argues that sales are legal and that unlawful abatement actions will be fought in court

Los Angeles, CA -- Medical marijuana advocacy group Americans for Safe Access (ASA) filed an amicus 'friend of the court' brief today, in an attempt to intervene in the Los Angeles City Attorney's effort to shut down registered dispensaries. In particular, ASA filed a brief refuting the City Attorney's argument that sales are illegal, raised in lawsuits against two Los Angeles medical marijuana dispensaries, Organica and Holistic Caregivers. ASA also argued in the brief that City Attorney Carmen Trutanich took preemptive enforcement action before the local ordinance has even taken effect. A hearing on the lawsuit's motion for preliminary injunction is scheduled for Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court.

"It's clear that the City Attorney is attempting to shut down dispensaries on the basis that sales are illegal, and before the Los Angeles ordinance even goes into effect," said ASA Chief Counsel Joe Elford, who filed the amicus brief after threatening to intervene when the lawsuits were filed. "It's a disingenuous interpretation of state law to say that collectives cannot sell medical marijuana," continued Elford. "The City Attorney's moral crusade to shut down otherwise lawful dispensaries must be stopped."

On February 18th, in a series of aggressive actions against Los Angeles area dispensaries, City Attorney Trutanich orchestrated multiple law enforcement raids, sent at least 18 "eviction letters" to landlords of city dispensaries, and filed three "nuisance and narcotic abatement" lawsuits against two dispensary operators, claiming that sales are illegal. With approximately one month before the Los Angeles dispensary ordinance goes into effect, advocates are calling the actions preemptive and deplorable. A final City Council hearing on amending the ordinance to include a permit fees is scheduled for Tuesday. If approved, the ordinance will go into effect 30 days after the Mayor signs it into law.

Last October, Trutanich and District Attorney Steve Cooley both attended a symposium on "The Eradication of Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in the City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County," hosted by the California Narcotics Officers' Association (CNOA), a staunch opponent of medical marijuana. Then, in November, after ASA threatened to sue Los Angeles if the city outlawed medical marijuana sales, a compromise was thought to have been reached between the Council and the City Attorney. However, public statements and recent enforcement actions have thrown into doubt whether the City Attorney and District Attorney ever planned on honoring the regulatory ordinance. Cooley commented in a November 18th public radio interview that the City Council's actions to legalize medical marijuana sales were "irrelevant, meaningless, and...reckless," and his office would enforce the law "despite what the City Council [does]." City Attorney Trutanich also publicly stated his position in a January public radio interview that "sales are illegal under state law."

Advocates argue that the actions of the City Attorney and District Attorney not only amount to entrapment, but they also violate state law. "It goes without saying that dispensaries deserve the due process right to comply with the city's ordinance regulating them," said Elford. "But, worse than that, the City Attorney's legal arguments are horribly flawed and have no basis in law." The City Attorney's lead cause of action in its litigation to shut down registered dispensaries is based on a nuisance statute that the legislature exempted in SB 420, the Medical Marijuana Program Act of 2003. (See Health & Safety Code Section 11362.The City Attorney also relies on the argument that medical marijuana "sales" are illegal under state law, something refuted by the legislature, the courts, and the State Attorney General.