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Category: Medical marijuana

L.A. City Council votes to amend medical marijuana ordinance

The Los Angeles City Council, repeatedly warned that the city risked a return to the days when medical marijuana dispensaries were opening at an astonishing clip, voted Friday to amend its ordinance, altering key provisions that a judge declared unconstitutional last month.

The changes were forced on the council by the judge’s decision to issue an injunction that barred the city from enforcing those provisions that he concluded were illegal. He has since stayed his order, but it would take effect if the dispensaries that had asked for the ruling were able to post a bond.

Jane Usher, a special assistant city attorney, told the council that Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Anthony J. Mohr had made clear his injunction would leave the city with little power to shut down new dispensaries. “He’s put our feet to the fire,” she said.

Since the judge issued his decision, dispensaries have already boldly reopened. Usher said that it can take the city six months to two years to shut them down.

The council, with some members voting reluctantly, decided 12-0 to adopt the changes, a threshold that allows the revisions to become effective within about 10 days.

In the most significant change, the ordinance sets up a different process to decide which dispensaries to allow. A lottery will choose 100 dispensaries from those that can prove they were in existence on Sept. 14, 2007, the date the city’s moratorium on new stores became law.

The city’s attorneys and the council settled on that number after debating how many the city’s already short-handed departments could handle. The original ordinance would have allowed existing dispensaries that registered under the moratorium to apply to remain open.

Those dispensary operators objected strenuously, noting that a lottery could randomly eliminate some of the most law-abiding and best-run dispensaries. An estimated 135 dispensaries followed the city’s rules and are still in business. A lottery will eliminate a quarter of them and seems almost certain to draw more legal action from those that lose.

“I understand that this is not fair to many of the operators who are doing the right thing,” said Councilmember Ed Reyes, who led the effort to write the ordinance. But he urged the council to act, rather than return to lawlessness. “This lottery is what we can do now, as much as it hurts.”

ALSO:

Injunction issued against L.A.'s medical marijuana law

Medical marijuana case appears headed back to trial

Pot dispensaries banned in unincorporated L.A. County

-- John Hoeffel at Los Angeles City Hall


Video footage of medical marijuana dispensary robbery released by LAPD




 Los Angeles police released security video footage Thursday of three men who shot and wounded two employees during a robbery earlier this month at a Northridge marijuana dispensary.

Det. Joel Price from the West Valley station said police want help in identifying the men, who entered the medical marijuana cooperative in the 8200 block of White Oak Avenue about 9:25 p.m. Dec. 15. Two of the men fired multiple times and wounded two men before fleeing.

One of the victims took out a handgun and returned fire but was shot by the robbers,  police said.

One of the victims was critically injured, having been shot several times in the head, arm and legs, police said. The other man was wounded in the back and legs.

The robbers took out what they believed was a video recorder, a small amount of marijuana and an undetermined amount of cash before leaving in a late-model Nissan Titan pickup truck.

The robbers are described as three male Latinos. Police describe one of them as between 5 feet 1 and 5 feet 10, weighing 170 pounds, with a thick mustache. He was wearing a blue and white knit ski cap with ear covers, police said.

Another was  5 feet 7  to 5 feet 10 and weighed about 170 pounds, with short brown hair, a mustache and heavy eyebrows.  He was wearing a dark, hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans and also had a handgun, police said.

The third robber was described wearing dark pants, a zip-up jacket and a black New York Mets baseball cap.

-- Andrew Blankstein


2 men shot during robbery at Northridge pot dispensary

Map shows location of Wednesday's shooting in black, as well as nearby crimes in the latest complete week (Dec. 5 to Dec. 11). Click through for more details. Los Angeles police were looking Thursday for three men who shot two others during a robbery at a Northridge marijuana dispensary.

Three men went into the shop in the 8200 block of White Oak Avenue about 9:25 p.m. Wednesday, shooting multiple rounds of gunfire and wounding two men before fleeing in a gold sport utility vehicle, said Officer Gregory Baek of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Baek said he did not know if the robbers got away with any drugs or cash.

The shooting victims were taken to Northridge Hospital Medical Center, where one was in critical condition with several shots to the head, arm and legs, Baek said. The other man was in stable condition with multiple gunshot wounds in the back and legs, Baek said.

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Click for crime reports across L.A. County on The Times' interactive database

Map: Shows location of Wednesday's shooting in black, as well as nearby crimes in the latest week with complete statistics. (Dec. 5 to Dec. 11). Credit: Crime L.A.


Injunction issued against L.A.'s medical marijuana law

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef0120a686382b970c-600wi

A judge has ordered Los Angeles not to enforce key sections of its controversial medical marijuana ordinance, issuing a preliminary injunction that once again leaves the city with limited ability to control dispensaries and raises the possibility that new ones could open.

The decision comes almost six months after the City Council adopted the law, which opponents said was riddled with flaws. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Anthony J. Mohr, in a decision released Friday, agreed with most of the criticisms raised by the dispensaries.

In his ruling, Mohr acknowledged "there is a good chance that a large number of collectives could open once this injunction takes effect."

Mohr enjoined a crucial provision of the ordinance that outlaws all dispensaries except those that registered with the city in 2007 after the City Council adopted a moratorium on new stores. He concluded it is invalid because the moratorium was improperly extended and therefore had expired before the registration deadline for dispensaries.

Continue reading »

Medical marijuana case appears headed back to trial

One of the most closely watched medical marijuana court cases in California, which centers on whether cities and counties have the power to ban dispensaries, appears headed back to trial after the state Supreme Court declined to review a recent appellate court decision.

Qualified Patients Assn. sued Anaheim in 2007, arguing that the state’s medical marijuana laws preclude a ban on dispensaries. The case was appealed before a trial, and the 4th District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana declined to rule on the issue in August, returning it to the lower court.

Last week, the state’s highest court decided not to review that decision, and on Monday the appellate court closed the case. The city could still ask the U.S. Supreme Court to take it up.

“Right now, it doesn’t look like we are going to do that,” said Moses W. Johnson IV, an assistant Anaheim city attorney. “It’s even a bigger uphill battle to get the U.S. Supreme Court interested.”
Johnson said he expects a trial would be quick and the losing side would appeal.

Anthony Curiale, the attorney for Qualified Patients Assn., was traveling and could not be reached.

The state Supreme Court’s decision left standing a ruling by the appeals court that federal law does not preempt the state’s medical marijuana laws. Anaheim had argued that dispensaries are illegal under the Controlled Substances Act, and Orange County Superior Court Judge David R. Chaffee had sided with the city. Chaffee will probably preside over the trial.

“We’re obviously quite happy to see the California Supreme Court deny the review,” said Joe Elford, chief counsel for Americans for Safe Access, a national organization that advocates for medical marijuana programs. “You’ve got another published opinion saying federal law does not preempt state law, and this one did so very forcefully.”

RELATED:

Pot dispensaries banned in unincorporated L.A. County

L.A., OC supervisors to consider medical marijuana dispensary ban

O.C. supervisors to consider ban on medical marijuana dispensaries

-- John Hoeffel


Firefighters discover pot operation in burning Sun Valley warehouse

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Authorities on Sunday were investigating an overnight fire in a Sun Valley commercial building that authorities said contained substantial stores of marijuana. The pot operation also has become a subject of a police investigation.

The owner of a neighboring business described the adjacent tenants as friendly, but secretive and security-conscious.

The burned building, in the 8100 block of Clybourn Avenue, sits on an industrial strip about a block from a residential area. The fire call came in at 11:44 p.m. Saturday, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey.

Firefighters immediately alerted police investigators when they discovered the marijuana.

“A lot of marijuana had been burned, but I’m not sure how much went up in smoke,” said Sgt. David Tomilin of the Los Angeles Police Department's Foothill Division. Officers were able to book more than 100 pounds into evidence Sunday morning.

Investigators were not yet prepared to call the operation illegal, given that marijuana for medical purposes can be grown and distributed legally.

“I don’t know if they had some kind of licensing,” said Tomilin. “It’s obviously not for personal use based on the amount. The stuff we could book was in trash cans in 30 to 40 bound bags.”

Continue reading »

Medical marijuana dispensaries banned in unincorporated L.A. County

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 Tuesday to ban medical marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated areas of the county.

The board also voted unanimously to develop a plan for stepped-up enforcement against shops that opened without a permit.

"Why don't you use everything you have to get them the hell out of unincorporated areas?" Supervisor Gloria Molina asked county staff.

Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky authored the proposal for stepped-up enforcement against a small number of unpermitted shops in unincorporated areas, but he said an outright ban would unfairly harm patients with a legitimate need. Yaroslavsky was the lone vote against the ban.

"This is not some sort of scheme or scam. This is not some sort of joke," Yaroslavsky said, noting that he had seen marijuana help friends afflicted with cancer.

The ban must be read again at a future meeting for final approval, and then would go into effect about 30 days later. Aides to Supervisor Mike Antonovich said the ban could be in place by the end of the year.

In depth: Complete coverage of the marijuana legalization debate

-- Garrett Therolf at the Hall of Administration


L.A., OC supervisors to consider medical marijuana dispensary ban

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef0120a686382b970c-600wi

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will consider a proposal to ban medical marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated areas of the county, which would cover territory with a population of 1.5 million people.

The motion is the first step toward reversing the county's 4-year-old policy on the dispensaries, which are allowed with strict prohibitions on their location: They cannot be within 1,000 feet of churches, day-care centers, libraries, playgrounds, schools and other sensitive uses.

In July, supervisors in a unanimous vote directed county staff to prepare an ordinance banning pot dispensaries.

Some supervisors have expressed concern that the dispensaries could attract crime. Another factor weighing on them is the city of Los Angeles' recent aggressive push to shut down dispensaries that are illegal under a city ordinance that took effect four weeks ago, raising concern that dispensary owners would be searching for a new home.

Continue reading »

O.C. supervisors to consider ban on pot dispensaries

The Orange County Board of Supervisors will consider a proposal Tuesday to ban medical marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated areas.

The supervisors will also consider establishing civil fines of up to $1,000 a day for businesses that sell medical marijuana without a permit, according to a Nov. 17 staff report from the county Public Works Department.

The report noted that most commercial areas where dispensaries would operate are near residential neighborhoods, parks and schools.

At least 11 marijuana dispensaries were operating in unincorporated county areas without permits, the agency said in a September memo to the board. One of the dispensaries had previously applied for a permit, but it was denied.

RELATED:

L.A., OC supervisors to consider medical marijuana dispensary ban

-- Robert J. Lopez


Lawmen become key voices in marijuana-legalization fight -- on both sides of Proposition 19

Proponent

On television, in news conferences, at forums and in phone calls, both sides in the battle over legalizing marijuana in California have turned to law enforcement to pitch their arguments to undecided voters who, skeptical of the war on drugs, wonder if the initiative might be a better way.

The opposition to Proposition 19 has deployed police officers and prosecutors to warn that the initiative would mean more children trying pot and more stoned drivers. Kim Raney, Covina's police chief for the last 10 years, became one of the most prominent opponents by default. When the issue went before the state's police chiefs, he joked, "Everybody took a giant step backwards."

Some of the former officers who support the initiative began to question drug laws while on duty, but have become outspoken only in retirement. "It's not a particular campaign that I really wanted to get involved with," former San Jose Chief Joseph D. McNamara said. "I like cops, and I have been around them all my life."

Proposition 19 would eliminate penalties for adults 21 and older who possess up to an ounce of pot or who grow the plants in plots of up to 25 square feet for personal use. The initiative also takes a step toward legalization, allowing cities and counties to authorize commercial cultivation and retail sales.

Stephen Downing, a former deputy chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, was monitoring a sting operation in 1973 when a cocaine dealer shot and killed an undercover officer. "You say to yourself, 'What is this about?'" he said. "That stirred in my gut for quite a long time."

Read the full story here.

-- John Hoeffel

Photo: Joseph D. McNamara, former San Jose police chief, is one of the faces of the "yes" campaign for Proposition 19. Credit: Yeson19.com

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