More than 170 medical marijuana dispensaries have notified the City of Los Angeles that they intend to stay open in the wake of the new city ordinance that is forcing the closure of more than 400 collectives, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The Los Angeles marijuana dispensary attorneys at the CANNABIS LAW GROUP have filed numerous lawsuits on behalf of dispensaries being forced to close. The law firm provides aggressive representation to collectives at all stages of the legal process and will fight for the rights of collectives that believe they are operating legally but are still targeted for closure.
Here is a list of dispensaries that have filed a notice of their intent to stay open. The city must now determine whether these businesses qualify to remain open under the new ordinance. Our Los Angeles dispensary lawyers anticipate many of these businesses will face additional legal hassle and that the city will find reasons to reject numerous applications.
The new ordinance forces the closure of more than 400 dispensaries that have opened since late 2007, while allowing older businesses to continue operation. However, those businesses must also comply with other mandates of the ordinance, which prohibit the businesses from operating near schools, parks or residential areas.
City officials are also reviewing documents to ensure that dispensaries allowed to remain in operation are still operating under the original owner, have been in continuous operation and have moved no more than once. So far, city clerks have determined that 70 of the businesses meet that criteria.
No word yet on how long the process will take. City ineptness indicates it could be a lengthy process — the clerk’s office has already admitted that it neglected to collect information about current management of the dispensaries and is now going back through the paperwork by hand and calling the businesses one at a time to collect the information.
As we reported recently on our Marijuana Lawyers Blog, police are clearly overwhelmed and have better things to do than to respond to the dozens, if not hundreds, of reports of dispensaries that have remained open in alleged violation of the ordinance.
The CANNABIS LAW GROUP is a law firm dedicated to the rights of medical marijuana patients, collectives and growers and has built a reputation for high-powered, aggressive legal representation of the medical marijuana industry in Southern California. Call 949-375-4734 for a confidential consultation to discuss your rights.