Even as the nearly bankrupt City of Los Angeles spends millions of dollars attacking its legal medical marijuana industry, the City of Oakland is moving to become the first city in the state to permit industrial marijuana production, according to the Los Angeles Times.
As our Los Angeles marijuana dispensary attorneys fight for the legal rights of marijuana collectives in the face of the city’s move to force their closure, Oakland’s groundbreaking decision will likely lead to the commercialization of marijuana on a large scale.
And, while Los Angeles city officials attempt to turn back time, Oakland is looking forward and will permit four enormous pot factories to operate under city supervision, likely leading to millions, if not billions, in tax revenue, job creation and other economic benefits.
“This is a monumental step forward,” said Dale Gieringer, an Oakland resident and the longtime head of California NORML, which backs the legalization of marijuana. “It really means moving into the era of industrial-scale operations, and Oakland means to do it big.”
The move puts Oakland at the forefront of the issue, instead of trying to crack down on cultivation, it will control the issue by cultivating its own. Berkeley is the only other city to take such a step, asking voters in November to approve six industrial operations.
Even Oakland’s city attorney advised leaders that the move was not legal under state law and could even put the city in the position of being busted by federal drug enforcement officers, despite a memo by the Obama Administration that seeks to take a hands-off attitude to the enforcement of marijuana laws in states where state and federal law conflict.
Most of the opposition came from a patchwork of independent marijuana growers. Council decided to accommodate the growers, who supply some of the $28 million worth of marijuana sold in the city’s four dispensaries, by promising to craft a plan that will keep them in business alongside the four large-scale, city-sanctioned operations.
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.