California marijuana legalization

May 18, 2011

More Marijuana Grow Operations Busted in California

Earlier this month, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s office apprehended two suspects that were reportedly working with illegal marijuana cultivation operations in San Gabriel Valley. Authorities reportedly seized two caches of dried marijuana and plants that totaled nearly $3 million in street value, according to the Los Angeles Times.

A 30-year-old suspected member of the Chinese street gang known as Wah Ching and a 22-year-old were arrested by deputies from the Asian Gang Team in the sheriff’s Operation Safe Streets Bureau.

Our Los Angeles medical marijuana lawyers note such raids show the demand for marijuana, whether medicinal or otherwise. Regardless of whether it’s illegal or legal, it’s evident that the use of this product is not going to disappear, even if politicians succeed in criminalizing its decriminalization.

These arrests concluded a month-long investigation that was kicked off by one lead, local deputies stumbled on two indoor marijuana grow operations at the home of one of the arrested men. The other bust went down inside a commercial building that fronted as a consulting office.

The locations were served with search warrants at about 4:00 p.m. one day last weekend as investigators and Sheriff’s Special Weapons Team deputies entered the locations, according to Temple Tribune.

The bust of their facilities and the arrest of these two men seized nearly 450 plants and close to 200 pounds of dried marijuana, two handguns, a shotgun and hydroponic cultivation equipment.

The two suspects were arrested and booked at the Temple Sheriff’s Station, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Bail was set at $35,000.00
“We believe the suspect was operating this grow to benefit his gang,” said Sgt. Steve Kim of the Asian Gang Team.

The Sergeant reports that marijuana grow operations in San Gabriel Valley are not uncommon as last year the team seized roughly $5 million worth of product throughout five separate locations.

Marijuana will forever be present on the streets of California. The government continues to search for a way to regulate the distribution of the product. If you are currently facing the government or the court with charges relating to the use or distribution of medical marijuana, you are urged to contact an experienced attorney to help you fight for your rights in the court of law.
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February 5, 2011

Supporters hope to return California legalization measure to the November 2012 ballot

By Cannabis Law Group

Marijuana legalization advocates are already plotting their next fight in the wake of last fall’s defeat of Proposition 19, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Our Los Angeles medical marijuana defense lawyers are committed to fighting for the rights of patients, dispensaries and collectives throughout Southern California. Those medical marijuana businesses that choose to fight for survival will have the best chance against the many city and county ordinances attempting to force them out of business.

As we reported on our Marijuana Lawyer Blog, a number of medical marijuana court victories prove it is a battle worth waging. Nor do we think legalization will solve the issues. The same state law enforcement agencies and prosecutors who seem to have trouble following state law will be no less apt to grant rights to users once marijuana is legalized. And California marijuana legalization could prompt a federal crackdown.

Advocates in Berkeley met on Saturday to debate the language for the next ballot measure. Proposition 19, which would have legalized possession of up to an ounce of marijuana, failed in November by a margin of 46 percent to 54 percent.

Advocates hope to have it back on the ballot in November 2012.

Saturday’s conference was sponsored by the California chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).

One of the challenges that resulted in November’s defeat is that many growers and marijuana dispensaries opposed the measure, for fear it would put them out of business. The conference was attended by about 300, including a marijuana dispensary operator from Los Angeles who said the existing medical marijuana industry did not want to be used as a stepping stone for successful passage of a marijuana legalization measure.
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January 30, 2011

Beverly Hills to vote on medical marijuana dispensary ban

By Cannabis Law Group

Beverly Hills is among a growing number of cities that are moving to permanently shut out medical marijuana dispensaries, the L.A. Weekly reported.

Our L.A. medical marijuana dispensary lawyers represent more than a dozen dispensaries and collectives in Los Angeles and the surrounding areas. As we reported recently on our Marijuana Lawyer Blog, a number of recent legal decisions favor the dispensaries fighting these ordinances. Those who do not fight, are often not being afforded the same protections.

A proposal to permanently ban medical marijuana dispensaries was proposed this week at the Beverly Hills Planning Commission. The Beverly Hills Courier reports the measure will head to the Beverly Hills City Council for possible approval on Feb. 15.

The city’s temporary ban is set to expire on April 22. No pot shops currently exist in Beverly Hills, though there are plenty on the Green Mile along Pico Boulevard and on South Robertson Boulevard.
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January 28, 2011

Obama answers California’s marijuana legalization question … sort of

By Cannabis Law Group

The San Francisco Weekly reports President Obama recently addressed the issue of marijuana legalization.

Sort of.

As our Los Angeles medical marijuana defense attorneys reported on our Marijuana Lawyer Blog last year, the Drug Enforcement Administration was in favor of a crackdown had California’s marijuana legalization effort become law. However, the Obama Administration’s Justice Department has not targeted medical marijuana for enforcement action in states where it is legal under state law.

“I think it’s an entirely legitimate topic for debate,” said Obama of whether all drugs should be legalized. “I am not in favor of legalization. But I am a strong believer that we have to think more about drugs as a public health problem.”

It’s worth noting that questions were selected via a national online poll following the State of the Union Address. For the third straight year, the War on Drugs made the cut.

The question was submitted by MacKenzie Allen, a retired L.A. sheriff’s deputy, who called the fact that Obama even answered the question a huge step forward.

“I was pleasantly surprised [that Obama took the question],” Allen told SF Weekly. “But I think the president gave short shrift to the enforcement issue. We are never going to legislate away people wanting to intoxicate themselves, regardless of substance. It’s not realistic on his or any other politician’s part to think that we can throw more money and manpower away and that drug dealers and cartels are going to go away.”

The federal government still classifies marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug, meaning it has high potential for abuse and no medical value. Medical marijuana has been legal in California since 1996.
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November 29, 2010

Los Angeles Council hates medical marijuana dispensaries, just not too much to tax

By Cannabis Law Group

It’s official: The Los Angeles city council is looking to ban its pot and tax it, too.

As our Los Angeles medical marijuana defense lawyers continue to fight the misguided and, we believe, illegal ban on marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles, we note that the city is also moving to tax the remaining businesses.

Having passed an ordinance so inept that it has been back to court and its own council chambers on numerous occasions — either looking for validation or making legal changes — it is now looking for tax revenue from what remains.

The Mercury News reports council’s own attorneys warned them the tax would be illegal because the dispensaries are nonprofit and selling marijuana is a criminal activity. But the amateur politicians ignored their own legal advice. Millions will be spent litigating an issue that the state decided was legal nearly two decades ago.

With all of the issues facing the city, council has apparently decided there is nothing more important than drawing the television cameras to chambers for some political grandstanding over who is smoking a joint in the privacy of their own home, under the advice of a licensed doctor.

The issue calls for a $50 tax on every $1,000 in sales at each dispensary. One councilwoman estimates it could raise $5 million. Council is facing a $319 million shortfall.
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November 8, 2010

Los Angeles, marijuana growers in the Emerald Triangle, sunk Proposition 19

By Cannabis Law Group

A breakdown of voting for Proposition 19, California’s marijuana legalization effort, found support was strongest in the Bay area but failed in the Emerald Triangle, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Our Los Angeles marijuana defense attorneys noted last month that penalty for possession of up to an ounce of marijuana was reduced from a misdemeanor that required a court appearance, to an infraction punishable by no more than a fine. But Proposition 19 would have made recreational marijuana use legal, permitted possession of up to an ounce by anyone over the age of 21, and allowed for the growing of marijuana in an area of up to 25 square feet.

The measure failed 54 to 46 percent. Supporters vow to have it back on the ballot in 2012.

The strongest support was in San Francisco, where it passed, and in five surrounding counties. San Francisco residents favored the measure 65 percent to 35 percent. The measure also found support in the Central Coast counties of Monterey, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara, as well as the eastern counties of Alpine and Mono.

Voters in Los Angeles County voted against the issue 53 percent to 47 percent. The area is home to a quarter of the state’s voters. The heaviest opposition was in Colusa County, where 68 percent opposed it.

Another area of poor showing was the “Emerald Triangle,” where part of the economy depends on marijuana. Growers there were worried that legalized marijuana could hurt the market for their medical marijuana, which hurt the initiative in Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity counties.
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November 4, 2010

Failure of Proposition 19 highlights need to fight for the rights of medical marijuana patients and dispensaries

By Cannabis Law Group

The marijuana legalization effort is not going away. But Tuesday’s defeat of Proposition 19 makes the fight against the assault on California’s legal medical marijuana industry all the more urgent.

Our Los Angeles medical marijuana collective attorneys urge anyone with a stake in the fight — whether patient, grower or dispensary — to aggressively stand up for their rights under the laws that have made medical marijuana legal in this state for 15 years. With those laws also under attack, the only defense is an aggressive offense. Unless we let it be known that those who enforce the laws must also obey the laws, then it doesn’t matter how many different ways we legalize marijuana.

The Los Angeles Times reports that supporters of the effort to legalize marijuana in California plan to be back on the ballot in 2012. The measure was defeated 54 percent to 46 percent.

As we have reported before here on our Marijuana Lawyer Blog, the fight would have likely just begun with the passage of Proposition 19.

The federal government could have challenged the law. And even the Los Angeles County Sheriff said he would ignore it and continue to make arrests, apparently for activities that were no longer illegal (yes, good luck with that sheriff).

With the legal medical marijuana industry under attack in Los Angeles, we need to convince the politicians and bureaucrats to obey existing laws before the creation of new ones will ensure the protection of a citizen’s rights.
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November 2, 2010

Voting for Proposition 19 today will not put marijuana at your local convenience store tomorrow

By Cannabis Law Group

The Oakland Tribune is reporting that hundreds of doctors have turned to specializing in marijuana, making medical marijuana in Los Angeles and throughout California far easier to get than in the other 13 states where it is legal.

Should voters pass Proposition 19, California’s legalization effort, at the polls today, the newspaper contends that could change. Our Los Angeles marijuana defense lawyers are not so sure. With state and federal challenges a virtual certainty, and with the legal marijuana dispensary industry already under attack, we think prescription marijuana is going to be the safest bet for many users, at least in the immediate future.

While the paper contends the state’s 1996, medical marijuana law has become legal cover to smoke cannabis, we would point out that it remains under attack nearly 15 years after its passage. To think Proposition 19 is going to pass today, and that you are then going to be able to buy marijuana at your local neighborhood convenience store anytime soon, is absurd.

California’s medical marijuana law permits prescription for any illness for which marijuana provides relief. In many other states, the medical marijuana law is much more specific and mentions diseases by name, including AIDS and cancer. Of California’s 100,000 licensed doctors, advocates estimate just over 1 percent, or about 1,500, have prescribed marijuana to at least one patient. About 400 to 500 physicians account for the vast majority of recommendations.
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October 26, 2010

California marijuana legalization supporters to air television ads in Los Angeles

By Cannabis Law Group

Proposition 19, California’s marijuana legalization effort, will run television ads in the Los Angeles area in the closing days of the campaign, the L.A. Times reported.

As our Los Angeles medical marijuana defense attorneys reported recently on our Marijuana Lawyer Blog, political pundits placed part of the blame on a recent 10-point deficit in the polls on the fact that Proposition 19 supporters have lacked the funds to mount an aggressive statewide television campaign.

Beginning Tuesday, and running through the final week to election day, the commercials will air featuring retired San Jose Police Chief Joseph D. McNamara endorsing the initiative.

It is the first campaign supporters of the initiative have put on television. A spokesman said the campaign will spend $170,000 to run the commercials on cable television through election day.

He said he hopes the modest buy of television time can be expanded into other markets though the donations of supporters.

The spot will feature McNamara wearing a suit and tie and speaking directly to the camera. He will say his 35 years in law enforcement have convinced him that the war on marijuana has failed.

“Today, it’s easier for a teenager to buy pot than beer,” he says. “Proposition 19 will tax and control marijuana just like alcohol. It will generate billions of dollars for local communities, allow police to focus on violent crimes and put drug cartels out of business.”

Meanwhile, the California Chamber of Commerce is spending $250,000 in radio ads aimed at beating the initiative. The chamber vaguely claims the proposition would hurt California’s economy and make it tougher to create jobs.

The legalization initiative is supported by the National Black Police Association and 48 current and retired law enforcement veterans.
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October 24, 2010

Latest poll has Proposition 19, California’s legalization effort, trailing badly

By Cannabis Law Group

The latest poll to gauge support for Proposition 19 has found that California’s marijuana legalization effort is trailing badly, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Our L.A. medical marijuana dispensary lawyers don’t put a lot of faith in these polls, particularly when it comes to the marijuana legalization issue. Such polls are typically conducted by calling home telephones, and therefore over represent the older vote. College students or those without landlines — virtually everyone under 30, let’s say, are much more likely to support the legalization effort. These same voters are usually drastically underrepresented in polls.

The Los Angeles Times/USC poll found the issue trailing by a margin of 51 percent to 39 percent. As we reported on our Marijuana Lawyer Blog, the issue has been leading in many previous polls. Politicos contend supporters of the measure are short on money and have not been able to run the kind of television campaign that is critical to success in a state the size of California.

The measure would permit those over the age of 21 to possess up to an ounce of marijuana and to grow marijuana in up to 25 square feet of space.

The poll found a slim margin of support among Democrats while Republicans were opposed by a margin of 2-1. Men were evenly split, while women leaned against.
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