Video 1 KTLA Channel 5 News Story June 18, 2010: Lake Forest Medical Marijuana Dispensary Appealing Injunction Order Video 2 KTTV Channel 11 News Story June 4, 2010: Los Angeles Medical Marijuana Dispensary Challenges LA's Ordinance Video 3 Cannabis Law Group's Attorney Damian Nassiri Sues the City of Los Angeles To Block It's Ban on Medical Marijuana as Featured on PBS's So Cal Insider - Part 1

Articles Posted in California Marijuana

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A Forbes finance and technology reporter recently explored the ways in which the legalization of marijuana across the country has created a scramble for those in the real estate industry. Snapping up commercial warehouses and other properties that will be desirable for marijuana cultivation, processing and distribution is a focus of many investors at this juncture.

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The Wall Street Journal reported that growers are most interested in warehouses bigger than 80,000 feet. Some indoor marijuana farmers want warehouses that are between 8,000 feet and 20,000 feet. These spaces can be primarily used for processing, packaging and storing.

We’re already seeing how this can be profitable for those in commercial real estate. Take Colorado, for example, where CBRE (Commercial Real Estate Services) reports that lease rates for industrial properties in northern Colorado (near Denver) are up to $8.40 per square foot in the first six months of 2016. compare that to the national average for industrial rent, which is at $6.30 per square foot. The marijuana industry has increased the cost of warehouse space for 60 percent, and renewal rates have spiked by 25 percent.  Continue reading

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In just a few days, we’ll know the results of what has undoubtedly been an arduous election. But no matter who wins the presidential race, our marijuana lawyers anticipate one of the biggest winners will be legal marijuana. Five states are slated to weigh marijuana for adult recreational use. Four other states are considering measures that would legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes. Every single one of these initiatives are leading in the polls. As it already stands, 25 states have legalized the drug four (so far) have legalized adult recreational marijuana. money

All of this has understandably caught the eye of investors. The fact that marijuana sales are expected to balloon from the current $7.4 billion to $20.6 billion by 2020 isn’t lost on them. If the November ballot initiatives passed in California, Florida, Arizona, Nevada, Montana, Maine and Massachusetts, those states alone are going to see $2.7 billion in sales by 2018, which is going to grow to about $8 billion within just two years.

Although the potential financial benefits are significant, investors need to be cautious. Consulting with an experienced marijuana attorney is a smart move, considering the volatility of the market, and the fact that not all of these stocks are going to survive. The Marijuana Index, a benchmark firm that follows U.S. and Canadian stocks in the industry noted that public companies in the marijuana market are still highly speculative at this point. Most of the shares are traded over-the-counter, so they don’t have to submit audits to financial regulators. The SEC suspended five marijuana companies in 2014 for engaging in fraud. Investors need to be especially cautious when it comes to start-up companies.  Continue reading

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During pregnancy, cannabis is among the recreational substances used most commonly. Physicians predict as it becomes more readily available across the country, its use among new mothers will rise. Although it’s historically been taboo, that’s largely because we haven’t known that much about it. Research on the health effects of marijuana is scant as it is, and it’s even more sparse when it comes to the effects on fetuses. pregnancy2

To be clear: The American Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecologists state in no uncertain terms to abstain from both alcohol and marijuana. But we all know that many doctors have excused the occasional single glass of Cabernet later in pregnancy. Could having a few puffs of a joint soon be seen in the same way?

A recent report indicates that research on the effects of marijuana during pregnancy aren’t as concrete as some health care professionals may have let on. This certainly doesn’t mean we’re encouraging mothers-to-be to rush to their nearest dispensary to cure their nausea or other pregnancy symptoms. However, the research should come as an important reminder that there is much we still do not know. Continue reading

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All Matthew Harvey wanted to do was take his 3-year-old daughter on a special trip to Disneyland in California. However, the Canadian man’s hopes have been dashed after he was reportedly banned from the U.S. for life. According to Canadian media outlet CBC, the ban had nothing to do with a prior criminal record. He hadn’t been trying to smuggle drugs – or anything else – into the country. Instead, he honestly answered a question posed by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Service: Have you ever used marijuana? canada

He’s a legal medical marijuana patient in Canada. In 2014, he was driving from Vancouver to Seattle, WA, where marijuana is legal both for recreational and medicinal purposes. He had been stopped and questioned by federal border patrol agents for six hours after they spotted a marijuana magazine in his car. During his detention, he was repeatedly questioned about his marijuana use. He did not think to lie, considering Washington state’s policy on the drug and the fact that he legally uses the drug in his home country. He conceded that for a time before he became a legal medical marijuana patient, he’d smoked the drug on occasion recreationally – before Canada had a legal marijuana program. This apparently was enough to trigger the ban.

And of course, while Washington state allows visitors and residents alike to purchase, possess and privately use the drug (with some restrictions), marijuana is still illegal under federal law. And federal law is what governs the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. Although he wasn’t carrying any marijuana with him when he tried to cross the border, he can still be denied access because, U.S. law states that any foreign national who admits to violating his or her country’s own controlled substance laws at some point previously can be deemed ineligible for admission into the U.S.  Continue reading

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Could medical marijuana by a viable – and much safer – alternative to opioid drugs? A growing body of evidence suggests this to be true, but as a recent Scientific American article noted, scientists are having to trudge through heaps of red tape just to study it. 1398224079gyj36

It was two years ago that we learned of findings uncovered by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) which showed that in states where medical marijuana had been approved between 1999 and 2010, there were 25 percent fewer people dying from opioid overdoses. This is major when you consider the scope of the prescription pain medication epidemic nationally, particularly addictions and overdoses involving Vicodin and OxyContin. The Department of Health and Human Services reports more than 165,000 Americans died from prescription opioid overdoses between 1999 and 204. The social and health costs of this drug abuse are estimated to be $55 billion annually.

This had lead researchers on a quest to find a less risky alternative for those in desperate need of pain relief.  Continue reading

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One of the biggest challenges of running a legitimate marijuana dispensary or business is the lack of access to banking services. Because of federal laws that still consider marijuana an illegal, Schedule I narcotic with no medicinal value, banks have been reticent to extend services to any operation that is exchanging marijuana for currency, for fear of getting hemmed up on money laundering charges. cash

The result has been that marijuana dispensaries and businesses operate on a cash-only basis – despite the fact that more than half the U.S. population now lives in a state or jurisdiction where the drug is legal at least for medicinal use. These consumers want safe, legal access to the drug via a well-regulated business. Denial of banking services has made this tough.

Then, it seemed as if there might be some change. In June, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted 16-to-14 to give banks express permission to extend financial services to the marijuana industry. Unfortunately, the House nixed the move – for now, at least.  Continue reading

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As if you needed another reason to support the availability of legal marijuana, here’s another one: Legal marijuana means there are fewer reports of public health problems associated with prescription opioid use. marijuana1

A new study published recently in the journal Health Affairs reveals that in states where medical marijuana is legal, it serves as an alternative to other more dangerous drugs – namely, opiates. That means the number of reported opioid prescriptions, addictions and deaths are markedly down in those states.

In fact, one of the most stunning decreases is with prescription painkillers, which have been the scourge of society in recent years, with health care advocates calling the problem “epidemic.”  Continue reading

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Taxation of legalized marijuana is slated to boost funds for homeless services in L.A. County. That’s if a ballot measure, just approved  by the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, is green-lighted by local voters. homeless

Following a four-hour public hearing on the issue, the board agreed in a split 3-2 decision to impose a county-wide tax on recreational marijuana – if it’s approved by voters statewide in the fall.

This action pays lip service to the confidence county leaders have that the Adult Use of Marijuana Act Initiative is going to pass in November. If both the state and local measures are approved, that could mean an estimated $80 million to $130 million annually helping the homeless in L.A. County. That’s based on projections of a 5 to 10 percent sales tax on recreational marijuana.  Continue reading

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One of the reasons our L.A. marijuana lawyers advocate so strongly for legalization – both for medicinal and recreational purposes – is that we know safe, legal marijuana allows for regulation and minimizes the black market trade. It also is known to slash the demand for synthetic marijuana, which is unregulated, unpredictable and highly toxic.

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Take, for example, the recent exploration of this growing problem in Wired.com. Noting that the synthetic versions of the drug are often comprised of unknown substances, the writer explained that whatever is in it is, “The opposite of chill.”

The story detailed how a Brooklyn hospital was recently flooded with 33 overdoses – people all from the same community – who had to be hospitalized after smoking synthetic marijuana. Many were unable to stand on their own. Some were sprawled helplessly on the pavement. Witnesses likened it to something out of a zombie movie.  Continue reading

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A popular initiative that would legalize recreational marijuana in California is now officially on the November ballot. voterinformation

The measure had to garner a minimum of 600,000 valid voter signatures to qualify for consideration. A random sampling of those signatures by the state election’s office proved there were enough, numerous outlets reported.

A spokesperson for the initiative, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, said the approval marks the start of a step away from the expensive, harmful and ultimately ineffective prohibition on the responsible, legal use of adult marijuana use.  Continue reading

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