California Marijuana

June 29, 2011

Medical Marijuana Dispensary in Oakland – City Says Yes, Feds Say No

Local officials are finally welcoming medical marijuana in California — if only because they now see it as a way to increase collected taxes for the city. Cities and states are looking to license commercial growing as the demand for medical marijuana is increasing around the country, but the Federal Government isn’t having it.

Our Los Angeles medical marijuana attorneys recognize that as companies continue to try to operate under a number of regulations, they’re always facing new ones that aim to put them out of business. As a matter of fact, growers in Oakland recently celebrated their plans to open four industrial-scale medical pot farms under a new city ordinance. Those celebrations were short lived.

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan was even in on the action. He spoke with these companies and welcomed their operations, but also welcomed the potential tax windfall.

“When these cultivation facilities come online, we’re estimating in the first few years five to eight million dollars. Now that’s a sizeable chunk of change and it’s going to be an important part of this city’s economy,” said Quan.

Eight months after the exciting news, the plans seemingly disintegrated right in front of the city after the U.S. Justice Department sternly warned the city that licensing of commercial marijuana growing, even for medical use, violates federal law.

The large industrial park, located just off Oakland’s 880 Freeway, was once the home to one of the four planned industrial-scale medical pot farms. It now just sits empty.

“This building was dubbed the football field of cannabis during our heyday. We were going to have 380 employees, and the average pay was about $52,000 [a year] per person,” said developer Jeff Wilcox.

Wilcox had it all planned out. They thought they would remain safe from the feds as long as they were to comply with the city’s regulations and the state’s laws. That wasn’t the case.

“The industry is scared that there’s a big push back coming against us,” said Wilcox.

Oakland wasn’t the only city to get the smack down from the feds. The Justice Department warned officials in eight other cities about their intentions of violating federal law if they allowed commercial production of medical cannabis.

“That, in very simple terms, is what drug traffickers do. That is drug trafficking period,” said Tommy LaNier, director of the National Marijuana Initiative, a program funded by the White House Office on Drug Control Policy.

The Justice Department isn’t just focusing in on the operators of the facilities. They report that even local officials could face criminal charges for allowing these companies to operate.

A number of advocates are furious that the government is going back on their word. Through a Justice Department memo, they made a promise in 2009 that essentially stated: “comply with state law and the feds won’t prosecute you.”

City officials in Oakland aren’t giving up just yet on their plans to license marijuana cultivation. Unfortunately, this recent scare has turned away potential investors of the legitimately regulated business.

“You want to try to start an industry and then you have the IRS working against you, the federal government working against you — you’ve got a real problem,” said Wilcox. “So the problem is if you don’t grow this industry what happens is that it remains a black-market industry, and it’s always going to be that way.”
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June 26, 2011

Miss America Favors Medical Marijuana in California

By Cannabis Law Group

This past weekend, Miss California Alyssa Campanella was crowned as 2011 “Miss USA.” What surprised audiences wasn’t her stunning beauty or her glitz and glamor on the stage, rather it was her answer to one specific question that raised some eyebrows.

During the question-and-answer part of the competition, Miss California was asked about the legalization of marijuana in Los Angeles and elsewhere throughout the United States and her perspective on the medicinal cannabis.

Our Los Angeles medical marijuana attorneys understand the popularity of this debate. It seems that everyone, including Miss America, has something to say about the topic. As you can see, the topic is so prevalent in American culture that it was used as a question during the award show.

“Well, I understand why that question would be asked, especially with today’s economy, but I also understand that medical marijuana is very important to help those who need it medically,” she said. “I’m not sure if it should be legalized, if it would really affect, with the drug war. I mean, it’s abused today, unfortunately, so that’s the only reason why I would kind of be a little bit against it, but medically it’s OK.”

This particular question and response bit has been seen by more people that actually watched the pageant, according to The 420 Times. That’s what type of reaction our country gives to this issue. Many marijuana advocates offer a big high-five to the young Miss America saying that this girl somewhat understands the battle that these patients are going through, regardless of her lack of life experience. Some even say it’s because she from California.

Some are hesitant to reward her full answer as she made references to the substance being “abused” and to it being involved in “drug wars.”

You can see Miss California Alyssa Campanella, now 2011 Miss USA, submit her answer regarding medical marijuana for yourself, if you haven’t already.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recorded that these symptoms or conditions requiring the use of medicinal marijuana under Appendix IV of their 2002 report, “Descriptions of Allowable Conditions under State Medical Marijuana Laws“:

-Alzheimer’s Disease
-Anorexia
-AIDS
-Arthritis
-Cachexia
-Cancer
-Crohn’s Disease
-Epilepsy
-Glaucoma
-HIV
-Migraine
-Multiple Sclerosis
-Nausea
-Pain
-Spasticity
-Wasting Syndrome
Cannabis has been used for a number of medicinal purposes for a quite some time now, throughout the entire world. It has been used in a variety of medicines in the U.S. until the 1940s. It was previously referred to the best treatment for migraine headaches in the 1800s by Dr, William Osler, the father of modern medicine.

The rights of patients that use this healing drug are being stripped from them from every direction. It is important for us as residents of the United States and as active members in the medical community to stand for and protect what little rights we have left. This drug is important for the cure and healing of a number of conditions and it is no one’s right to take these away.

“It is extraordinarily safe — safer than most medicines prescribed every day. If marijuana were a new discovery rather than a well-known substance carrying cultural and political baggage, it would be hailed as a wonder drug,” says Lester Grinspoon, MD, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
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June 24, 2011

Retirement Community Says NO to Medical Marijuana in Los Angeles and their Communities

By Cannabis Law Group

The Golden Rain Foundation, a group of volunteers that govern a local residential retirement community, is putting their foot down on medical marijuana grow efforts of their community’s residents, according to TIME News Feed. There are approximately 150 residents in the community of 18,000 that have been recommended the use of medical marijuana in California. Laguna Woods Village, the retirement community, says it’s not happening in their neighborhoods.

The neighborhood enforcement squad of resident volunteers disallowed the cultivation of marijuana in their neighborhood’s gardens. Under their state-mandated legal right, any one senior who possesses a medical marijuana card is allowed to grow up to six mature plants in their private residences. Laguna Woods Village is trying to stop the growing on their properties.

Our Los Angeles medical marijuana attorneys understand that medical marijuana patients have a number of rights that many oppose. First it was the federal government fighting against them, then the state government and now residents in their very own neighborhoods. The use of marijuana, medical or not, has not been universally accepted in Laguna Woods Village and patients are fighting back.

“This did stir up a lot of feelings,” says Laguna Woods Village resident Susan Margolis. “There are a lot of people that have never used marijuana and there are younger people who have used marijuana who say, ‘Come on now, this is just ridiculous.'”

Right off the bat, the resident’s growing plan was quickly shot down by the community’s governing board. They moved on to the next plan, which was the attempt to run their own greenhouse in a rented spot located away from the neighborhood. That plan backfired when they reportedly lost thousands of dollars worth of their product when a light was plugged into the wrong outlet.

It was on to the third plan. They offered seedlings to a grower that operated a greenhouse in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, the police shut down this facility and destroyed the plants in the process.

In a final attempt, a collective member started up two greenhouses outside of the neighborhood. The marijuana grown at these facilities is reportedly sold to collective members. They use a sliding scale to price the product. This scale is predicated on the need and the ability to pay. Prices at this operation range from $35 an ounce to about $200 an ounce.

Many of these residents are suffering from some serious health problems, including osteoarthritis, debilitating nausea and the after-effects of a stroke.

“Look, whether it’s a legal thing or not a legal thing, it helps you. I am 90 years old and I don’t mind talking about it,” collective member Joe Schwartz.

Many of these residents believe that with the growing population of elderly residents in the United States, the use of this product will grow as well hopefully one day providing more normalcy from the perspective of others. As of now, it’s not looking too promising.

“We’ve got people who don’t like it here, they don’t like marijuana and they still have that ‘communism’ and ‘perversion’ and ‘killer weed’ attitude,” says Lonnie Painter, director of a group known as Laguna Woods for Medical Cannabis.

According to Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration the number of people that are aged 50 and older that reported marijuana use during the previous year went up from 1.9 percent in 2002 to 2.9 percent in 2008.
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June 14, 2011

U.S. Attorneys to Close Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Nationwide

By Cannabis Law Group

States across the country are legalizing the sale of medical marijuana, and the federal government isn’t happy about it. U.S. attorneys recently voiced their warnings, urging local governments to rethink their plans of opening medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles and elsewhere throughout the country.

Rhode Island recently attempted to open one of its first medical marijuana stores, but that didn’t go as planned, according to NPR.

We’d like to recognize that President Obama’s administration has yet to push federal laws in states where medical marijuana is legal, but our Los Angeles medical marijuana attorneys understand that could be a thing of the past. Feds have begun focusing their attention back to these dispensaries.

“The U.S. attorney was very direct,” Rhode Island’s governor spokesman Michael Trainor says. “The governor believes that if we proceed on the present course, he’d be putting the compassion centers and people associated with compassion centers at great risk.”

Rhode Island isn’t the only state receiving these letters. Eight other states with medical marijuana programs received the threats. Advocates believe that these threats are a complete opposition from the Obama administration’s original stance on the medical marijuana industry. The Justice Department refuses to clarify the decision, saying only that its policy remains the same. The warning states that the U.S. attorneys that are assigned to each state can use their own discretion about how to enforce the policy.

What’s the policy, you ask? Well, it depends on how you interpret the “the Ogden memo.”

“In 2009, the Department of Justice indicated that it would be a low priority to prosecute anyone who was complying with state medical marijuana laws,” explains Jay Rorty of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Rorty says that the 2009 memo from the former Deputy Attorney General David Ogden led advocates to believe that the federal government wouldn’t interfere with state medical marijuana stores.

“I think the ACLU takes that statement out of context,” says U.S. Attorney Michael Ormsby from Washington state. He believes that the memo simply means that the federal government won’t go after the patients who choose to grow their own marijuana, but retail stores were never part of that exception.

Each area interprets these vague letters differently, and despite the risk, many are pressing forward with with their programs. Others are in the same limbo as Rhode Island, where patients are getting frustrated and these companies are at a standstill.

The federal government continues to push these anti-pot laws and regulations because of how marijuana is currently rated and categorized with other drugs. Currently, marijuana is a considered a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). In a Schedule I drug classification, the drug is determined to have a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug under medical supervision.

States continue to face new risks as more and more of them legalize and open dispensaries. Local governments focus on a lawsuit filed by the governor of Arizona to determine the federal government’s official stance on state medical marijuana programs.

“Unfortunately, with this piece of legislation, there are some pretty serious consequences if we don’t get them resolved. And I, as governor, am not willing to put those people at risk,” said Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer.
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June 12, 2011

Raids Close Five Medical Marijuana Collectives in Fresno

By Cannabis Law Group

Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims alleges local collectives are illegal “money-making drug operations.”

Five medical marijuana collectives in Fresno dispute the claims, according to AOL News.

“The Board of Supervisors made it clear in December that instead of regulating [the collectives] they wanted to ban them all,” said attorney Brenda Linder of Fresno, a spokesman for EarthSource, one of five collectives raided Wednesday. “I assume they set about doing it any way they could.”

Once again, feds have ransacked these marijuana companies with unnecessary force — all in search of “paperwork.” Our Los Angeles medical marijuana attorneys have reported about this before. These companies are experiencing dramatic and unnecessary raids from the federal government. No letters of warning or notice were received by these companies prior to the raids, as most would willingly cooperate.

Last week’s raids reportedly enlisted nearly 200 law-enforcement officers. Enforcement reportedly seized the collectives’ marijuana and served search warrants seeking their bank and telephone records.

Cash transactions at collectives can cover the cost of marijuana, but that doesn’t necessarily make them for-profit companies. Collectives may charge their customers enough to cover employee salaries, rent and other operating expenses.

Currently, these collectives are able to charge legal marijuana card holders a reasonable amount of money for their products, but they can’t make a profit.

Customers of the Buds-4-Life Collective, a recently raided company, gathered outside of the building as the raid proceeded last week.

Currently, authorities are reviewing the evidence from the raid in an attempt to determine which charges and indictments will be filed against the collective. This review and determination could take months.

There are roughly 15 medical marijuana collectives in unincorporated Fresno County.

At a recent sheriff’s news conference, items seized in each of the raids of five different dispensaries were put on display. In this display were various medical marijuana products, about $300,000 in cash and five weapons.

Officials believe that the collectives were bringing in $25,000 to $50,000 a day, much of that being pure profit.

No arrests were made and all five collectives are currently closed because of the raids.
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June 10, 2011

Case Dropped Against Oldest-Running Southland Medical Marijuana Dispensary

By Cannabis Law Group

A case was recently dropped against the longest-serving medical marijuana dispensary in Los Angeles, and the owner publicly vowed to continue to cultivate marijuana in his own backyard for seriously ill HIV/AIDS patents.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office dropped a criminal case against the owner just days before it was due to go to trial, according to the Los Angeles Wave.

Paul Scott, the founder and executive director of the Inglewood Wellness Center and the Los Angeles Wellness Center was arrested and charged last June for the cultivation of marijuana and the possession of marijuana for sale. He no longer faces any of these charges.

Our Los Angeles medical marijuana lawyers understand that in many cases, law enforcement can’t back up their zealous raids in court. They can, however, cause a defendant years of headaches, delays and confusion. Oftentimes these cases may leave a defendant eligible to pursue a civil recovery or other means of redress in return for inconvenience.

“There was a ‘ghetto bird’ over head, I’m in handcuffs; they go through to the back garden and pull up the plants and put them in big bags,” Scott recalled. “I was trying to tell them who I am … that I am a founder of a medical marijuana collective and that I have all the paperwork. They just sit me on the sofa asking me questions about money and bank accounts and search the house from top to bottom. They also rip the lights out from the indoor green house.”

Scott compared his arrest at his South Los Angeles home to that of a Hollywood movie scene.

The founder reportedly spent $30,000 on the services of a Santa Monica-based attorney. The District Attorney eventually offered a deal to dismiss the case in exchange for a 90-day jail sentence.

“Jury selection was becoming imminent … there were some pre-trial procedures, but had we not succeeded in the pre-trial phase, we would have been picking a jury,” Scott’s attorney said. “My first thought when Paul approached me to take the case was … is there a legitimate medical marijuana collective? And as we did our investigation it became clear that Paul’s collective, the Inglewood Wellness Center, is probably the most legitimate collective I’ve ever seen.”

The defendant received plenty of support from members of the community who Scott had helped. He didn’t only help them with medical marijuana, but he also created Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets, and backpacks for school children in the area. To his supporters, he wasn’t just a pot dealer, but a true member of the community.

“Their dilemma is that the rules are not clearly established in distinguishing between legal and illegal distribution of marijuana. If it is done for medical marijuana purposes and on a collective basis, it’s not illegal, but the lines are not clear,” Scott’s attorney said. “It’s difficult for lawyers advising collectives; it’s difficult for the courts to enforce the rules because they are so vague. It’s hard for police to know when someone is acting illegal or not. But the facts in Paul’s case came down very clearly on the legal side of the equation.”

Scott believes that had the officers known then what they know now, he may not have been arrested. Officers often fail to use logic during these raids and focus on the bust.

Scott now plans to help those who may not be able to afford medical marijuana. He would like to help them grow their own plants in his backyard. All he asks is for their help watering and caring for the medicinal plants.
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June 6, 2011

Medical Marijuana Users in California Estimated at More Than 1 Million

By Cannabis Law Group

According to California NORML, there are now an estimated 1.1 million medical marijuana users in the state. These users make up roughly 3 percent of the population.

This number has continued to increase, as has the demand for the product. There were an estimated 300,000 patients in 2007, 150,000 in 2005 and 75,000 in 2004. The increase is consistent with the registration rates of other comparable states that have similar access to medicinal clinics and dispensaries in Los Angeles and elsewhere, according to The Weed Blog.

Patients are not currently required to register in California, making the exact number uncertain. California’s current medical marijuana law, Prop. 215, states that patients only need a doctor’s recommendation to legally purchase and use the product. As of now, a tiny fraction of the state’s medical marijuana users are enrolled in the state’s voluntary ID card program. This program issued 12,659 cards in 2009 and 2010.

Our Los Angeles medical marijuana attorneys understand that these numbers represent a large number of legitimate patients who are permitted by state law to consume medical marijuana, but local politicians continue to prevent their treatment by shutting down these shops with more restrictive laws, regulations and bans.

There is still no proof that liberal access to the drug has caused any type of increase in the overall marijuana use in California.

“The data show that medical marijuana users are becoming an increasingly important constituency,” said California NORML Director Dale Gieringer. “It is time for the federal government to stop ignoring the facts and recognize their right to medicine.”

According to U.S. SAMHSA data, the number of users in California, including those non-medical users, equals less than 7 percent of the population just in the past month, or a little more than 11 percent in the past year. These rates put California only slightly above the national average in marijuana use, and below several states with even tougher marijuana laws.

The total retail value of the amount of medical marijuana consumed in California is estimated between $1.5 and $4.5 billion a year. The average use of the product is between 0.5 to 1 gram per day at an estimated cost of $320 per ounce.

California is the only state that allows the use of marijuana to treat any condition for which it provides relief, including psychiatric disorders such as PTSD, bipolar disorder, ADD, anxiety and depression. These conditions account for roughly 25 percent of the total patient population.

If companies, patients and users do not continue to fight for their rights as medical marijuana users, this treatment could be yanked from California and patients will be left to suffer. Users and business operators in the industry are urged to vote to preserve our rights. Until patients are truly united, user rights will continue to be trampled on by federal and state governments.
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June 2, 2011

The War on Drugs Affects Legal Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in California

By Cannabis Law Group

A group of high-profile war leaders recently joined together to urge the Obama administration to end the war on drugs. The group calls it a costly drug failure as the battle only focuses on “the criminalization, marginalization and stigmatization of people who use drugs but do no harm to others,” according to the Los Angeles Times.

This focus on harmless medical use negatively affects medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles and elsewhere in California as they’ve fallen victim to raids, shut downs, and endless fines.

New recommendations from the Global Commission on Drug Policy urge governments to try new ways of legalizing and regulating drugs, especially marijuana, as a way to deny profits to drug cartels. This Global Commission on Drug Policy includes former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and past presidents of Mexico, Brazil and Colombia.

Our Orange County medical marijuana lawyers are not surprised that this recommendation was quickly dismissed by the Obama administration and Mexico’s government. These governments are allied in a violent four-year crackdown on drug cartels. This crackdown has left more than 38,000 people dead in Mexico.

“The U.S. needs to open a debate,” former Colombian President Cesar Gaviria, a member of the panel, said by telephone from New York, where the report is scheduled to be released Thursday. “When you have 40 years of a policy that is not bringing results, you have to ask if it’s time to change it.”

On the commission’s website, resident can access a copy of the full report and the new recommendations in either English or Spanish.

“We can no longer ignore the extent to which drug-related violence, crime and corruption in Latin America are the results of failed drug war policies,” Gaviria said in a prepared statement. “Now is the time to break the taboo on discussion of all drug policy options, including alternatives to drug prohibition.”

Last week, the new drug-policy report was released in New York, and the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy issued a statement arguing against its recommendations.

“The Obama administration’s efforts to reduce drug use are not born out of a culture war or drug war mentality, but out of the recognition that drug use strains our economy, health, and public safety,” the statement read.

The president of Mexico, Felipe Calderon, continues to state that he does not support the legalization of drugs. He does say that he remains open to debate the topic. This position was reiterated early this week by the president’s top national-security spokesman, Alejandro Piore.

Piore stated that the Mexican government “categorically rejects the impression that in Mexico, by definition, a stronger application of the law on the part of the authorities shall result in an increase in violence on the part of the narco-traffickers.”

The 2012 budget has requested $1.7 billion for drug prevention programs. This request is nearly 8 percent more than the previous year.

“Making drugs more available — as this report suggests — will make it harder to keep our communities healthy and safe,” said Rafael Lemaitre, spokesman for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

It is not until effective reform is set forth and enforced that we will be able to begin to solve the problems and confusion surrounding medical marijuana is our area.
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May 31, 2011

Senate to Vote on Medical Marijuana Employment Discrimination Law

By Cannabis Law Group

The State Senators of California were called to debate a possible new law last week, Senate Bill 129. This bill would restrict the ability of an employer to fire an employee, or to discriminate against the hiring of future employees, because of legal medical marijuana use. This law would not allow patients to use the drug on the clock or on their work site. This saves an employee from job stress relating to possession and cultivation of medical marijuana in Los Angeles and elsewhere across the state, according to The 420 Times.

The Americans for Safe Access are currently sponsoring Senators Mark Leno’s (D-SF) bill as they believe that every medical marijuana patient is entitled to the same rights and those that protect an employee from being dismissed from the workplace simply because they use other prescription drugs.

We understand that the industry, doctors and patients continue to face a daily battle against the government and their idea of effectively regulating the industry. Our Los Angeles medical marijuana lawyers can not overlook the fact that patients, doctors and dispensary owners and employees face a laundry list of threats and restrictions day after day. If your are currently facing charges related to the use of medical marijuana, you are urged to contact an experienced attorney to help you right for your rights.

The new bill will protect patients who have been approved by a doctor to use medical marijuana. Patients will not be allowed to use the medical cannabis at their workplace or during their work shift. This Senate Bill would simply provide the same protection and rights that users of prescriptions drugs possess.

With this bill active, a worker would have the right to institute and prosecute a civil action for damages, reasonable attorney fees and costs and injunctive relief if they have suffered from any sort of discrimination in the violations of the bill.

Advocates for the legal use of medical marijuana oftentimes remind supporters of the drug that activism isn’t always protesting, sign-waving or marching, but sometimes the most effective way to induce change is to contact our California leaders with a phone call, a letter or an email.

ASA’s Online Action Center has provided medical marijuana advocates with this Senate Bill 129 support template to help effectively communicate with California leaders. Their website also allows you to enter in your specific zip code to help ensure that the letter gets to the right recipient.
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May 28, 2011

Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in Newport Beach Fall Victim to “Nuisance Abatement”

By Cannabis Law Group

Three medical marijuana dispensaries in Newport Beach are facing scrutiny from city council as they’re the target of “nuisance abatement.” Many believe after being served with this warning, these shops will be fined and forced out of business, according to Hydroponic Meds. City officials have been known to place fines or liens on companies in amounts in which they are not able to pay, and therefor forced to shut down.

The 3 medical marijuana dispensaries are facing “potential initiation of litigation involving the illegal sale of marijuana” are:

-The West Coast Cure on Newport Boulevard
-Nature’s Alternative Solutions on Irvine Avenue
-The Healing Tree on Birch Street
Our Newport Beach medical marijuana attorneys understand that government officials target dispensaries. We also understand that they will go to great lengths, find bogus violations and create unnecessary regulations in an attempt to control the industry. If you are facing charges for operating a medical dispensary in California, it is critical for you to contact an experienced attorney. With proper representation at your side, you can more efficiently fight for your given rights as a legal business operation in the state of California.

Newport Beach isn’t the first city to do this sort of thing. Santa Ana dispensaries regularly face fines from the city. Companies in the area have come to add this inconvenience as a business cost in order to continue to operate. Long Beach dispensaries face fines of roughly $2,500 each day when served a violation. These fines get tagged on as liens on the property owner is these fines are not paid.

Newport city council discussed the closure of these 3 dispensaries during a closed session agenda for Tuesday.

Within the next month, the city looks to close at least 20 more dispensaries after expected failed site inspections and code violations. The county oftentimes relies on these code violations and site inspections to shut down these medical marijuana dispensaries as outright bans have proven to backfire. Seemingly, it’s an endless circle.

A recent closure, Holistic Health’s of Dana Point, shut down a number of their dispensaries after the receiving building violations. The owners of the company were fined $1 million.

Newport Beach isn’t alone. Costa Mesa is currently facing decisions regarding regulation or an outright ban for these medical marijuana companies as well.

One thing is for certain, there will continue to be a lot of uncertainty pertaining to the industry, especially with the 2012 election approaching. Many worry that if President Obama is not reelected and a Republican takes office once again that the Feds will attack these companies even harder, according to Medical Cannabis.

The residents of California gave medical marijuana the go-ahead back in 1996. Since then, many cities have fought to keep these dispensaries beyond their city lines.

According to city spokeswoman Tara Finnigan, dispensaries are currently prohibited under Newport’s zoning and municipal codes.
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