Medical Marijuana in California

April 13, 2014

Medical Marijuana may Alleviate Symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis

The medical uses for marijuana are varied and new medicinal uses are being established frequently.

Recently, our Los Angeles marijuana lawyers have seen information regarding how medicinal marijuana may help patients with multiple sclerosis.

The debate for legalization could be swayed heavily by the continuing research that shows patients suffering from many diseases can experience relief from medicinal marijuana.
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March 20, 2014

Key Upcoming Marijuana Legislation in California

By Cannabis Law Group

There are a number of key pieces of legislation that will be considered by the California Legislator in the coming year. It is important to maintain a knowledge of these bills and their affect on current marijuana laws in the state.

Our Los Angeles marijuana lawyers are keeping tabs on four bills in particular and note that the public should be aware of the legislation as well.

Research suggests that citizen lobbyists are far more persuasive (up to six times more) than lobbyists who are paid. This means that citizen awareness and action is extremely important.
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March 11, 2014

Cannabis May Be A Substitute For Alcohol, Study Says

By Cannabis Law Group

A recent study suggests that Marijuana may be a substitute for alochol. According to an article published in the online journal called Alochol and Alcoholism, cannabis could be a replacement for alcohol consumption.

Our Los Angeles marijuana lawyers do not believe addiction to any substance is a good thing but what if low or moderate marijuana use could completely replace heavy alcohol use?

An investigator from the Alcohol Research Group reviewed large amounts of literature in an effort to reveal whether consumption of cannabis can satisfy the published criteria for alcohol substitute medications. There are seven accepted criteria for a medication to be accepted as an alcohol substitute.
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March 5, 2014

Diamond Bar Bans Medical Marijuana Clinics

By Cannabis Law Group

With all the strides made by marijuana advocates in the areas of legalization, it is important to remember that some places continue to ban marijuana businesses.

Our marijuana lawyers in Los Angeles realize that public opinion has begun to shift in regard to marijuana policy throughout the country but this doesn’t mean advocates can take their foot off the gas pedal.

The city of Diamond Bar has followed the lead of some other local cities and decided to institute a ban on all medicinal marijuana dispensaries. The ban comes slightly less than a year following a local facility being shuttered by federal law enforcement.
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December 20, 2012

California Supreme Court Takes On Second Medical Marijuana Case

By Cannabis Law Group

The California Supreme Court will be taking on a second medical marijuana case, with the stipulation that a hearing on that case be deferred pending a decision in the first.

Los Angeles medical marijuana lawyers are watching both cases closely, as they both strike at the heart of the issue of whether cities can legally ban medical marijuana dispensaries that are operating legally under state law.

The first case, City of Riverside v. Inland Empire Patient’s Health & Wellness Center Inc., is an appeal from a dispensary regarding earlier decisions from both the trial and appellate courts favoring the City of Riverside in its decision to ban the Inland Empire medical marijuana dispensary for being a public nuisance, per a city ordinance.

The Inland Empire Center contends that the ordinance is in fact preempted by state law – specifically, the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, Health & Safety Code 11362.5, and the Medical Marijuana Program under Health & Safety Code 11362.7-11362.83.

In the Temecula case, the Cooperative Patient Services Inc. is fighting a decision by the appellate court to support the city’s pattern of denying a business license to the dispensary, citing the city’s injunction against medical marijuana dispensaries – in spite of state law.

Back in March, federal agents raided Cooperative Patient Services and seized all of its products, saying the dispensary was operating as a for-profit facility, in violation of state laws.

Interestingly in the second case, despite the city’s victory, the appellate decision had not been unanimous. Dissenting Associate Justice Jeffrey King said in his opinion that even though a city has the right to regulate and restrict the location of a medical marijuana operation, the city is not legally allowed to prohibit its existence entirely.

We hope that this would set the tone for a favorable decision from the state Supreme Court, which announced on Dec. 14 that it would accept the Temecula case.

Of course, it’s also worth noting that the issue of a local government’s authority to impose restrictions, regulations or an outright ban is only one layer to this onion. You also have the issue of federal law with which to contend. Federal law views marijuana as a Schedule I narcotic, illegal to possess or distribute under all circumstances.

Medical marijuana advocates are hoping that states’ rights prevail in both instances, though the U.S. Supreme Court has yet to accept a case on the issue of marijuana – medicinal or otherwise.

The state Supreme Court’s announcement comes on the heels of President Barack Obama’s pledge not to pursue charges against recreational users of marijuana in states like Washington or Colorado where voters have approved measures to legalize the drug. However, those who cultivate and distribute the drug – for any purposes – fear federal trafficking charges, which could potentially result in years in prison.

At the president’s behest, the U.S. Attorney General’s Office is examining how to address the conflict between positions held by these states and the federal government.
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June 26, 2012

Legalized Medical Pot Doesn’t Boost Teen Drug Use

By Cannabis Law Group

New research spells out what our Los Angeles marijuana lawyers have been saying all along: Legalized medical marijuana does not increase illicit marijuana use by teens.

While the study, conducted by economists at the University of Colorado Denver, doesn’t directly impact policy, either in Colorado or California, it does get to the heart of what so many anti-pot activists claim. That is, that marijuana is a gateway drug that will propel our youth into harder substances and further that legalized marijuana increases their access.

Instead, researchers analyzing teen drug use in states that had legalized marijuana for medical purposes found there was not even a hint of an increase in those areas as opposed to places that had not legalized it. If anything, the opposite was actually true.

One of the lead researchers on the study, economist Daniel Rees, was quoted as saying that critics of medical marijuana who validate their efforts by citing an uptick in teen drug use will have to find other reasons to back their claims.

Rees and the other researchers, who were also from the University of Oregon and Montana State University, poured over survey data spanning from 1993 to 2009. Within that time frame, there were 13 states (California being the first) to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes. (It’s now legal in 17 states.) Each of those states have been varied in their approaches to regulation, and therefore, have varied in the level of access that patients had to dispensaries.

In comparing the data on legalization to the survey data regarding teen drug use, they found that whether a state had legalized marijuana or not held no bearing whatsoever on the teens using drugs. In fact, there was often an inverse relationship: In those states where marijuana was expressly illegal for all purposes, teens were more likely to abuse the drug.

The researchers have floated around several theories as to why this is, but at least partially, it could have something to do with the fact that when you make something strictly off-limits, it becomes more attractive to teens. If you make it something that is well-understood and well-regulated, it becomes less of a forbidden fruit.

Researchers concede that there is some anecdotal evidence that the medical marijuana is finding its way into the hands of teenagers, but the actual, hard statistics just don’t bear that out.

This research echoes a similar study out of Rhode Island, which legalized medicinal marijuana in 2006, that indicated the same. In that study, scientists explored marijuana and other drug use among teens there between 1997 and 2009. What they found was that the 2006 passage of the medical marijuana law had no effect whatsoever on teens using drugs.
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March 26, 2012

L.A. Medical Marijuana Defense: A win in People v. Chan

By Cannabis Law Group

All too frequently in this line of work, our Los Angeles medical marijuana attorneys meet with clients who have been treated unjustly by overzealous police or prosecutors.

Increasingly in these Los Angeles medical marijuana defense cases, it has to do with the federal government, imposing laws contrary to those voted upon by the people of California. However, local law enforcement sometimes see employees of marijuana dispensaries and collectives as easy targets. Individuals and businesses who are clearly in compliance with state laws should not be subject to harassment and arrest.

Unfortunately, though, that is what happened to our client in People v. Chan. Our client was an operator of a marijuana collective. While in the course of carrying out the legal duties of his business, he was stopped by police.

At the time he was pulled over, he was transporting medical marijuana for his collective. Police slapped him with two felony charges – sale and transportation of marijuana in violation of Health & Safety Code11359.

In the first law, California Health & Safety Code 11360(a), it is stipulated that “except as otherwise provided by this section or as authorized by law,” anyone who participates in transporting, importing, selling, furnishing, administering or giving away of marijuana – or anyone who even offers to do so – will be subject to a prison sentence of between two and four years. At issue here is the first part of it – “as authorized by law.” Under California law, our client was in fact allowed to be transporting marijuana in the course of his business at a legal marijuana collective.

The second law, California Health & Safety Code 11359, indicates that possessing marijuana for the purpose of selling it is a felony. Again, at issue here was the fact that our client had the right to possess marijuana with the intent to sell it – as the operator of a legal marijuana collective.

At issue in our case was showing proof that our client was acting within the boundaries of California’s medical marijuana laws, which allow marijuana collective operators to conduct their business legally.

The CANNABIS LAW GROUP takes on these cases because we believe strongly in the rights of our clients to operate freely – without the threat of prosecution – when they are acting within the scope of the state’s medical marijuana laws and the intended purpose therein – which is to be allowed to provide marijuana for its medicinal properties to ill patients for relief of pain and other ailments.

In preparation for this case, our lawyer was on the front lines of negotiations with the District Attorney. While plea deals were laid out on the table, our lawyer flatly informed the prosecution that nothing but a dismissal would be acceptable. That demand was initially refused, but our lawyers pressed forward, confident in the strength of the case.

An effective attorney needs more than just a firm grasp of the law. He or she needs to know how to implement an effective strategy, given the unique circumstances of each case, that will ultimately render the best possible outcome for the client.

Medical marijuana has become a hot-button topic and a way for prosecutors and politicians to flex their political muscle. At the end of the day, however, what’s right is right and judges and juries must follow the letter of the law.

In this case, what needed to be proven was that our client had been operating in compliance with California’s medical marijuana laws.

As a preliminary hearing drew nearer, Medical Marijuana Defense Attorneys prepared witnesses to testify on our client’s behalf. Witness after witness – including seriously ill medical marijuana patients – took the stand and spoke in defense of our client.

Prosecutors, upon seeing the fortitude of our case, had no choice but to agree to a dismissal.
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March 25, 2012

Employees of Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in Los Angeles Join List of Unionized Workers

By Cannabis Law Group

Medical marijuana may or may not be legal in the city of Los Angeles in the coming years, but in an effort to ward off a potential citywide ban on medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles and to protect their rights, workers are coming together to form a labor union.

The formation of this union shows the true economic power and clout of the industry, despite sanctions and attacks at a local, state and federal level.

According to the Los Angeles Times, employees of medical marijuana dispensaries have now joined forced with pharmacists, healthcare workers and grocery workers at the United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 770. During a recent news conference, the head of the union vowed to leverage the “full force” of its near 40,000 members to help keep dispensaries in the city open for business.

Our Orange County medical marijuana lawyers understand that the city of Los Angeles is currently contemplating a ban that would prohibit businesses to sell medical marijuana. Under the current proposals, patients and caregivers would still be permitted to grow it. Back in January, City Attorney Carmen Trutanich asked city council to eliminate Los Angeles’ current ordinance, which allowed dispensaries to operate through a lottery system. Trutanich says that a court’s decision puts restrictions on what cities can do to regulate dispensaries.

“Unionization and collective bargaining bring better training, less turnover, and more stability to the health care industry. This is a positive step towards successfully integrating compassionate care into our system of health care,” said Rick Icaza, president of Local 770.

Right now, the state’s Supreme Court is planning on reviewing the rulings through a lower court and looking into how much local government can do to oversee and regulate such operations. This ruling could potentially take a year or more.

As we recently reported, Council member Jose Huizar is one of the top fighters for this kind of ban. In his district is Eagle Rock, a community where there have been many complaints filed by the areas’ activists regarding a lot of dispensaries operating in the area.

The president of Local 770 says that the union is planning on challenging city officials to find an ordinance that would not completely prohibit dispensaries. The president adds that a union within this industry is the next step to take in stabilizing and professionalizing this specific industry of healthcare.

A complete ban on these dispensaries would affect more than patients. Valuable jobs would be also be taken from the community.

The state’s director of Americans for Safe Access, Don Duncan, says that he hopes that the creation of this union will help an industry that is commonly misunderstood.

Unions bring medical marijuana into the field as a legitimate industry. Various branches of the United Food and Commercial Workers already have unionized workers in other parts of California and in Colorado.
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March 23, 2012

Medical Marijuana in Los Angeles Frowned Upon by Feds 40 Years after First Congressional Commission Assessment

By Cannabis Law Group

Recently (on March 22nd), our country celebrated forty years since the first and only Congressional Commission assessed policies regarding medical marijuana in California and elsewhere.

The assessment was the result of requests to Congress to lighten up on the country’s law so that the use of small quantities and possession of marijuana by adults would no longer be punished as a criminal offense, according to NORML.

On March 22nd in 1972, the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse concluded that the offenses associated with minor possession of the drug should be “decriminalized.” Recommended by the Commission was that states should follow in these guidelines and should throw out the criminal penalties for minor offenses.

Our Los Angeles medical marijuana lawyers remember when the Commission declared that the penalties of criminal law were too harsh to be used to punish personal possession of marijuana. Nixon’s administration was to head this assessment and determine how to go about dealing with marijuana-related charges. When all of this went down, the Commission recommended that marijuana possession for personal use should no longer fall under the list of criminal offenses. It was also then when the Commission determined that marijuana should no longer be considered as a Schedule I drug under federal law. The Commission felt that there was no correlation between the dangers associated with heroin use and the use of medical marijuana.

Still, in July of 2011, President Obama’s administration decided to keep the classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug saying that the risks of use do not appear to outweigh the benefits.

Forty years after the Nixon administration rejected the findings and the recommendations of the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse the use, the possession and arrest population has grown to more than 20 million Americans. What’s alarming is that about 80 percent of the people who were arrested were charged with possession-related offenses, not trafficking or sales. In other words, innocent users are facing the wrath of this enforcement.

Allen St. Pierre, NORML’s Executive Director, says that since our nation neglected to take hold of the recommendations that were set forth by the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse, minor marijuana offenses and charges have cost American taxpayers billions and billions of dollars and has needlessly ruined the lives of millions of otherwise law-abiding Americans.

Still, nearly half of Americans feel that marijuana should be legal in the country, if not only for medical purposes. More than 10 percent of residents say that they’ve used it at least once in the last year and feel that it should be regulated and legalized.

It has now been forty years since the Nixon administration could have created and enforced a rational policy regarding marijuana throughout the country. They were offered the truth about the substance, but failed to take it into consideration. Laws regarding medical marijuana were set and that’s all they cared about. It seems not much has changed, federally speaking, since then.
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March 19, 2012

Crackdown on California Medical Marijuana Impacts Everyone

By Cannabis Law Group

It’s been called “The Emerald Triangle,” and residents and law enforcement almost all agreed that the operation they had worked out for the sale of California medical marijuana was something of a model.

But with federal authorities barging through the door at every turn, it has thrown off a well-oiled system of cooperation, safety, health and profit that benefited the entire community.

As our Orange County medical marijuana attorneys know, marijuana growers and law enforcement officials Mendocino County initially had a tenuous relationship. They, like many counties throughout the state, had growing pains after the 1996 passage of legislation that made California the first state to legalize marijuana.

But then, a couple years ago, the sheriff there agreed to stop the incessant raids on medical marijuana growers. In exchange, the pot producers agreed to have their crops inspected. They paid a $1,500 fee, they had to adhere to ordinances that required them to control the smell and how far they could be from neighbors. They were also restricted to growing 99 plants for every five acres of land. The entire operation was overseen by a board of supervisors.

This one-of-a-kind program not only made for a peaceful environment, it was profitable too – for the county. In fact, the program generated nearly $700,000 for the sheriff’s office within two years. It was working so well, in fact, that other sheriff’s offices had reached out to Mendocino County officials to learn how to copy their system.

The board’s supervisor was quoted as saying that they thought they had a system that could make everyone’s life easier, and allow law enforcement to move on to more pressing matters.

It was not to be. Enter federal authorities. Nearly five months ago now, prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney General’s Office sent out hundreds of warning letters to dispensaries across the state, warning them they were in violation of federal law, threatening to prosecute landlords and warning cities they would go after them if they supported the dispensaries through local ordinances.

That has meant in Orange County, the number of marijuana dispensaries quickly plummeted from about a dozen down to one. In San Diego, the approximately 185 dispensaries is now down to about 10. In unincorporated Sacramento County, all 97 pot shops are closed.

All of this clashes with the general views of most Californians: If they are following local and state laws, let them be.

Federal authorities say their efforts came in response to cities that said the dispensaries had gotten out of control. The problem with that statement is that you have places like Mendocino County, in which local growers and law enforcement had come to a peaceful – and mutually beneficial – agreement. Mendocino County officials were not complaining to the federal government or requesting intervention.

This is just one illustration of the fact that the arguments made by the federal government regarding California medical marijuana are fundamentally flawed.
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