Medical Marijuana in California

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 28, 2011

Glendale City Council Forces Outright Ban on Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in City Limits

By Cannabis Law Group

Another city is one step closer to keeping medical marijuana dispensaries out of its city limits. The Glendale City Council considered the permanent ban after it spent close to two years examining and studying their legal standing to do so.

Cities have continued attempts to shut down medical marijuana dispensaries, including five recent closures in Frenso that we reported on our Marijuana Lawyer Blog.
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Our Los Angeles medical marijuana attorneys recognize the battle that these shops are up against.

Dispensaries are prohibited under a number of city zoning codes. In areas where they are permitted, they’re to follow strict guidelines. Other areas have proposed unfair taxes on these companies. Many of these businesses are physically unable to operate under these strict regulations, and that’s exactly the idea behind many city plans.

In Glendale, medical marijuana dispensaries are indeed prohibited under the city zoning code, according to Glendale News-Press. Back in 2009, the City Council decided to adopt a new moratorium that completely closed the city’s borders to marijuana shops so that the city’s attorneys could comb through the legal issues associated with a complete ban.

The 2009 moratorium is set to expire in September and no longer has the ability to be extended. This is exactly why police and city attorneys are recommending that the city enact a full-out ban. After all, they wouldn’t be the first city in California to do so.

Currently, there are zero dispensaries open in the Glendale city limits, but interest in the area for future operations has increased over the past few years. Glendale has been considered a virtual island in the Greater Los Angeles area. There were 187 dispensary shops that registered to continue operations when the Los Angeles City Council approved a moratorium back in 2007.

“I’m against dispensaries in Glendale,” Councilman Ara Najarian said. “I wish we could go outside our buffers and create a buffer zone as well.”

City officials are anticipating a decision by a state appellate court regarding Anaheim’s ban on marijuana dispensaries to provide firm legal precedent with the motion.

“We know that the legal landscape is continuing to evolve; however, review of the cases to date help support the recommendation that we are making,” said Carmen Merino, general counsel for the Police Department.

Many anti-cannabis groups continue to read through faulty facts that claim dispensaries come with an increase in illegal drug sales, vandalism, burglaries and other criminal behaviors. In fact, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department or the San Diego Police Department have produced official documented reports on medical marijuana facilities and their correlation with crime. They have both shown that there has been absolutely no correlation between the two, according to the Imperial Beach Patch.

“It’s illegal under state law to ban outright this kind of activity,” said Kris Hermes, a spokesman for the medical marijuana advocacy group Americans for Safe Access. “Local governments should feel an obligation to address the needs of patients in their community and be able to regulate activity that is shown to be lawful under state law.”

As a matter of fact, Hermes cites interviews with public safety officials in cities where the dispensaries are allowed regulated that concluded that crime has absolutely nothing to do with these shops. If fact, they help to lower crime rates.

“These are public officials that are talking to us on the record. They’ve found that crime actually decreases around these facilities,” he said.
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June 22, 2011

Montel Williams to Open Medical Marijuana Dispensary in Sacramento, California

By Cannabis Law Group

A new medical marijuana dispensary in California is about to open and you’ll never guess by who — the host of the Montel Williams Show, Montel Williams himself. Williams is a sufferer of multiple sclerosis and has been a medical marijuana advocate for years now, according to OC Weekly. He recently took his supporting role one step further by opening his new shop, the Abatin Wellness Cooperative, in Sacramento.

His new shop is generating a cloud of controversy in Sacramento, which currently has a moratorium on new marijuana clubs. There are a number of clubs that have been grandfathered into the city’s collective ordinance and are not happy about the arrival of their new, high-profile competition.

Our Los Angeles medical marijuana lawyers recognize that all owners and operators of these dispensaries are held in a bad light, at least by law enforcement and government officials. Many of these shops aim to do nothing more than serve patients who need this treatment for their medical conditions. They look to hurt no one, break any laws or cause any other problems, yet they’re always being harassed by law enforcement for merely existing.

“It’s absurd. I can go get morphine pumped into my system and nobody’s got a problem. But all of a sudden they’re really worried if I smoked a joint,” says Williams.

So, how did Williams get around the moratorium? The location of the new shop, 2100 29th St., used to be the home of the Capitol Wellness Collective. The previous owner of this club is now Williams’ executive director.

Williams’ already has a handful of critics, including a contractor who claims the previous dispensary owes him a grand total of $20,000. Some of his other critics accuse him of just trying to cash in on a local movement that they’ve created. Either way, Williams says that he’s not in it for the money.

“I’ve been doing this for the last 10 years,” he said. “It’s not like I’m doing this make a buck.”

As you know, California allows anyone with a doctor’s recommendation to use medical marijuana for proper treatment for whatever their health condition may be. Critics still claim that these dispensaries are nothing more than a front for drug traffickers.

“We’ve been caught up in culture surrounding medical marijuana that’s 20 years old,” Williams said. “While adhering to every single state law, we want to provide safe access for patients and really medicalize this. Patients should be put first.”

Williams says that he wants his shop to be a place that patients could go to and feel comfortable bringing their parents. For this reason, his parents were guests during the unveiling of his shop last week.

This dispensary is different from all of the others, according to Williams, because it’s high-end. The operations here won’t have the patients sticking their nose in jars and jars of weed.

“You see people standing around, sticking their nose into things,” Williams complained. “I don’t go to CVS to pick up an individual Vicodin.”

Sticking your nose in a jar may be the best way to figure out which weed is best for your conditions, state Toke of the Town’s Steve Ellliot. There are all different types of marijuana strains that are available to treat different ailments and customers oftentimes use their noses to inspect the weed and make sure it’s fresh.
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June 20, 2011

Feds Fail at Linking Crime to Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in Los Angeles and Elsewhere

By Cannabis Law Group

The Imperial Beach Patch reports a study found no connection between crime and medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles and elsewhere in California.

The Imperial Beach City Council was scheduled to open the floor to public comments and read proposed ordinances last week before voters cast their votes on whether or not to adopt a ban on the dispensaries. They currently have a temporary moratorium that was first approved in 2009, but will expire in August.

Our Los Angeles medical marijuana attorneys understand that oftentimes officials directly correlate crime with the presence of medical marijuana. The thing is, there has been no evidence to prove this claim. Crime has remained the same in areas with and without medical dispensaries. These theories are just another attempt for the government to paint the industry in a bad light in an effort to shut it down completely.

Back in December, City Manager Gary Brown recommended adopting a ban on these businesses because of what he thought was an increase in crime. He strongly believed that there was a significant increase of criminal activity near dispensaries in San Francisco and Los Angeles — or so he said.

Neither the San Diego Police Department or the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department could show any official report that linked an increase in crime to the locations of these medical marijuana facilities, according to the Imperial Beach Patch.

The Police Department has conducted a number of reviews on the information and the department has continued to come up empty handed, with no evidence of any increase in criminal activity in these areas.

“Since our opening in mid-February [2011], we have had no incidents or problems with our community, patients, law enforcement, neighbors or local businesses,” said Pat with the American Treatment Advancement Cooperative Inc., or ATA, who declined to state his last name.

This information is supported by evidence that has been provided by the San Diego Police Department’s Narcotics Division. Medical marijuana co-ops reported a large boom in operations between May 1, 2009, and April 30, 2011 and during this time no marijuana crime related activity was reported at the ATA.

Throughout the last two years, five medical marijuana dispensaries that border Imperial Beach reported no crime related to the cultivation of their product, selling or possession of medical marijuana.

Data was provided, specifically on marijuana related offenses, from May of 2009 to April of 2011 by Sheriff’s spokesman Mark Walters. During this time, there were more than 1,300 drug-related charges in the city of Imperial Beach. More than 500 of them were for possession of marijuana, seven for selling marijuana and nine for cultivating the substance. These charges resulted in more than 450 arrests on marijuana related offenses. These charges included 55 juvenile offenders.

There are currently zero marijuana dispensaries operating in Imperial Beach.

According to the San Diego Police Department, crime statistics report that the overall crime in the area is at its lowest point since 1969. It has been on a constant decline in 2003.

“If we can come up with proper legislation we feel is adequate for Imperial Beach, the moratorium could be lifted,” Mayor Jim Janney said at the July meeting.

Back in December of 2010, City Manager Gary Brown recommended an outright ban of dispensaries for these reasons:

-Their presence could possibly result in an increase amount in crime.

-Dispensaries are easily accessible in San Diego.

-“The complexity of regulation and enforcement will place a costly burden on the city’s limited resources.”

Patients and a coalition of medical marijuana co-ops recently submitted a referendum that consisted of more than 47,000 signatures that forced council to amend the ordinance or let voters determine the fate of these co-ops through a special election. A decision regarding this matter is expected late this month. The group Stop the Ban IB is currently promoting a letter writing campaign to achieve this goal.
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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 7, 2011

Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in Sacramento Face Urgency Ordinance

By Cannabis Law Group

“The county does not have any existing zoning laws that allow for this kind of business to operate,” said Sacramento County spokeswoman Chris Andis. “This is ‘step one’ toward creating rules and regulations for these kind of businesses. We want to create a careful planning process that balances the needs of the neighboring communities, the dispensaries and the medical patients.”

Earlier this week, the Sacramento board decided to revisit a previous urgency ordinance. The ordinance would be able to codify the right for medical marijuana dispensaries in Sacramento to operate, according to the Rosemont Patch. It would also allow patients to grow their own medicine. These are all activities that are legal under California Prop 215, but these companies have been operating against building and zoning codes or in uncharted territory, depending on which story you’ve heard.

Our Riverside medical marijuana attorneys understand that these companies that are operating in unincorporated areas are currently conducting business without any specific set regulations.

“The county has had their hands in this for a long time,” said Mike Kiano, operator at AMF. “They’ve watched this steady spread of dispensaries happen day-to-day for two years now. They had to have known that eventually it would leak into unincorporated areas, because there are people there who need our services too.”

Records show that there are nearly 50 open code enforcement cases on dispensaries that are located in unincorporated areas of the county.

There are at least three dispensaries in the area have received notices that they are violating county zoning laws.

The local government looks to regulate the system, meaning that individual patients would not be allowed to grow their plants outside. If they were to grow them inside, they would have to do it in a structure that was at least 100 feet from all property lines and 600 feet from things like school bus stops, according to The 420 Times.

Dispensaries would be subject to similar rules. They would not be able to sell any “drug paraphernalia” or edible medicine. They will also be under distance requirements. Any dispensary that is looking to operate legally would also have to remain far from schools and churches and 300 feet from any residence.

Medical marijuana dispensaries in the area fear they’ll end up like dispensaries in San Diego, where nearly all of them have been forced to relocate in industrial areas, which are difficult, dangerous, or just plain impossible for many patients to travel to.
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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 22, 2011

Police Stop at Nothing to Violently Shut Down Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in Wittier

By Cannabis Law Group

We recently told you about police raids that put two Wittier medical marijuana dispensaries out of business. These raids reportedly used more aggression and force than those of Los Angeles County and the city of Pico Rivera, according to the Wittier Daily News.

Instead of issuing a violation notice or any threats to sue the dispensaries if they didn’t willingly close, a number of members from the local police force and those from the L.A. Impact Task Force abruptly crashed into the dispensary and caused quite a bit of unnecessary damage.

Both of these Wittier medical marijuana dispensaries were operating outside of the area allowed by the city. Our Los Angeles medical marijuana attorneys note that the courts have decided to toss out the criminal element of L.A.’s ordinance. This leaves the city the option to sue in civil court is they want a dispensary shut down, as these raids are prohibited. If you’ve experienced an unlawful shut down in the area, you are urged to contact an experienced medical marijuana attorney to stand up against the city and its thugs.

“They broke in the glass door and shattered it when they came in,” said Laura Kaplanian, owner of GreenReleaf Healing Center. “They trashed our place,” Kaplanian said. “They took all of the patients’ medicine (marijuana) from their hands. It was inhumane. We’re not animals.”

Kaplanian’s dispensary opened back in February, not in a location that the city allows, and said she never received any sort of letter from the city stating that she needed to close her doors.

Michael McGehee, the owner of the Apex – Alternative Patient Dispensary, said that he never received any type of notice from the city either, but was brutally raided and shut down by city police, too.

“Why not give us a cease-and-desist order?” McGehee asked. “We would have just packed up and left. This was a huge raid.”

There were three patients at the Apex facility during the time of the raid.

The Police defend their raid, saying that because the businesses were committing criminal violations and acting as for-profit by essentially selling drugs, the companies were well outside of the Compassionate Use Act.

“We were conducting an investigation and determined there were criminal violations,” said Whittier Police Chief Jeff Piper.

Both dispensary owners still deny allegations and reiterate the fact that they were indeed non-profit organizations and would have cooperated with city requests. They both see the raids as an unnecessary stunt by local law enforcement.
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