Cannabis Law Group's Medical Marijuana Legal Blog
City’s poor administration of marijuana dispensary ordinance bound for dozens of courtroom challenges
While the intent of the city’s marijuana dispensary ordinance was to rout allegedly unscrupulous dispensaries, the ordinance is devastating Southern California’s legal medical marijuana industry, the Los Angeles Times reported.
As our L.A. marijuana defense lawyers reported recently on our Marijuana Lawyer Blog, the city has so badly botched the enforcement of its ordinance that only a city, state or federal bureaucracy could forge ahead with a straight face.
Hoping to leave about 140 dispensaries operating, only 41 have passed muster. So few, in fact, that it would trigger a lottery system for the remaining licenses as even the city’s own objective was to leave at least 70 dispensaries operating. Such a verdict so devastates what is a legal industry in the state of California, that the city has now asked a judge to sanction its craziness.
The ordinance has snared some of the dispensaries that have tried the hardest to adhere to the rules, along with some of the most politically active operators who run what are considered to be model dispensaries.
Part of the problem is that the change in management of an otherwise approved dispensary will result in closure. As will being located within 1,000 feet of a so-called “sensitive area,” which includes playgrounds, residential areas and parks.
The change in management clause is being so strictly applied by the city that a dispensary that has been legally operating for years could be forced to close if it fires or hires staff, or if its manager quits.
The Los Angeles medical marijuana dispensary lawyers at the CANNABIS LAW GROUP are representing more than a dozen collectives throughout the Los Angeles area.
The CANNABIS LAW GROUP is a law firm dedicated to the rights of medical marijuana patients, collectives and growers and has built a reputation for high-powered, aggressive legal representation of the medical marijuana industry in Southern California. Call 949-375-4734 for a confidential consultation to discuss your rights.