KTLA Channel 5 News Story June 18, 2010: Lake Forest Medical Marijuana Dispensary Appealing Injunction Order
KTTV Channel 11 News Story June 4, 2010: Los Angeles Medical Marijuana Dispensary Challenges LA's Ordinance
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 
Following a slew of vaping related lung disease cases, a Los Angeles City Council member calls for a year-long ban on all vaping sales.
The proposed ban has many in the industry rushing to cut the motion off before it becomes law. The major concern is that such a ban could mean the end for countless vaping companies who are solely in business to sell vape pens and cartridges. Continue reading
The black market for marijuana in California is three times the size of the legal market, a recent audit has shown. The findings, made public in September, highlight the state’s ongoing battle to curb its illegal cannabis trade.
Approximately 2,835 unlicensed dispensaries were listed as trading across California, according to the audit conducted by the United Cannabis Business Association (UCBA), a trade association representing a wide variety of licensed marijuana businesses. Interestingly, the Bureau of Cannabis Control has only licensed 873 cannabis merchants to operate lawfully within the Golden State.
These comparative statistics reflect the continued hiccups California has faced since rolling out updated legal regulations beginning in 2018, which were intended to level the cannabis market’s playing field. Continue reading
With the 2020 ballot fast approaching, California activists are keenly working towards securing a measure that would decriminalize psilocybin, also commonly known as ‘magic mushrooms.’
Together with the required $2,000 fee, an advocacy group by the name of Decriminalize California submitted ballot language to the state attorney general’s office in September. Now the activist group awaits approval from the attorney general on both the official measure title and summary it submitted. Such a response is typically granted within 65 days, and if approved, the measure will be green lit to begin seeking signatures.
At that point, within 180 days of receiving the attorney general’s approval of title and summary, the Decriminalize California group must collect 623,212 valid signatures before the measure qualifies for the California ballot. Continue reading
The Golden State boasts the biggest budding legal marijuana market in the world – and yet, consumers in California are three times as likely to to buy cannabis from dispensaries and delivery services that aren’t licensed under state law. That’s according to a recent audit, made public recently, of the thriving underground marijuana trade. 
Conducted by the United Cannabis Business Association, the audit criticizes both law enforcement and elected officials for their failure to shutter unlawful pot shops. Many consumers are drawn to the unregulated market by online community forums like Weedmaps that for a long time listed unregulated stores. (Weedmaps announced this month it would no longer list illegal marijuana businesses, according to LA Weekly.)
Part of the UCBA’s audit included an analysis of Weedmap’s platform, which showed nearly 3,800 active dispensary and delivery services in the state – with roughly 920 of those having any license listed. This is the data on which researchers’ based their 3-1 figure. Continue reading
As California’s legal marijuana industry continues to bloom, so too does a well-stocked black market, comprised of unlicensed, locally grown cannabis, and a plethora of counterfeit cannabis products.
Fake THC Cartridges Are Flooding California
Of all counterfeit cannabis products, refillable THC cartridges used inside vaping pens are currently most common. Surprisingly, states like California – where recreational cannabis use is legal – appear to be most flooded with counterfeit products. Big brands like Kingpen and Rove have tried to get ahead of counterfeits by repackaging their products, but counterfeits have shown they can keep pace, often reproducing new packaging almost as quickly as the legitimate brands.
And industry insiders unanimously agree, the fakes are getting better all the time. Many knockoff THC vape pens are comprised of illegally but locally grown cannabis, which producers then stuff into refillable cartridge pens, before attaching counterfeit labeling they’ve purchased online, and selling the finished counterfeit pens at discounted prices to illegal pop up shops. To most consumers and law enforcement officials alike, it’s very difficult to tell a real pen from a fake one.
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Counterfeits keen to take a piece of the Californian marijuana market share are increasingly targeting cannabis product brands. And the cannabis vaping boom that has swept the marijuana landscape was soon followed by a spate of knock offs. Particularly concerning to big brand vape pen manufacturers including Kingpen, Heavy Hitters and Connected Cannabis Co., is that it’s very hard to discern between real and counterfeit products.
Imitation vape pens are not only hurting brand profits, they’re also sending consumers to the hospital. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently noted “anyone who uses e-cigarette products should not buy these products off the street.” That’s because this year alone, several people have been hospitalized suffering from severe respiratory distress after using bootleg vape pens bought from illegal dispensaries, in California and across the Midwest.
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California’s unlicensed farmers in Humboldt County are on notice, with a new crackdown on cannabis growing now in effect. After issuing 1,500 provisional cannabis licenses, state and local authorities are increasingly pursuing farmers for operating without permits.
And it’s not what we’ve seen in years past. Growers need not fear raids from Sheriffs in Humboldt, as much as they should civil action. That’s right, fines are now being issued in the amount of $10,000 per day, for each violation, capping out only at $900,000. And if that isn’t deterrent enough, next comes property liens and forfeitures.
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In January, the state of California kicked off an online rollout of its marijuana inventory tracking system. At a glance, marijuana businesses across the Golden State appear to be successfully reporting product inventory each day, via the California Cannabis Track-and-Trace (CCTT) system. But not without some growing pains.
To start, the idea of tracking marijuana traveling throughout the supply chain sounds simple enough. In theory, all cannabis products would be given unique identification numbers, noting from which ‘batch’ or ‘lot’ they were born. Products would then be sent to labs for testing. Next, approved products would be passed from producer to distributor, and finally to retailers for sale. At each step, the state should be able to track each piece of marijuana as it moves through the chain, making sure nothing is being redirected out of state, and ensuring everybody is paying their required taxes.
But in practice, a few hiccups quickly come to light. First up, only businesses holding ‘provisional’ or ‘annual’ licenses are required to subscribe to the track-and-trace system. And until last month, there were more than 600 marijuana businesses operating on ‘temporary licenses,’ who would not have had to track-and-trace. This means, there was no way regulators could comprehensively account for every legal product moving about the state.
California marijuana farmers are facing a crisis. Currently, all 9,464 state issued temporary cannabis cultivation licenses, have expired. Meant to be replacing those, for businesses continuing to meet the required regulations, are either provisional or permanent annual cannabis business licenses.
The catch though, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is yet to show its ability to approve those provisional or permanent licenses, at the same pace applications are being lodged.
The backlog on approvals may be due to the complexity of the licensing application process itself. Tellingly, by mid July 2019, only 2,053 provisional licenses and 230 permanent licenses had been granted. As it stands, when applying for prospective licenses, cannabis farmers are expected to demonstrate compliance with the stringent California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), as well as submit:
As the black market for pot sales shows little sign of slowing, Californian authorities have notably increased enforcement action against illegal cannabis traders. Over the last 12 months, raids by law enforcement on black market pot businesses have increased threefold, when compared with similar activity conducted in the year prior. As a result, unlicensed pot growers and sellers have seen a total of $30 million worth of cannabis products seized. But even amid this additional ramp up, cannabis industry insiders say even more activity is needed to curb illegal pot sales across the Golden State.
For context, in 2018 local law enforcement worked in conjunction with the state Bureau of Cannabis Control, and together they served six unlicensed cannabis businesses with search warrants. These raids resulted in the seizure of more than 1,500 pounds of marijuana, said to carry a street value of $13.5 million.
Comparatively, according to data release in July, within the first half of 2019 alone, the bureau had already served 19 search warrants to unlicensed sellers. Those raids were successful, and saw more than $16.5 million worth, or about 2,500 pounds of illicit marijuana, confiscated. Just shy of $220,000 cash was also seized from cannabis businesses operating illegally during this time.
Cannabis Law Group's Medical Marijuana Legal Blog