Groups threaten to sue Los Angeles if medical marijuana dispensaries are banned
Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 2:36 pm | By: Radical Russ
(LA Times) Two medical marijuana groups are threatening to sue the city of Los Angeles if the City Council passes an ordinance that bans the sale of medical marijuana. Two council committees are meeting today to try to finish drafting an ordinance that contains the controversial provision.
Dispensary operators have consistently said they are uncertain they could stay open with such a restriction. Most collectives, which are required to be not-for-profit, sell marijuana to their members, but they consider it a donation to reimburse their costs.
The prohibition on sales was written by the city attorney’s office. In a lengthy analysis of state law and court decisions, City Atty. Carmen Trutanich concluded that over-the-counter sales of medical marijuana are not allowed. Instead, he said, collectives are shielded from prosecution only when they are growing it.
Both medical marijuana organizations, the Union of Medical Marijuana Patients and Americans for Safe Access, take issue with Trutanich’s view, saying he has misinterpreted the law and the court decisions.
In other news, City Attorney Trutanich and the City Council have announced plans to close the barn door after the horse has bolted. Creating some regulations that clearly spelled out the rights and responsibilities of collectives in Los Angeles County is a great plan for 2006 or 2007. But it is almost 2010 and there are almost 1000 retail outlets selling marijuana in the city. What do you expect the backlash will be when tens of thousands of Los Angelenos can no longer browse and pick up their marijuana is a safe, indoor, controlled retail outlet, and instead must return to the back alleys and city parks of the black market marijuana dealer? What will happen when customers accustomed to convenience and quality have to return to waiting for a call-back from “their guy” for a bag of questionable quality and light weight?
For one thing, most of the successful dispensaries will go semi-underground and become delivery services. The rest will go back to the way things used to run, dealing in the street and through clandestine networks. The prices will increase, access will decrease, and truly sick and disabled patients will suffer needlessly.
The proliferation of dispensaries in Los Angeles and the unseemly nature of a few of them is not the fault of the entrepreneurs who want to run a legitimate and lawful business and help satisfy a community need. It is the fault of cowardly and moralistic politicians who refused to take action to implement the will of the people as expressed in Prop 215.
Topics: Americans for Safe Access, California, collectives, dispensaries, LA Times, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, Prop 215
[...] from: Groups threaten to sue Los Angeles if medical marijuana … Related [...]
[...] Groups threaten to sue Los Angeles if medical marijuana dispensaries are banned [...]