Commencing in 2005, more than 850 medical marijuana collectives opened storefront dispensaries and cultivation locations in the City by 2009, claiming protection under the Compassionate Use Act (CUA) and the Medical Marijuana Program Act (MMP), according to L.A. Police Department Chief Charlie Beck. The City’s efforts at regulating and limiting the numbers of these medical [...]
LA City Council needs to hear from you
Since L.A. City Councilman Jose Huizar announced the day before Thanksgiving a motion to ban medical cannabis dispensaries (with the support of the City Attorney), the Union has been meeting with Council staff to discuss the problems dispensaries were allegedly causing and ways to remedy these. It is true that there have been some bad [...]
“SOFT BAN” With Abeyance – Draft Motion For Los Angeles City Council
The City Council is presently considering a ban on medical marijuana collectives, purportedly to avoid the federal preemption issues raised by Pack v. City of Long Beach, 199 Cal.App.4th 1070 (2011), and to give the City police powers to immediately shut down collectives without the expensive and time-consuming process of civil litigation. The move is [...]
Why a Ban on Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in Los Angeles is a Bad Idea
The Daily News editorial Jan. 15 called for a ban on medical marijuana dispensaries in the City of Los Angeles, based on arguments put forth by the City Attorney’s office. The Union of Medical Marijuana Patients warned the City Council two years ago that the City Attorney had provided fatally-flawed advice on the then-new ordinance [...]
The Dirty Dozen Myths about Medical Marijuana Associations
The great debate that has raged in our city about the regulation of medical marijuana collectives (we refer to them as medical marijuana patient associations, or “PAs”), has been heavy on speculation, rhetoric and assumptions and light on facts. The confusion has only grown with the recent Second District decision in Pack v. City of Long Beach. Here are [...]
Help Stop Government from Issuing Exclusive License for Medical Cannabis
As you well know, our federal government maintains that marijuana has “no currently accepted medical use” as a schedule I substance per the Controlled Substance Act. Although sixteen states and the District of Columbia have now passed medical marijuana legislation, the Department of Justice (DOJ) continues to enforce federal law and prosecute those who cultivate, [...]