CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
October 7, 2011 | By John Hoeffel, Los Angeles Times
Federal prosecutors are threatening to shut down medical marijuana dispensaries throughout California, sending letters that warn landlords to stop sales of the drug within 45 days or face the possibility that their property will be seized and they will be charged with a crime. The stepped-up enforcement escalates the Obama administration's efforts to rein in the spread of pot stores, which accelerated after the attorney general announced in 2009 that federal prosecutors would not target people using medical marijuana in states that allow it. "It's coming out of left field as far as we're concerned," said Joe Elford, the chief counsel for Americans for Safe Access, which advocates for medical marijuana use. "I really don't know what inspired this.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
February 6, 2013 | By Maura Dolan, Los Angeles Times
SAN FRANCISCO - The California Supreme Court appeared inclined Tuesday to uphold municipal bans against medical marijuana dispensaries. Meeting for oral arguments, the state high court considered the legality of a ban on dispensaries by the city of Riverside. Several justices noted that the state Constitution gives cities wide policing power over land use and suggested that the state's medical marijuana laws have not undercut that authority. "The Legislature knows how to say 'Thou Shall Not Ban Dispensaries,' " Justice Ming W. Chin said.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
May 7, 2013 | By Maura Dolan, Kate Linthicum and Joe Mozingo, Los Angeles Times
SAN FRANCISCO - The California Supreme Court gave local governments the power Monday to zone medical marijuana dispensaries out of existence, a decision that upholds bans in about 200 cities but does little to solve Los Angeles' years-long struggle to regulate hundreds of storefront pot outlets. The unanimous decision provided clarity for cities and counties that want to rid themselves of the dispensaries, which sprouted up statewide after a 1996 voter-approved measure that sought to authorize medical marijuana but lacked specifics in how it would be regulated.
NEWS
June 21, 2012 | By Allison Margolin
The Times' Sunday article on marijuana dispensaries that make a profit may have an impact on the Los Angeles City Council on Friday, when it will consider two proposals: first, whether to ban dispensaries, and second, whether to allow 100 dispensaries to operate in the city. On Wednesday, the deputy city attorney forwarded the article to the City Council as evidence that the monies being made belied the claim that the medical marijuana collectives are operating as nonprofits. As a criminal defense attorney who has handled marijuana cases for the last 10 years, I encourage the City Council to take the easiest action: Do nothing.
NEWS
October 2, 2012 | By Amanda Reiman
There is a false assumption that medical marijuana regulation does not exist in Los Angeles. The Times' Sept. 27 editorial, " In a haze on pot policy," says, "In the face of this chaos, the federal crackdown is, to some, good news -- finally, definitive action is being taken to stem the uncontrollable expansion of medical marijuana franchises.” The federal crackdown in L.A. is thought to be in reaction to a void of attempted regulation....
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
September 23, 2009 | John Hoeffel
A newly formed association of Los Angeles medical marijuana collectives has challenged the city's efforts to control dispensaries, claiming in a lawsuit that the 2-year-old moratorium is unconstitutionally vague and that the City Council violated state law when it extended the ban until mid-March. The lawsuit, filed late Monday, is the first to take aim at the city's attempts to halt the explosive growth in dispensaries. It comes as the City Council's Planning Committee continued Tuesday to struggle with a permanent ordinance to replace the moratorium.