L.A. moves to shut down medical marijuana dispensaries

With hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries operating across Los Angeles in violation of a moratorium, the City Council has set the stage to start enforcing the ban, which went into effect almost 21 months ago. The city clerk has notified 14 dispensaries that their requests for exemptions from the moratorium will be considered by the City Council on Tuesday.

Most, if not all, are likely to be denied on the grounds that they were not registered with the city by the moratorium’s deadline in 2007. A denial would allow the city’s code enforcement bureau and the city attorney to take legal steps to force them to shut down. 

The city allowed 186 existing dispensaries to stay open under the moratorium. Since then, 532 dispensaries have asked the council for exemptions that would allow them to operate. Most of those have opened without waiting for permission. That has triggered concerns from activists in neighborhoods in which they have clustered. The city is still developing regulations to control where dispensaries can open.

Councilman Ed Reyes, who heads the committee that oversees the moratorium, promised earlier this week to start reviewing the exemption applications. The council has ruled on none of them. That has hampered enforcement. The city attorney’s office says it would be hard to make a case that a dispensary should be shut down when it had an exemption request pending before council.

Since Tuesday, when Reyes said he would start to deal with the applications, two dozen more dispensaries filed for exemptions, almost double the number the council will consider next Tuesday. It will also vote on whether to stop accepting new applications for exemptions.

Here are the dispensaries the council will consider Tuesday:

Aloha Spirit Organic Consumables 
6657 Reseda Blvd. #202, Reseda

West Coast Holistic Institute
7226 Remmet Ave., Canoga Park

The Grasshopper 215
21146 Ventura Blvd., Woodland Hills

Hope Collective
20035 Van Owen St., Winnetka

The Vapor Room
305 S. Hewitt St., downtown

Atwater Alternative Care Collective
3106 Glendale Blvd., Atwater Village

LA Collective
3401 Glendale Blvd. B, Atwater Village

Friendly Collective
3405 Glendale Blvd., Atwater Village

Global Meds Collective
3425 Glendale Blvd., Atwater Village

Accurate Services Medical Dispensary
3429 Glendale Blvd., Atwater Village

House of Kush
1632 Colorado Blvd., Eagle Rock

Hemp Factory V
2912 Colorado Blvd., Eagle Rock

American Eagle Collective
2501 Colorado Blvd. No. B, Eagle Rock

Green Leaf Collective
5607 E. Huntington Drive No. N, El Sereno 

-- John Hoeffel

 

Comments

[MICHAEL WHITE]

It's about time something is being done. Most of these dispensaries are a cover for healthy people to circumvent the system and get marijuana for recreational purposes. Total scam. This needs to be looked into closer. They are poorly regulated and people can come in, claim a bogus medical condition and get a prescription.

[Alan Shore]

Leave the dispensaries alone. End the drug war, tax the drugs sold, use the money for treatment and education. Let the police fight real crime.

[Z-Liberator]

Legalize it! Period!

[Concerned_Parent]

We could put the criminal drug cartels out of business in a year.
Let ordinary Americans grow a little marijuana in their own back yards.
$100 per year for a permit for 12 plants.
Would anybody support a plan like that?

[Chuck]

Stop this senseless prohibition. Legalize now!!

[From S.LA]

yes... let's get rid of more jobs, businesses, and revenue now... yes... this makes a lot of sense...

[pedro213]

CA$H CROP

[gregory stanley]

grow up and legalize it

[dan wollen]

It is not fair to target these places first when others are still opening and applying for hardships. The city should have gotten its act together in the last 13 years that medical marijuana has been legal.

[Marianne]

These establishments follow rules and are always under scrutiny. WHO ELSE is contributing to this economy? WHO ELSE is paying LARGE TAXES making it possible to spend more on schools, and for the ultra-conservatives, your JAILS and picking up the slack for the "well-to-do's" white collar write offs.

[palmspringsbum]

25 apps have come in since the last article was published (a week ago?) announcing they were going to review 16, and how often they intended to review them.

Meanwhile cities, counties, and states are slashing police, libraries, community centers, fire, parks ... the state is trying to CLOSE ALL THE STATE PARKS TO SAVE MONEY ....

Let me put it this way, I think my tax dollars and my public officials have much bigger fish to fry. Seems to me it is not at all out of the realm of possibility that the rate of apps coming in can exceed the rate of apps they can review into infinity, or until the guy dies, or until the city closes his office to save money.

[southbay]

I am so sick of the hypocritical stance of our law makers.
Leave the collectives alone!
Keep it out of the greed soaked hands of politics!
And so what if someone smokes it recreationally!!
Alcohol kills more people every year than weed.
And don't forget, # killer in America is Heart Disease (Obesity??)

Don't hate on the collectives and the evolution of America.
Weed will never go away.

[Jonathan Jerald]

305 S. Hewitt is not now and never has been the address of a medical marijuana dispensary, nor is there a "Vapor Room" at that or any adjacent or nearby address. It is the business address of Bedlam Enterprises, LLC, which has held the lease on that address since two months before that address was publicly posted on the City Clerk's website as that of "The Vapor Room." Apparently Dylan Williams identified 305 S. Hewitt as the address of an existing marijuana dispensary when he filed for a hardship extension in June of 2007. In fact, that was simply not true.

As a consequence of the public posting of our business address as that of a marijuana dispensary we have been visited by people seeking to buy marijuana, "surveyed" by a security team from Central City East Association and made a possible target of criminal activity, not to mention possibly attracting the unwarranted and unwanted attention of various law enforcement agencies. That posting is now aggravated by this ill-informed blog.

I am amazed that not the slightest attempt was made to confirm the legitimacy of the addresses you published here. L.A. Dog Trainer is way too generous. Do you have ANY journalistic ethics left?

[Juan]

So-called legit pharmaceuticals pushed by big drug compaines (paxil, prozac, wellbutrin etc.) are no better than (I'm not even going to invite conflict by stating the obvious: worse than) weed. What are people so afraid of? Visit one of these dispensaries and all you'll find are peaceful friendly folk. Where do coppers go after work? Bars. Legal booze. Ah, what percentage of violent crimes are the direct result of legal booze?

[jblz]

Stop the senseless "war on drugs" its a battle lost! I strongly encourage activists and pro supporters to come together and create a strong positive union to make the anti politicians aware. We need to come together and support each other. Its easy to stray from the ultimate goal of legalization if some of the people are only interested in the ca$h aspect. This is the primary reason the dispensaries are getting a bad rap for. Don't get me wrong a lot of the clubs are indeed trying their best to follow rules which I applaude! We a union and board of directors we can enforce rules that will set guidelines for future dispensaries owners/operators. Only then will I feel every city will enjoy what Oakland/Bay area is doing right now. They are open for business right in the open no longer having to hide or stay low key in fear because they have the support of the community, city councils, police chief,and mayor. Lets do it right and get and stand up for our rights!

[Rredeye]

Marijuana is used by Negros, Hispanics, and Entertainers. If we dont do something to eradicate it we will lose all of our white women...