Judge could block L.A.'s medical marijuana crackdown

In a final-hour bid to stop a new Los Angeles medical marijuana ordinance, lawyers representing dispensaries and patients will ask a judge on Friday morning to issue temporary restraining orders to keep city officials from enforcing the ordinance when it takes effect Monday.

The city faces 16 lawsuits involving 64 dispensaries and one filed by medical marijuana patients in Los Angeles County Superior Court that seek to overturn the law. The ordinance, which took the City Council more than two years to draft, would force about 450 dispensaries to close.

Judge James C. Chalfant, who has been critical of the city’s handling of the issue, will rule on the motions. In a hearing last month on similar requests from four dispensaries, he almost granted an order that would have barred the city from enforcing the ordinance against them.

But Chalfant ended up transferring the cases to Judge David P. Yaffe, who then denied the requests. 

The lawyers appearing before Chalfant on Friday were scheduled to appear Thursday before Yaffe, but they used their right to a peremptory challenge to bump him from the cases. Eric Shevin, who represents a dozen patients who sued last week, is seeking an order that would keep the city from enforcing the ordinance against any dispensary, saying that it would unconstitutionally restrict access to medical marijuana.

“There’s sick people that are suffering tremendous stress wondering if they are going to be able to get their medicine,” he said.

But David Michaelson, a chief assistant city attorney, said the city will vigorously oppose the motions. He said that neither the collectives nor the patients will suffer irreparable harm, the standard required to obtain a restraining order.

“The people of Los Angeles will be irreparably harmed because this ordinance will be prevented from being implemented,” he said.

The dispensaries are challenging the City Council’s decision to prohibit all pot shops except those that registered with the City Clerk by Nov. 13, 2007, a procedure that allowed 186 to legally operate despite a moratorium on new dispensaries. City officials believe that 137 are still open. Those dispensaries will have six months to come into compliance with the ordinance.

In an earlier decision, Chalfant ruled that the City Council failed to follow proper procedures when it extended its moratorium, and declared the ban illegal. Dispensaries that opened after the ban have cited his ruling in challenging the ordinance. Chalfant has expressed skepticism about the council’s use of the 2007 cutoff as a way to reduce the number of dispensaries.

Shevin also hopes to challenge the ordinance based on its restrictions on the location of dispensaries. “There will be no room in the majority of Los Angeles for any collective,” he said.

The ordinance bans dispensaries from locating within 1,000 feet of so-called sensitive uses, such as schools and parks. It also bans them from abutting residential property.

Critics say the City Council never examined how that residential restriction would affect available locations. The commercial property on most of the city’s major boulevards backs up to neighborhoods.

Shevin intends to present maps showing that 95% of the locations that city officials identified for dispensaries would be eliminated with the residential restriction. In the Wilshire, Hollywood and Westlake community plan areas, he said, there are just three suitable sites.

-- John Hoeffel

Comments

[Jesús Hermosillo]

Do we really want to see more vacant commercial spaces in the city? That is what this law would do----create 450 more vacancies.

[Dr.NosePikens]

Chalfant ended up transferring the cases to Judge David P. Yaffe. Sounds like a Pontius Pilate deal between these two honorable judges. I wash my stinking hands of this issue I tells ye!!

[Dr.NosePikens]

Maybe Judge Chalfant's own case load was to much so to expedite time he tranfered the cases to Judge David P. Yaffe, which is understandable considering that California's justice system is over and then loaded in general.

[dino]

The city has been forced into spending a huge amount of money defending this ban, which the City Council put into place because of rightwing and false "advice" given it by the City Attorney Trtanuch and his henchwoman Jane Usher and mouthpiece Bill Carter. They claimed a skewed interpretation of the state's "Compassionate Use" law passed by voters which supports DA Steve Cooley's views.

He is running for state Attorney General and is being called "too soft" by some on the farthest right so he's had to hit hard on these medical marijuana patients and collective owners who have believed they've been following the law. Polanski and pot patients just happen to be high-profile campaign fodder, what aboutt going after rapists on the streets now and REAL drug dealers? Not someone paying taxes sitting in a place they rent.

Chalafant is right, the law as written because of demands by Trutanich will prohibit any medical marijuana dispensaries in almost the whole city, so people will have to travel far and wide. Yes close some, anyplace that's been shown to be shady or attract a "bad element," but this is based on politics. Judge Yaffe has made a lot of controversial rulings favoring Republicans.

Cooley and Trutnych claiming that under the law NO money can change hands is riiculous - how do they think rents and salaries will be paid, wampun? Patients having to get out of their sickbeds to grow their own weed is clearly NOT the intent of the law passed by voters.

Our broke city is blowing more money on THIS to shore up Cooley's run for AG because his creation Truanich does anything he wants as payback. Instead of making criminals out of patients and tax-payiing collective owners, how about going after gangbangers and real criminals instead?

[Ray]

Why don't they go after liquor establishments instead.
They contribute to more deaths.

[laura]

Ha=ha, serve the medical cannabis advocates right for being so gullible. They campaigned hard FOR City Attorney Trutanich because he promised them he would "follow the law on compassionate use."

The head of GLACA and of ASA, Americans for Safe Access, Don Duncan, who owns a long-time shop in West Hollywood used his blog aboutmedicalmarijuana.com to get thousands of medical cannabis patients, and plain out potheads and civil libertarians, people who don't usually support the left, to throw tons of money at and walk precincts for as well as vote for Trutanich as "our good friend."

Not only was he taken for a fool, but has been singled out for investigation for trying to influence city councilmembers like Reyes and Koretz AGAINST the ordinance as written, to shut down all dispensaries within a 1000' feet of "sensitive use." The L A Weekly's profile a few months ago by Dennis Romero made me laugh, reporting with a straight face that Trutanich and David Berger allegedly just realized that Duncan is influential - hey, that's the very REASON Trutanich sucked upto him so hard! What, There's gambling in Casablanca? I'm Shocked!

In an urban environment, that has left virtually nowhere that's convenient. I'm for shutting down a bunch of them on places like Melrose in Hollywood and some parts of West L A, where shops went because they're more affluent, or which are near where high school kids get out of school. But a lot of the fury against all med cannabis shops has been driven by older folks who are going to lose in November, anyway, when pot is legalized statewide. And penalties for possession of one oz. will be reduced from misdemeanor to nothing.

Looking at his blog entry now for May 20, 2009, celebrating their "victory" all of them including Duncan in business attire and beaming with that chameleon Trutanich, is pitiful now. Maybe they should have done their homework first. Their behavior and being in this bind a mere year later doesn't speak too well for the mental acumen of those who smoke pot.

Well no matter. After our city wastes all this money defending the Trutanich and Cooley narrow view of compassionate use that the city council followed in crafting this ordinance, we'll be so broke we can't do anything about the street criminals who rise back up in the place of these shops.

[Travis]

I think it's absolutely wrong what is happening in California right now regarding the Medical Marijuana laws. they need to just make it legal but control it like alcohol. The City of Los Angeles is trying to make decisions that only benefit the older people who are in offices and not thinking about all the benefits that it has, all they see is a bunch of hippies who used to bully them when they were younger, get over it..

[Michael Own McTague]

Goodness gracious haven't we spent enough money and time on this issue? People want pot. Plain and simple. Legal or not America's consumption of this plant has continued unabated for 50, yes count 'em, 50 years. I want the police and courts and legislators to deal with all the wars we are involved with, fix the education system, sort out public transit, move to a more sustainable society, curb pollution, curb six figure pensions for civil (sic) servants, end police brutality and ferret out corruption in high places (Alameda Corridor? Metro Transit? ...) But again and again they keep coming back to pot, abortion and same sex marriages, all issues of personal choice. No matter what your opinion is on any of those issues, make it your opinion and keep it yourself. No one is going to force a man to marry a man. No one is going to force an abortion on you and all the drug enforcement laws of the past 50 years haven't stemmed the rising tide of the demon weed. Don't like pot? Don't smoke it.

[Ron Higgins]

Everyone in my community has been waiting 2+ years for the pot stores to be shut down. Amen! Good riddance to the gun toting thugs and pot heads. Don't go away mad, just go away...

[vlad]

Ron Higgins, wait until you get Glaucoma or some form of cancer which requires Chemo. You'll soon realize the cost and side effects of the drugs your insurance company will put you on. While the entire time you could have been smoking a plant without side-effects, growing it at home.

Comparing gun-toting thugs to pot-heads is ignorant. The reason gun toting thugs are out there is because drugs are illegal and thugs are the only ones selling them.

Michael Own McTague, I couldn't have stated it better myself.

[missyboss1]

I don't smoke pot, but I don't care who does! This is another stupid ignorant arrogant law, costly to enforce. Charge a $25,000 dollar a year business tax and keep their doors open. I resent all the huge pharmaceutical companies peddling all their addictive drugs to destroy kids or young adults like xanax and Oxycontin. Close that loop hole down. ("o" we can't do that, Wall Street raptors make too much money.)I bet when the Wall Street Pigs can figure a way to profit from marijuana it will be legalized in a micro second.

[Linda Bolton]

1. Revenue for California is good. Leave Medical Marijuana ALONE and legalize.

2. Please Next Governor AUDIT THE CALIFORNIA LOTTERY.

WHERE IS THE MONEY?
PUT THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY BACK TO WORK.