About Medical Marijuana

Hardship hardships

Hundreds of medical cannabis collective operators in Los Angeles face an uncertain future as the City Council and Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee take up more than eight hundred hardship applications filed under a controversial provision of the city’s moratorium on new patients’ associations. The City Council has already denied forty-four applications seeking permission to operate facilities that opened or relocated after the City Council adopted the moratorium in September of 2007. None have been approved.

Most advocates agree that the City Council is likely to deny most or all of the hardship applications. Critical media coverage and growing opposition from neighborhood groups have backed Councilmembers into a corner, and the only way out may be to send a strong message to the community by denying hardship applications en masse. Denied applicants are already threatening litigation, and in most cases, refusing to close their facilities. Assuming the promised lawsuits materialize and survive preliminary review, the city may be dealing with the political and legal fallout for some time.

The city may also come out swinging in response to recalcitrant applicants who defy orders to close.  Los Angeles City Councilmember Dennis Zine told reporters at a press conference on June 9 that he and his colleagues were going after the “illegal” collectives and remain determined to close them down. Applicants’ attorneys may take issue with Zine’s characterization of post-moratorium collectives as illegal, but they should not take words like these lightly from the city’s preeminent advocate for regulations.

Medical cannabis advocates expect that newly inaugurated City Attorney Carmen Trutanich will be more reasonable than his predecessor in laying out a sensible legal strategy for medical cannabis. His staff indicated he would support real implementation when speaking with representatives from Americans for Safe Access (ASA) and the Greater Los Angeles Collective Alliance (GLACA) during the campaign. City Council staff caution advocates, however, that the new City Attorney is likely to take an aggressive stand towards closing collectives he believes are in violation of the moratorium.

There is an unfortunate minority of collective operators caught in the crossfire of this controversy. Some of the one hundred eighty seven collectives that registered with the City Clerk’s office before the 2007 deadline were subsequently forced to relocate as the result of letters sent by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) threatening their property owners with prosecution and civil asset forfeiture. Advocates hoped these victims of federal interference could use the hardship provision to relocate and reopen. In the current political climate, however, the city is making no distinction between legitimately displaced pre-moratorium collectives and relative newcomers – many of whom are suspected of jumping in at the eleventh-hour in hopes of capitalizing off the confusion.

It seems the only hope for hardship applicants is to reach out to their City Council Representative, members of the PLUM Committee, and neighborhood groups for support well in advance of their hearings. There is little to be accomplished in two to five minutes before a panel that is under political pressure to do something about the rising number of collectives. Applicants who overlook the chance to persuade Councilmembers of the merits of their case in advance are unlikely to prevail.

It remains to be seen how the conflict over hardship applications and push for permanent regulations will wind up, but there are some reassuring signs. Councilmember Zine acknowledged ASA’s work in developing and promoting regulations at an invitation-only reception honoring his third inauguration today. It is reassuring to know he remains committed to the end goal of protecting patients’ access. We can also take heart from the fact that Councilmembers like Janice Hahn, Bill Rosendahl, and others continue to support medical cannabis despite the controversy around proliferation. Newly elected Councilmember Paul Koretz is a long time supporter, and his voice will strengthen our majority support on the City Council.