Friday, January 14th, 2011
The Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council recently decided to ask Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley and US Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate medical cannabis collectives in that neighborhood. The vote comes amid a renewed expansion in the number of collectives operating in the City of Los Angeles. The new proliferation includes collectives that closed after the city adopted a tough ordinance regulating the facilities last January and new players eager to exploit legal confusion in the state’s largest medical cannabis market.
(more…)
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Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010
From the ASA Blog:
LA Court Rejects Strict Ordinance, Officials Respond with Greater Restrictions
On December 10th, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Anthony J. Mohr ruled in the case Americans for Safe Access v. City of Los Angeles, which involves more than 100 plaintiffs, that the city’s medical marijuana dispensary ordinance was too restrictive. Relying on the recent landmark decision in Qualified Patients Association v. City of Anaheim, Judge Mohr held that state law forbids such onerous restrictions on local distribution. However, some LA City Council Members must not have read the decision.
Judge Mohr’s 40-page ruling was a shot in the arm for advocates of safe access to medical marijuana. Though unpublished, Judge Mohr’s ruling clearly emphasized the need for local distribution and called for a functional regulatory scheme in Los Angeles to implement it…
Read the entire post with links on the ASA Blog.
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Tuesday, December 14th, 2010
The San Jose City Council rejected calls from law enforcement to ban medical cannabis patients’ collectives, opting instead to enact a moratorium on new facilities while the city develops regulations. A majority of Councilmembers rejected arguments by law enforcement and some of their colleagues that sales of cannabis – even at medical cannabis collectives – are illegal. Councilmembers are wise to reject the “no sales” mantra, which is being aggressively promoted by medical cannabis foes like Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley and the California Narcotics Officers Association (CNOA). Cooley and the CNOA hosted a series of trainings for law enforcement and prosecutors in 2009 on how to “eradicate” medical cannabis.
Unfortunately, the San Jose City Council jumped on the taxation bandwagon at Monday’s meeting. Councilmembers voted to place a tax of up to 10% on medical cannabis on the November ballot. Voters there should be suspicious. Taxation on medicine is ethically wrong, and rarely results in the real legal protections and social acceptance for which proponents hope. Fees calculated to cover the cost of local access programs are reasonable, but voters should reject a “sin tax” on doctor-recommended medical cannabis. Patients already pay sales tax. We should not put an additional burden on some of the most vulnerable citizens. Let’s hope citizens in San Jose see it that way when they vote next year.
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Monday, December 6th, 2010
Join us to protest the ban on medical cannabis collectives in Los Angeles County on Tuesday, December 7. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (BOS) recently voted to ban medical cannabis collectives, and Americans for Safe Access (ASA) is calling on patients and advocates to make a public show of opposition to this decision. Research by ASA and experience show that sensible regulations reduce crime and complaints. In fact, a well-regulated collective can help make a neighborhood safer. Banning collectives pushes access back into the dangerous and unregulated illicit market. That is bad for patients and our communities.
What: Peaceful protest before the BOS Meeting
When: 9:00 AM sharp * Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Where: On the sidewalk in front of 500 W. Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Info: don@safeaccessnow.org
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Thursday, December 2nd, 2010
Sup. Don Knabe
Medical cannabis patients in Los Angeles County will be protesting outside the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, December 7. Supervisors are expected to give final approval to an ordinance banning medical cannabis patients’ collectives that day. Patients and supporters should make plans to attend this important event. It is unlikely that protesters will persuade Supervisors to change their votes, but it is important that advocates make a strong show of opposition. Otherwise, Supervisors will continue to ignore patients’ voices – and that will make it harder to change this harmful and unnecessary policy.
Medical cannabis advocates did a double take when they saw what Supervisor Don Knabe had to say in the Los Angeles Times today. Supervisor Knabe, who also serves on the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission, voted to end a ban on raves at the county-owned Coliseum, despite the fact that a 15-year old girl died there at a 185,000-person rave this summer. In explaining his vote, the Supervisor said:
“There’s a way to do it right where we protect the public and allow this opportunity to take place,” said Supervisor Don Knabe, who serves on the commission and said he preferred regulating raves at the publicly owned venue rather than see them “driven to the back alleys.”
Too bad he did not apply the same logic to medical cannabis patients’ collectives when he voted to ban them last week. The ban only stops legal patients’ collectives from operating in the unincorporated communities. The ban does nothing to protect public safety or check the expansion of non-permitted collectives in the county. Supervisor Knabe understands that regulation is the best way to cope with massive drug-fueled dance parties, but seems content to see legal patients “driven to the back alleys” to get their legal medicine.
Get more information about Tuesday’s protest online.
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