Dispensary operations course on Jan. 24 is postponed
Saturday, January 21st, 2012The course on medical cannabis cooperative and collective operations originally planned for January 24 in Pasadena has been postponed. I will announce a new date soon.
Coop & Collective Operations Course – Sept. 27 (Pasadena)
Friday, September 23rd, 2011UPDATE: The class has been postponed until Tuesday, October 25. Sorry!
You are iunvited to attend a new course I am teaching at the MCC Directory Training Center in Pasadena, CA, on Tuesday, September 27. The course will cover operations and professional procedures for supervisors, managers, and senior staff at medical cannabis cooperatives and collectives. My co-instructor will be Yami Bolanos, co-operator of Purelife Alternative Caregivers and President of the Greater Los Angeles Collective Alliance (GLACA). Yami and I have created a course that is ideal for operators and mangers who are committed to running their associations in a legal, ethical, and professional manner.
CreditCard.com – Medical marijuana sellers can’t take their money to the bank
Tuesday, February 8th, 2011From Susan Ladika on CreditCard.com -
“Conflict between state and federal laws over the legality of marijuana has left owners of medical marijuana dispensaries finding that their financial services can go up in smoke. They’re caught in a legal gray area that makes big banks wary or downright hostile…
And it’s not just Colorado that’s been hit. Don Duncan, California director of the advocacy group Americans for Safe Access and a member of the board of the medical marijuana collective Los Angeles Patients and Caregivers Group in West Hollywood, says his own account was shut down about a year ago, He’s heard many similar stories around the state. “They just summarily close accounts. Banks are very unsure if it’s OK to do business with medical cannabis organizations. It ripples out to credit card and merchant services accounts…”
Cannabis Planet interview
Monday, November 2nd, 2009Cannabis Planet is a weekly television show covering cannabis and medical cannabis news. I spoke with them about medical cannabis, what motivates me, and the Americans for Safe Access campaign in San Francisco in September. You can see the entire episode below. My interview starts at approximately 19:30.
Endgame in LA
Friday, September 4th, 2009The City of Los Angles may be moving into the final stages of the four-year-old debate about permanent regulations for medical cannabis facilities in the city. Americans for Safe Access (ASA) expects the City Attorney’s office will send recommendations for the final ordinance to the Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee later this month. The draft ordinance was prepared by city staff after Councilmember Zine joined advocates in rejecting an ordinance submitted by former City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo in February. That measure regarded all sales of cannabis as illegal, and would have required every collective in the city to close.
Patients and advocates worry that newly-elected City Attorney Carmen Trutanich has yet to make any public comment repudiating his processor’s anti-medical cannabis position. In fact, Trutanich’s Senior Advisor Jane Usher told the Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Committee on August 1 that staff in her office could find no legal protection for sales of cannabis, even inside the membership of a legally organized and operated patients’ association.
On August 10, ASA Chief Counsel Joe Elford and I joined representatives of the Greater Los Angeles Collective Alliance (GLACA) in an unprecedented meeting with Ms. Usher and two of the other top eight managers in Trutanich’s office to discuss regulatory solutions for the city. We presented the staff with a new White Paper published by ASA and GLACA and a draft ordinance based on input from the city’s defunct medical cannabis working group. The White Paper explains the justification for storefront collectives and sales of medicine within their membership. It also makes policy recommendations for the city’s final ordinance. Trutanich’s staff listened attentively and asked hard questions – both good signs, but the outcome is uncertain.
It is possible that Carmen Trutanich will disappoint the medical cannabis community, which rallied around his campaign earlier this year, when he returns recommendations to the PLUM Committee this month. If so, patients and advocates will have to work hard persuade committee members to reject his advice and stay the course on developing sensible regulations for Los Angeles. This is important not just because regulations are proven to reduce crime and complaints in communities, but also because they will finally set some standards in a city that has grappled for too long with how best to regulate access to medicine.
