KCET’s SoCal Connected recently ran this follow up piece to their award-winning series on the expansion of medical cannabis collectives in Los Angeles. City Council Member Ed Reyes, Community Organizer Mike Larsen, and I are all finally on the same page about one thing – we are tired of this controvesry. Unfortunately, there may be no end in sight. Collective operators should take no comfort in that. Growing frustration may lead to more enforcement, more onerous restrictions, or an outright ban on collectives.
The deadline to register to vote for Los Angeles’ March 8 Primary Election is February 22. Medical cannabis patients and advocates should be sure they are registered and ready to vote. Turnout for a local Primary Election is usually very low, so a small number of voters can have a big impact on the outcome. Be sure to vote NO on Measure M, which will add an additional 5% tax on medical cannabis. Patients and advocates must turn out to defeat this “sin tax” on medicine. If they don’t, the total tax on patients’ medicine in the city will be 14.75%!
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.
The Los Angeles City Council voted today to place a 5% tax on medical cannabis on the March 2011 ballot. Based on the popularity of similar measures on Election Day, voters are likely to approve the tax. The new tax will be imposed on top of the state sales tax, bringing the patients’ tax burden to 14.75%. That is a lot to pay for medicine! Time will tell if real legal protections and stability in access result from the new taxation.
It is noteworthy that the City Council rejected the advice of City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, who argued that the tax was illegal. It seems that the City Council is prepared to ignore his advice when revenue is on the table.
Almost one hundred medical cannabis collective operators and patients protested in front of the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office on Tuesday morning, before going into City Hall to speak to the City Council. Advocates are outraged by the City Attorney’s decision to sue 135 collectives deemed ineligible to register under the new ordinance by the City Clerk’s office. Collective operators hold that the decision to exclude more than 75% of the legal collectives is based on a narrow interpretation of the law and incorrect facts.
The City Clerk maintains that there is no appeal process for administrative decisions about eligibility, and City Attorney Carmen Trutanich moved quickly to file suit against every ineligible collective – without regards to the individual facts of each case. Lawyers are lining up on both sides. Expect confusion and high legal bills for operators and taxpayers alike. A political solution looks unlikely. Councilmembers Huizar and Reyes told the LA Times they plan to sit this one out.
Almost one hundred medical cannabis collective operators and patients protested in front of the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office on Tuesday morning, before going into City Hall to speak to the City Council. Advocates are outraged by the City Attorney’s decision to 
