ASA Threatens Suit if LA Bans Medical Marijuana Sales
December 7, 2009, 4:52 pm
DA and City Attorney Say Patients Can't Legally Buy Medicine
The years-long battle to establish regulations for medical cannabis distribution in Los Angeles is coming to a head as the City Council attempts to craft an ordinance. Some officials are taking a narrow view of the law and urging the city to ban any sale of medical cannabis. ASA has notified the city that any such ban will result in a lawsuit on behalf of patients.The LA City Council has been considering successive drafts of an ordinance that would define where and how patient collectives can operate. Both the District Attorney and the City Attorney have opposed any plan that would allow patients to continue purchasing cannabis from collectives. They claim that only collective cultivation is permitted under state law. ASA, which has successfully litigated several landmark cases in California, has told city officials that it is ready to file a Temporary Restraining Order to block any ordinance that prohibits medical marijuana sales.
"Neither the Los Angeles City Attorney nor the City Council has the
right to ban activity that is protected under state law," said ASA
Chief Counsel Joe Elford. "Medical marijuana sales have been deemed
legal by the state legislature, the courts, and the California Attorney
General." Following the threat of legal action, Elford and ASA spokesperson Kris Hermes were featured on the local NPR affiliate on four separate programs, debating representatives of the city attorney's office and refuting the legal theories of the district attorney.
ASA also organized local patients and advocates to appear at city council meetings, with upwards of 400 supporters flooding committee hearings on the issue. That public pressure has resulted in the modification of some of the most unreasonable and unworkable restrictions, but the city attorney continues to insist that the city ban all sales, and the district attorney has promised to prosecute dispensary operators who accept money for medicine, even if they are adhering to city ordinances.
When California voters passed Prop 215 in 1996, they directed state and local officials to devise mechanisms to ensure "safe and affordable distribution of marijuana." In 2003, the state legislature specified that cultivators can be lawfully compensated by exempting cooperatives and collectives from state laws prohibiting marijuana sales or maintaining a place where sales occur. In August 2008, the State Attorney General issued guidelines recognizing the legality of medical marijuana dispensaries, detailing how collectives should operate in order to be in compliance with state law.
California's state tax authority, the Board of Equalization, has ruled that medical cannabis is a taxable commodity and collected estimated tax revenue in excess of $100 million from the state's cannabis dispensaries in 2008. Dispensing collectives have been providing cannabis to patients in exchange for cash contributions for more than a decade in California, and five other states have now adopted some version of a dispensary model.
The Los Angeles City Council is scheduled to consider the latest draft of the proposed ordinance on Tuesday, December 8, but few expect the battle over safe access to end there.
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