SPROUTING LIKE WEEDS

An Explosion Of Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Makes Some Wonder
Whether Sales Are For Patients Or Pleasure.

In a slumping economy, an explosion of new businesses in a single
neighborhood is normally seen as a positive sign, evidence that
things are beginning to turn around.

But some Hollywood locals aren't exactly thrilled at a recent surge
of openings in one particular sector: medical marijuana
dispensaries.

Melrose-area resident Peter Nichols said he counted 11 such clinics
on the stretch of Melrose Avenue between Highland Avenue and Fairfax,
nine of which have opened shop in the past four months.

Estimates of the total number of dispensaries in Los Angeles vary
between 400 and 500. That's more locations than one of the
Southland's most well-known chains, Nichols said, a fact he obtained
from an episode of the KCET program "SoCal Connected."

"There's now more pot collectives," he said, "than Starbucks coffee
houses."

Although Nichols wants tougher regulations, he is an advocate of
Proposition 215, which legalized medical marijuana in California in
1996, making the drug easily obtainable for people suffering from
cancer, HIV/AIDS and other serious ailments.

But there's a key difference that divides dispensaries into those
operating legally and illegally. Legal dispensaries in L.A. are those
that went into business after the passage of Proposition 215, but
before a new piece of city legislation was approved almost two years
ago.

In the summer of 2007, the Los Angeles City Council, in response to
concern over the rising number of dispensaries, passed an interim
control ordinance to prevent any more medical marijuana clinic
openings. Any clinics that set up shop after that approval were
considered illegal and are subject to citation and closure by the
city's Building and Safety Department.

What Nichols opposes is this new round of clinic openings, and how
some appear to be marketing not to patients, but rather to
individuals seeking to smoke for pleasure. He has seen one dispensary
on Melrose Avenue that hired a DJ to spin records by its entrance,
while others have kept operating hours as late as 2 a.m.

"Clearly, my impression is, given my professional background, that
they're marketing toward the street crowd," said Nichols, who said he
has worked in marketing for 25 years. "If you're operating a business
under the guise of a legitimate medical marijuana dispensary, why
would you need to operate until 2 a.m.?"

The interim control ordinance stands until the council drafts and
approves a permanent ordinance with more teeth, but it has yet to be
completed. In the meantime, dispensaries continue popping up, and one
of the main reasons is outlined in the ordinance itself. In section
four of the document, it states that those wanting to open a medical
marijuana clinic can only do so by filing a form with the city known
as a hardship exemption.

The section in the ordinance regarding the hardship exemption states:
"The City Council, acting in its legislative capacity and by
resolution, may grant an exemption from the provisions of this
ordinance in cases of hardship duly established to the satisfaction
of the City Council." Since the interim ordinance was enacted,
hundreds of hardship exemptions have been filed.

According to the Los Angeles Planning Department's Web site, simply
filing a request for a hardship exemption does not grant permission
to open a dispensary. That approval must come from the L.A. City
Council. To the shock of many, the council has yet to approve a
single hardship exemption.

"The L.A. City Council has failed to do its job," said Melrose-area
resident Paul Lerner, who is also concerned about the spike in the
number of dispensaries near his home. Lerner later added: "I just
wonder what they are doing and why they are not doing their job.
This is not rocket science. Virtually every other city in California
has had regulations put in place for marijuana dispensaries."

However, the Department of Building Safety has cited some illegal
dispensaries, although a request Los Angeles City Councilman Jose
Huizar recently made a motion to eliminate hardship exemptions from
the interim control ordinance.

In his motion, the councilman stated that there are 287 hardship
exemptions before the council as of April 28.

Huizar also noted that no action will be taken against those
dispensary owners who filed a hardship exemption prior to the
approval date of his motion.

Huizar's office did not respond to numerous requests for an
interview. But in his motion, Huizar offered his thoughts why he
believes the City Attorney's office has done little to shut down
illegal dispensaries.

"The city attorney's office has indicated that the court will reject
these cases because 1) the applicant has sought relief via the
hardship exemption provision and 2) it is incumbent upon the city
(not the court) to pass legislation that regulates these facilities,"
the councilman wrote.

Huizar's placing of some of the blame on the city attorney's office
has also been an ongoing cycle of various city entities pointing
fingers at one another on the issue, leaving some to believe that the
infighting is why illegal dispensaries continue to open.

In an e-mail to the Independent, the city attorney's office stated:
"aE& the City Attorney's office is committed to appropriate
enforcement. We urge the council to finalize action on a citywide
policy including acting on the various hardship requests."

Until Huizar's motion is approved or when a new ordinance is put in
place, not much can deter dispensaries from opening, especially after
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in February that the Drug
Enforcement Administration would no longer be raiding medical
marijuana clinics.

A small number of dispensary owners have spoken to the press in an
effort to communicate the legitimacy of their practice. Amy Weiss
owns a Hollywood dispensary that she said she strives to run as a
legitimate clinic. She got into the business after medical marijuana
aided her sick grandmother.

"That's the problem I have with other collectives, they're not
putting their patients needs ahead of their own needs," she said.
"We're a clean and well-organized place where people aren't smoking
and getting goofy. We're about helping the patients."