MARIJUANA LAW TAKES EFFECT IN LA

The day both welcomed and dreaded by the medical marijuana community
finally arrived Monday, when the law regulating clinics in Los
Angeles took effect.

A steady parade of operators filed into Los Angeles City Hall and
paid $324 in application fees, which placed them on a list of
clinics that will be notified in a month if they are eligible to
continue operating.

Elsewhere, however, owners kept their dispensaries shuttered, not
willing to take a $2,500-a-day risk by flouting the law.

"Sorry! We are closed for the time being," a makeshift sign taped to
the locked front door of the Green Joy dispensary in Woodland Hills read.

Still, many of the 440 outlawed clinics - those that opened after a
November 2007 moratorium took effect - are pinning their hopes on a
hearing scheduled for June 18, when a judge will hear arguments on
lawsuits challenging the new law.

Frank Sheftel of the TLC Clinic in North Hollywood, said there is a
lot of uncertainty among clinic operators, even those who are
confident they will meet the city's new requirements for operation.

"The system is so confusing and everyone wants to make sure they
have their application in on time," Sheftel said as he stood in line.

Monday was the first of five days in which the estimated 137 clinics
that registered prior to the city moratorium can file their request
for priority status.

At the same time, the City Attorney's Office is developing
procedures for the Los Angeles Police Department to follow up on
with the more than 400 clinics that have been notified they had to
close. It has not been decided whether to pursue civil or criminal
proceedings for those that refuse to comply.

"We continue to work with the City Attorney's Office on establishing
an enforcement strategy," said Capt. Kevin McCarthy of the LAPD's
Gangs and Narcotics Division.

Police Chief Charlie Beck said the department is waiting to see how
many of the clinics comply voluntarily.

"We want to wait to see how well people comply with the law and we
will make a determination then on the next steps," Beck said.

Many of the clinics' operators say they plan to shut down for now,
with the hopes the city's law will be overturned in court. The
clinic operators argue the city registration procedure was arbitrary
and its new regulations - requiring the clinics to be more
than 1,000 feet from sensitive areas - are too restrictive.

They also say that patients will be denied ready access to medical
marijuana with few clinics around the city.

Larry Taylor, 59, stopped by the Green Joy clinic on Ventura
Boulevard in hopes that it would still be open although the law had
taken effect.

"I need to get my prescription refilled and now that's not going to
happen," said Taylor, of Thousand Oaks, who takes marijuana to treat
rheumatoid arthritis. "It's very frustrating. It's very difficult to
know which way to go from here."

However, one real estate business said it has found a new market in
finding suitable locations for the clinics.

"We've already found locations for eight clinics and have sent out
information to more than 120 that might be facing questions about
their operations," said Linda Kaye, who developed an offshoot of her
commercial-industrial business.

"We started this because we were hearing people getting bombarded
with calls from attorneys seeking a fiscal high," Kaye said.