L.A. MEDICAL-MARIJUANA OUTLETS DEFY CITY

Two weeks after the "ban," dispensaries are waiting to hear from
their lawyers

In the wake of a new city ordinance that outlawed most
medical-marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles as of June 7, L.A.
Weekly has found that many retailers targeted for closure remain open
and plan to use possible legal loopholes to keep doling out pot,
either through personal delivery or by distributing cannabis to
"members" only.

The Weekly contacted several dispensaries on a list of now-outlawed
pot outlets provided by the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office. The
operators and landlords of those 439 retailers were targeted by the
office, having received letters warning that they would be in
violation of the city's new pot-shop ordinance and would have to
close by June 7 or face $2,500 a day in fines and up to six months in
jail.

Most are ineligible to operate because they didn't register with the
city prior to the Los Angeles City Council's approval of a 2007
moratorium designed to prevent further dispensaries from opening.

Others among the city's 580-plus pot outlets are apparently violating
new rules approved during contentious City Council debates. Those
rules mandate a 1,000-foot distance between the 100-plus
premoratorium dispensaries and the city's schools, churches, parks
and other "sensitive-use" sites.

The Weekly found that many shops on the list appear to have chosen to
defy the law. Some are going the members-only route, some claim they
were wrongly identified by the City Attorney's Office as
dispensaries when they are really doctors and therapy centers or
related businesses, and many seem to be turning to personal delivery.

A self-described "ex-bud tender" from the 99 High Art Collective
dispensary in Venice said the outlet is still "operating" but on a
"delivery-only status."

"We are licensed caretakers, and we're only prohibited to sell here
at this destination," the woman, who did not want to be identified,
reasoned.

Beach House Collective, also in Venice, appears to be in business,
although a representative stated that the shop would only deal with
members. "We actually are closed to the public," said an employee who
did not want to give his name. "We still offer medical cannabis to
people with memberships."

As with some of the other dispensaries contacted, King Collective
Caregivers in the Crenshaw district seemed to be taking a
wait-and-see stance regarding the city's impending crackdown on shops
that violate the ordinance. A worker named Arphur said they are
"generally not open" but that "we're waiting for our lawyers to see
what is happening, to give us the yes or no."

He added: "We didn't give up our location."

Ditto from Green Oasis in Del Rey, where a worker says the shop is
going to reopen this week after initially closing following the new
law's implementation last week.

"We are not open until sometime next week," the woman, who would only
identify herself as Caroline, said last week. "Right now, a bunch of
different laws are being passed and the clubs that are [staying]
open, the government needs to make sure they are legit. We're just
getting all of our paperwork straight. Our lawyers are taking care of
everything."

At Green Valley Collective in Northridge, manager Shawn White seemed
defiant of the city's new rules. "I mean, to be honest, it's
completely unjust and unfair," White said. "Not only [is the city]
losing a lot of tax dollars, you have to think of people who are
losing business: People we order [drug prescription] bottles from.
The landlord loses money. The city loses money. The DWP loses money
on electricity. It's hurting everybody."

The City Attorney's Office acknowledged that, two weeks after the
city's law went into effect, shops that had been told to close remain
open. "We understand a large number have closed," said Assistant City
Attorney Asha Greenberg. "There are a few rogue dispensaries still
open. We are aware of that."

Even if a collective is nonprofit and distributing pot only to the
"seriously ill," as is allowed under state law, it would be subject
to the city's ordinance if four or more people were receiving
cannabis from one source, L.A. officials said.

Greenberg said dispensaries that close their doors but still
distribute pot, even if only to members, are violating city law and
will be prosecuted.

"It will be addressed by the LAPD and prosecuted by our office," she
said.

The City Attorney's Office, however, seemed to be stumped by those
dispensaries that turn to delivery, and Greenberg said, it's
"something our office is looking at right now." The practice is so
widespread that City Councilman Jose Huizar last week proposed an
amendment to the pot-shop ordinance that would specifically ban delivery.

Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley said delivery is illegal
in California regardless of the city's rules, and is vowing to go
after pot shops that take to the road. "Selling medical marijuana for
profit continues to be a felony crime under California law," said
Cooley, who is running for California attorney general.

Kris Hermes of the pro-medical marijuana group Americans for Safe
Access, said that as long as "collectives" are nonprofit and abiding
by the state's legislation, they should legally be allowed to
distribute cannabis to members and via delivery - regardless of the
city's rules.

"As long as [they're] in compliance with state law, there should be no
reason why they can't engage in delivery or operate a private patient
collective," he said. "At most you'd have people come by to pick up
their portion of the harvest. But it wouldn't be a storefront as such."

Melrose-area resident Peter Nichols, who co-founded the Melrose Action
Neighborhood Watch, said he voted for the 1996 initiative that
approved marijuana for medical use. But he has argued that the number
of pot shops in his neighborhood -- he counts 14 -- is too many, and
that the voters never approved this kind of commercial, retail, and
for-profit environment.

With many dispensaries still open or morphing into delivery services
since City Hall essentially banned 429 of the 583 shops, Nichols
noted, "I'm not surprised. Is this just another ploy to skirt the law?
It's just hard to believe the city has still failed on this policy."

L.A. local government might face other problems, beyond the battle of
words breaking out over whether city rules trump state law, and
whether delivery is illegal.

Some businesses said they were wrongly targeted and aren't weed
dispensaries at all. A man who said he was the owner of the Green
House Smoke Shop on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice claimed that the
"district attorney has written a letter of apology" for including his
shop on the closure list (the document was actually put together by
the city attorney). "They really have us wrong," said the man, who did
not want to be identified.

A representative of the Green Medical Group in Canoga Park added, "The
list is wrong. We are a doctor's office" that provides
"medical-marijuana recommendations."

A man who identified himself as Robert answered at the Medical
Advisory Center, a business in the Park Mile area of Wilshire
Boulevard, which was cited by the City Attorney's Office as nonlegit.
"We're not a dispensary," he said. "We're a [counseling] consolation
center. ... We already talked to the D.A."

At Clinic, located across the street from Venice High School, a
representative denied that pot is sold there, saying, "There was a
mistake with the City Attorney's Office. We are not a
medical-marijuana clinic."

Meanwhile, some dispensaries that have closed down made the best of
the situation.

"We had a big party and we invited all of our patients and sold them
the remaining [pot]," a worker at Sherman Way Collective, who only
wanted to be identified as Billy K., said. "Whatever is left over is
for personal use."

He quickly added that he is a patient himself.