Dispensaries

California Supreme Court to decide fate of MMJ business bans

By William Breathes on February 4, 2013 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical, News

Hearings begin tomorrow on whether California cities and counties have the right to outright ban medical marijuana businesses from operating. The City of Riverside v. Inland Empire Patient’s Health and Wellness begins opening arguments Tuesday, in a case many believe will set precedence for future dispensary operations.

Let’s Visit Washington’s Marijuana Bar

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 13, 2013 Culture, Dispensaries, News

Hemp Beach TV

Russell Diercks smokes marijuana inside Frankie’s Bar and Grill in Olympia

By Jeremy Webb

Special to Toke of the Town

I walked up the stairs, eager with anticipation, as the wonderful reality of what I was about to do sent happy shivers up my spine. This was my second time going up these stairs, but I was just as eager as my first.

I took my last, deep, breath of fresh air and walked through the door into the bar. My nose was immediately assaulted by the rancid smell of tobacco smoke, but I knew I wouldn’t have to deal with that for much longer.

After ordering drinks, and receiving my new membership card, I sat down at a table directly under a vent, to get away from the tobacco smell. I then loaded the biggest bowl of banana kush I could fit into my pipe.

Road Trip: In Search of Good Medicine – Pure Life, West L.A.

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 12, 2013 Culture, Dispensaries, Products

All photos by Sharon Letts

Pure Life Wellness is located on La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles

By Sharon Letts

On the heels of continued raids by the DEA of four legally run dispensaries in Los Angeles, West L.A. dispensary owner Yamileth Bolanos is pretty much at the end of her Hemp rope, so to speak.

Bolanos, who is founder and owner of Pure Life Wellness, has been at the forefront of cannabis activism in the city of Los Angeles, where recently dispensaries were threatened with closure by city officials.

With the creation of GLACA, the “Greater Los Angeles Cannabis Alliance,” Bolanos, with other longtime dispensary owners, banded together to create their own entity in order to deal with the powers that be, driven by the philosophy that “strength in numbers” matter.

“We founded GLACA in 2006 to help create ordinances on how dispensaries should behave, because the city would not instate ordinances until 2010,” Bolanos said. “Those who were operating safely and were respectful of their neighbors needed a way to differentiate from profiteers who did not care about patient safety, or were otherwise problematic in their behavior.”

Marijuana Advocates Hail Mayor’s Halt On Dispensary Crackdown

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 11, 2013 Dispensaries, News

Sam Hodgson/Voice of San Diego

San Diego Mayor Bob Filner: “Stop targeted enforcement against marijuana dispensaries in the City of San Diego immediately”

San Diego Mayor Bob Filner announced end to code enforcement attacks by the city, agreed to develop regulatory ordinance

Advocates applauded the recent actions of San Diego Mayor Bob Filner in trying to put an end to the years-long crackdown on access to medical marijuana in the city.

Two days after announcing at a local chapter meeting of Americans for Safe Access (ASA) — the country’s largest medical marijuana grassroots advocacy group — that he was going to direct city authorities to stop shutting down dispensaries, Mayor Filner delivered on that promise by sending letters yesterday to San Diego Police Chief William Lansdowne and Neighborhood Code Compliance Director Kelly Broughton.

San Diego Mayor Ends Marijuana Dispensary Crackdown

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 10, 2013 Dispensaries, News

Dave Maass/San Diego CityBeat

San Diego Mayor Bob Filner has ended that city’s crackdown on medical marijuana dispensaries with a stroke of his keyboard

San Diego Mayor Bob Filner has ordered an end to that city’s crackdown on medical marijuana dispensaries.

The mayor’s order decrees an immediate stop to the city’s practice of filing code-enforcement violations against the collectives.

Acting on City Attorney Jan Goldsmith’s advice, the mayor sent a letter [PDF] to Kelly Broughton, director of San Diego’s Development Services Department, reports Dave Maass at San Diego CityBeat.

Patient Advocacy Group To Train DC Marijuana Dispensary Staff

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 10, 2013 Dispensaries, Growing, Medical

O’Dea/Wiki Commons

Americans for Safe Access will hold its first compulsory training course on February 1st

The medical marijuana advocacy group Americans for Safe Access (ASA) was awarded a permit by the D.C. Department of Health last week to implement its compulsory training for cultivators and distributors licensed by the District. ASA Foundation was selected to be the Medical Marijuana Certification Provider based on its longstanding experience providing such trainings across the country.

Medical Marijuana Provider’s Attorney Wants Off Case

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 9, 2013 Dispensaries, News

Eliza Wiley/Helena Independent Record

Chris Williams: :”[T]he extraordinary circumstances of this case do warrant my taking additional legal advice and possible new legal counsel”

The conviction of Montana medical marijuana provider Chris Williams, convicted of violating federal law, took another twist on Tuesday when his defense attorney, Michael Donohoe, filed a motion to withdraw from the case.

Donahoe said he believes that when Williams heard about an Ohio State law professor and legal blogger criticizing aspects of the case, his client lose confidence in Donahoe’s ability to present the best defense possible, with sentencing coming up on February 1, reports Eve Byron at the Helena Independent Record.

Marijuana Dispensaries Sue Long Beach

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 8, 2013 Dispensaries, News

The Daily Chronic

Nine medical marijuana collectives are claiming in court that the Long Beach Police Department is using illegal, unconstitutional tactics to put them out of business.

The nine collectives and two men are seeking an injunction and damages for Fourth Amendment violations and “judicial deception,” reports Matt Reynolds at Courthouse News Service.

Lead plaintiff Green Earth Center sued the city of Long Beach and five of its police officers — David Strohman, Oscar Valanzuela, Aldo Decarvalho, Chris Valdez and Douglas Luther — in federal court.

Federal Judge Says #1 Marijuana Dispensary Can Stay Open

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 8, 2013 Dispensaries, News

Harborside Health Center

Chief Federal Magistrate Maria-Elena James on Monday ruled in favor of Harborside Health Center, which describes itself as the biggest nonprofit medical marijuana dispensary in the United States, and denied motions by Harborside’s landlords asking the court to order an immediate halt to the sales of medicinal cannabis at their properties.

Judge James also declined to grant a motion from the City of Oakland to immediately halt the federal government’s legal efforts to close Harborside, but scheduled a hearing later this month to hear more arguments in the City of Oakland’s lawsuit against the Feds in a 17-page opinion [PDF] described by Harborside as “highly significant.”

“We are grateful that Judge James carefully considered the facts and arguments in the Harborside case, and decided to grant us our day in court,” said Harborside Health Center Executive Director Steve DeAngelo. “We have always believed that a Bay Area jury will recognize the value that Harborside brings to the community, and refuse to allow the federal government to seize the properties where we are located.

All Charges Dropped Against Medical Marijuana Provider

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 4, 2013 Dispensaries, News

Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander

All charges against medical marijuana provider Adam Assenberg were dismissed on Friday

All charges against medical marijuana patient and provider Adam Assenberg have been dropped in Washington state’s Whitman County Superior Court. Assenberg was facing multiple charges for operating a medical marijuana dispensary in Colfax, Washington.

“I totally kicked ass,” Assenberg told Toke of the Town on Friday. “I told everyone from the beginning that I was going to.”

According to Assenberg, the case was dismissed due to the Scott Shupe ruling. In that huge victory for medical cannabis, the “drug trafficking” convictions of Scott Q. Shupe, a man who operated Spokane, Washington’s first medical marijuana dispensary, were reversed on December 11 in a state Appeals Court ruling.

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