Pubdate: Thu, 15 Apr 2010
Source: Pasadena Weekly (CA)
Copyright: 2010 Southland Publishing
Contact:  http://www.pasadenaweekly.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4323
Author: Jake Armstrong
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)

FEAR AND LOATHING IN EAGLE ROCK

Even With New Regulations, Some Doubt the World of Medical Marijuana 
Will Become Any Less Hazy

They had all the momentum; riding the crest of a high and beautiful 
wave, so to speak. But in a little less than two months, dispensary 
operators in Eagle Rock, where the medical marijuana trade has 
reached a high-water mark, may see that wave finally break and roll back.

For the past two years, dispensaries have flourished in this 
northeast corner of Los Angeles as part of a grand and unofficial 
experiment that tested both the limits of the law and perception - 
one that will for the most part end under the city's new medical 
marijuana ordinance.

A community of just 34,000 souls, Eagle Rock has seen the number of 
dispensaries double to about 20 since 2007, which some observers say 
is as much due to dispensary bans in adjacent Pasadena and Glendale 
as it is to a legal loophole big enough to stick a blunt through that 
allowed dispensaries to open despite a moratorium throughout Los Angeles.

But even as a crackdown appears imminent, evidenced by what some call 
the overzealous antics of the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office, 
which in January won an unprecedented injunction to shut down one 
Eagle Rock collective, there's a rising sentiment that the ordinance 
will only make matters worse for dispensary operators, their patients 
and the community.

"It seems like this ordinance will have a negative impact on Eagle 
Rock and every other area of Los Angeles, because if the collectives 
don't serve the patients, we're very worried the black market will 
fill in," said attorney Stewart Richlin, who represents about 200 
Southern California dispensaries.

There's even fear among some community leaders that the ordinance, 
which will prohibit dispensaries from operating within 1,000 feet of 
schools, churches, rehabs, homes and other so-called "sensitive 
uses," will force dispensaries and their patients into undesirable 
commercial or industrial areas where crime festers.

"That doesn't strike me as humane, reasonable or in any way in the 
spirit of the law," said Stephan Early, president of the Eagle Rock 
Neighborhood Council.

The ordinance also ultimately seeks to reduce the Los Angeles' bounty 
of 700-plus dispensaries to 70, which Early likened to city officials 
cutting bait in what could be a sizeable revenue stream for a city 
budget riddled with deficit.

"It seems amazing to me that we have draconian budget cuts to 
education and all city services and, on the other hand, we have a 
river of unaccounted money," Early said.

But still others say any action to reduce the number of dispensaries 
is welcome in a community that for too long has lived with what - in 
the opinion of Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley - 
amounts to illegal drug sales that tarnish the community's image, 
said Michael Larsen, the Neighborhood Council's safety director.

Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die

In September 2007, nearly 11 years after California voters approved 
the use of marijuana for medical purposes, the Los Angeles City 
Council passed an interim ordinance that placed a moratorium on new 
dispensaries beyond the 186 already in operation at the time. But one 
section of that law - and a general lack of enforcement - allowed 
hundreds of new dispensaries to open across LA after claiming a 
hardship exemption.

Eagle Rock was no exception. About three-quarters of the dispensaries 
now in operation there either claimed a hardship exemption, opened 
after the council denied the exemption or simply flung open their 
doors despite the ordinance, testing LA City Attorney Carmen 
Trutanich's contention that retail sales are not permitted under 
state law. In January, the council eventually removed the hardship 
exemption at the request of Councilman Jose Huizar, who represents Eagle Rock.

A month later, a judge struck down an extension of the interim 
ordinance that the council passed over the summer, but county and 
city officials vowed to continue their crackdown.

That they did when one collective, Hemp Factory V, quietly opened on 
Colorado Boulevard last year after its exemption was denied. A judge 
granted the city attorney an injunction in January blocking sales at 
the location under state drug laws, as well as under another law 
requiring proper labeling of food, drugs and cosmetics. Lawsuits 
against other dispensaries in other parts of the city followed, 
multiple eviction letters went out from landlords renting to 
dispensaries, and a few operators were carted off to jail for what 
authorities called illegal marijuana sales.

If Eagle Rock's dispensary operators fear they may be next, they're 
keeping quiet about it; none of the dispensaries operating in alleged 
violation of the interim ordinance would comment for this report. But 
other operators rue the day the other shoe may drop.

"On our side, we don't have to worry about anything," said Pastor 
Garcia, manager of Colorado Quality Pain Relief Collective, adding 
that the outlet is one of the 186 that will be eligible to register 
with the city once the ordinance takes effect. "But I don't want to 
see any other collectives shut down. We're in a recession and we're 
losing jobs. It doesn't make sense."

Technical questions abound as to how the city will actually reduce 
the number of dispensaries. Larsen, of the Neighborhood Council, said 
he has suspicions that much of it will be a police response. "I think 
it has been very frustrating for all of the enforcement agencies to 
stand by and not have any ordinance or law to stand on as far as 
enforcement," Larsen said.

While approved, the ordinance will not take effect until the City 
Council OKs about $1,200 in fees dispensary owners must pay to 
operate. Council members could act on those fees Friday. The 
ordinance would take effect about a month after that.

However, Americans for Safe Access, an Oakland-based nonprofit 
backing sensible medical marijuana policy since a spat of federal 
raids on patients in 2002, and two collectives asked a judge in March 
to declare it unconstitutional. The judge has yet to rule.

Greener Horizons

Even with new regulations in place, the Neighborhood Council's Early 
doubts the world of medical marijuana will become any less hazy.

"Part of the problem is the ambiguity of the law and the lack of 
reasonable legal guidelines," Early said.  "But all of that kind of 
becomes moot, because in November we're going to vote on whether it 
should be legal."

Indeed, Californians will get their say on the issue by way of the 
Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 on the November 
ballot. If it passes, the initiative will allow adults 21 and over to 
posses an ounce of pot and cultivate the herb in a 25 square-foot 
area, while letting local governments tax sales.

While law enforcement groups say legalization would only add to 
existing societal woes, supporters say it is clear that the herb is 
safer and has less of an impact than alcohol. Plus, added Garcia, 
"California needs cannabis to at least help out the budget."
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake