The idea of alarms critics of the marijuana industry, who argue that such venues would become a nuisance and drag down property values. The idea of alarms critics of the marijuana industry, who argue that such venues would become a nuisance and drag down property values. Los Angeles lawmakers are laying the groundwork for what is widely expected to be one of the hottest markets for marijuana in the country, one that could bring more than $50 million in taxes to city coffers next year. [continues 1218 words]
Issuing tax certificates gives a false sense of legitimacy, city lawmakers say. Los Angeles lawmakers want to stop letting new marijuana shops sign up to pay city taxes because they say there is no way the businesses could be legal under restrictions approved by voters more than two years ago. "We shouldn't be making money off of illegal businesses," City Councilwoman Nury Martinez said. The council voted Wednesday to request that City Atty. Mike Feuer ask the finance office to stop issuing business tax registration certificates to newly established pot shops, one of several proposals meant to prevent illegal businesses from using city documents to convince customers they are operating with city approval. [continues 392 words]
Mike Feuer Credits Crackdown With More Than 500 Closures and Says Momentum Is With the City. A Los Angeles city crackdown has prompted more than 500 medical marijuana shops to close down in less than two years, City Atty. Mike Feuer is scheduled to announce Thursday. That represents a jump from a year ago, when Feuer reported that about a hundred pot shops had been shuttered. The city attorney has also targeted other ways medical marijuana has been distributed, securing court injunctions against a Boyle Heights pot farmers market and a smartphone app used to arrange pot deliveries. [continues 612 words]
Two council members want L.A. to stop profiting from stores that don't meet city requirements. Two Los Angeles lawmakers are pushing to end a controversial city practice of issuing tax registration certificates to medical marijuana shops without determining if they are allowed to operate under a voter-approved crackdown on the businesses. Councilwoman Nury Martinez and other critics complain that pot shops that do not comply with city requirements have used the documents to persuade customers and landlords that they are lawful. And the city is guilty of "the biggest hypocrisy" by reaping tax income from businesses that f lout the law, the San Fernando Valley lawmaker said. [continues 657 words]
Thousands of Patients Are Drawn by a Chance to Buy Directly From Cannabis Growers. The line stretched hundreds of people long down an industrial stretch of Esperanza Street, as throngs of Angelenos endured the baking heat Saturday to get into a Boyle Heights warehouse. Irfan Khan Inside, cannabis growers offered up their crop from glass jars labeled with gauzy names like "Blue Dream" and "Banana Kush." Shoppers sniffed each musky container discerningly. A dizzying assortment of marijuana-infused wares beckoned from dozens of booths: balms and sunblock, organic waff les and soft pretzels, chai tea, cooking oil, lollipops in salted caramel, watermelon or key lime flavors. [continues 802 words]
City attorney steps up enforcement on shops and targets landlords who rent out space. More than 100 pot shops have shut down since Los Angeles started enforcing its new rules restricting medical marijuana dispensaries, City Atty. Mike Feuer announced Monday. Feuer said he was now stepping up that work, hiring two new attorneys who would exclusively tackle prosecutions under Proposition D, the measure passed by voters last spring. Staffers are also focusing more attention on real estate professionals and landlords renting space to marijuana dispensaries, providing them with a new brochure that warns of steep fines and jail time for breaking the rules. [continues 549 words]
