Medical Marijuana Business Owners Sue to Protect Dispensaries

The Los Angeles Collective Association (LACA), a coalition of medical marijuana dispensaries, and Westside Green Oasis, a medical marijuana dispensary, are suing the City of Los Angeles, alleging that it has illegally closed several--and is threatening to shut down more--legitimate businesses that sell marijuana. These businesses arose out of the 1996 passage of Proposition 215 (the Compassionate Use Act), under which California voters approved the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. (California is one of 14 states where medical marijuana is legal.)

LACA and the Westside Green Oasis are seeking a temporary restraining order and an injunction against the city, precluding it from using an expired Interim Control Ordinance (ICO) to close the stores and fine and arrest their owners. The ICO, originally passed on August 1, 2007, essentially banned the establishment or operation of these medical marijuana businesses as of that date. The ICO was supposed to be a temporary measure to give lawmakers a chance to enact permanent legislation. The lawsuit alleges that the ICO expired on August 1, 2009, at the latest, and that the City Council did not give the required public notice or hold public hearings about extending it.

The dispensary operators now face prosecution over a tangle of regulations that threaten their businesses and many are also receiving eviction notices from landlords being pressured by the city. LACA contends that its members provide a necessary and valuable service, approved of by the state with appropriate health and safety regulations, and that the city is squandering taxpayer money by going after the dispensaries and trying to enforce an expired ordinance that does not comply with state law.