Pubdate: Fri, 9 Oct 2009
Source: Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA)
Copyright: 2009 Los Angeles Newspaper Group
Contact:  http://www.dailybulletin.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/871
Authors: Ben Baeder and Thomas Himes, Staff Writers
Cited: District Attorney Steve Cooley http://da.co.la.ca.us/
Cited: California Narcotics Officers' Association http://da.co.la.ca.us/
Cited: Americans for Safe Access http://www.americansforsafeaccess.org
Referenced: The Attorney General's guidelines http://drugsense.org/url/kKMJR2lu
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/dispensaries
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Proposition+215

L.A. COUNTY PLANS STRATEGY FOR MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

Los Angeles County's top prosecutor seemed to tilt the balance 
against providers of medical marijuana Thursday when he said he would 
prosecute for-profit dispensaries.

District Attorney Steve Cooley was one of dozens of guests at a 
conference in Montebello at which the topic was the "eradication of 
medical-marijuana dispensaries in the city of Los Angeles and Los 
Angeles County," according to a flier advertising the event hosted by 
the California Narcotics Officers' Association.

After the meeting, Cooley said he would prosecute any for-profit dispensaries.

"It is our job to ensure that the law is followed as written and 
approved by California voters," he said in a statement to the press. 
"Current and future enforcement and prosecution actions are directed 
at illegal over-the-counter sales for profit operations."

District attorney's spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said too many 
dispensaries were claiming that they were "caregivers," which would 
allow them to provide marijuana to anyone with a doctor's note. The 
caregiver is supposed to be a family member who provides for a 
disabled relative, not someone in a shop, she said.

"They're selling marijuana basically over the counter, and that's 
illegal," she said of the about 900 dispensaries in Los Angeles 
County, most of which are in Los Angeles.

Nonprofit cooperatives of medical-marijuana patients would not be 
prosecuted, she said.

A spokesman for a major medical-marijuana advocacy group wasn't sure 
what to make of the statement.

Attorney General Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown Jr. has set guidelines 
prohibiting for-profit dispensaries, said Kris Hermes, a spokesman 
for Americans for Safe Access.

Very few dispensaries operate in a for-profit manner, but they are 
often raided anyway, advocates said.

Hermes said police often use military-style raids on dispensaries 
rather than using civil measures common to investigations of most businesses.

"They would fine them or subpoena their records," he said. "I would 
argue that law enforcement doesn't really know if a dispensary (is 
for-profit) until they look at the paperwork. These raids are 
completely unjustified."

California voters in 1996 approved Proposition 215, which legalized 
possession and cultivation of marijuana for medical purposes.

About 75 people protested the meeting, which was held in the Quiet 
Cannon restaurant.

"The voters of California have made it clear, Los Angeles City 
Council has made it clear, we don't want them eradicating medical 
marijuana. We want them implementing it," said Don Duncan, who helped 
organize the protest.

"I'm a primary caregiver for an AIDS patient," Duncan said. "Doctors 
have nothing to stem his pain or help him hold down food." 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake