On Thursday 6/07/2012, UFCW Local 770, Los Angeles residents, responsible dispensary operators, Americans for Safe Access (safeaccessnow) and Greater Los Angeles Collective Alliance (GLACA.net)held a rally on the steps of LA City Hall to oppose the “Gentle Ban” by Councilmembers Huizar and Englander and to show support for the Koretz/Wesson motion which recognizes the 100 or so dispensaries in Los Angeles who have proven themselves and take accountability as health care facilities. Following the rally, patients suffering from MS, cancer, spine disease, etc. went to meet Councilmembers in person to beg for compassion and plead for the sensibility of the Koretz/Wesson motion. Many of these patients could never grow their own and would probably die trying if an outright ban of dispensaries came true.
The present issue is NOT the legalization of recreational marijuana use, whether cannabis has medical value, why pharmacies do not dispense cannabis, or whether patients’ rights are being trampled. It is about the City of Los Angeles having enough clarity to separate the black market distributors from the pioneers of a new health care industry, and allowing those of merit to advance cannabis science for the future of humanity.
Further confusing the issue at City Hall is the unethical way leaders of Neighborhood Councils have presented the issue to City Council. For instance, Studio City Neighborhood Council (SCNC) developed a Medical Cannabis Dispensary Advisory Committee to tackle the issue locally. The committee was comprised of stakeholders, law enforcement, dispensary operators, and concerned citizens. Studio City only has 5 dispensaries with medical marijuana collective business licenses, yet 13 are currently in operation and new stores are slated to open soon. After months of work, a set of dispensary operating guidelines was proposed and unanimously agreed to by the 5 licensed dispensaries; these guidelines are waiting further motion from the board of directors. The SCNC Planning and Land Use Committee which oversaw the dispensary committee voted 5-4-1 not to support the medical cannabis dispensary ban. However, when leadership of SCNC identify themselves to City Council, they use their elected titles then proceed to present their personal agenda to the City Council in support of a ban. Positive efforts are being thwarted and held from Councilmembers view while neighborhood politicians continue to sabotage progress for personal gain.
The only way to eliminate this issue from the headlines and focus on what really matters is for citizens and law makers to become “Common Sense Moderates.” The Koretz/Wesson motion will lay the groundwork for almost 70 law suits against the city to be dismissed. The Koretz/Wesson motion will allow for law enforcement to have a finalized list of legal dispensaries, any marijuana dispensary not on that list will be an easy target to eliminate. The Koretz/Wesson motion will raise property values as more and more unwanted and illegal dispensaries are removed from neighborhoods. The Koretz/Wesson motion will ensure safe access is available to your loved ones should they ever need it.
While Huizar’s “Gentle Ban” will cost the city millions of dollars to defend its actions against businesses that have proven vested and constitutional rights. The Huizar “Gentle Ban” will legalize marijuana grow operations in your neighbor’s home in plain sight of your children. The Huizar “Gentle Ban” will send thousands of sick and defenseless people to the street to be victimized. The Huizar “Gentle Ban” will bring drug dealers into your neighborhoods and schools.
The City of Los Angeles needs to stop wasting so much time, money and productivity chasing its tail and promoting the benefit of cutting of your nose to spite your face. A fair and balanced approach of 100 dispensaries allows for the best of all worlds. Regulation is easy, bad apples can and will be removed from operation, compassion for humanity is preserved and revenue for government is provided.
Sam Humeid
CEO, President & Founding Member
11705 Ventura Blvd
Studio City, CA 91604
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/apr/07/local/la-me-la-insolvency-20120407 So with Measure M in place why is LA City banning a possible solution to this $222-million shortfall? Follow the $. Big Pharmaceutical Companies! Profits above lives is Big Pharmaceutical's motto and mission. Big Pharma will not allow LA to have so many Pot Shops as it sets up Medical Marijuana as a competitor of many of Big Pharmas products particularly for basic pain relief. Big Pharmaceutical would hate to compete with something that you can produce far cheaper in your house, and which they can't control because it is not a synthetic patentable molecule.
In the past LA was extremely successful at shutting down a vast majority of the new Medical Marijuana Dispensaries simply by sending out something like a few hundred letters to landlords warning them of fines for not evicting the Dispensary. Even those other Medical Marijuana Dispensary's Land Lords who did not receive a warning letter from the city ended up evicting the Dispensary rather then risk the fines after the cut off date for evictions. Why wouldn't landlords evict Dispensaries then risk facing daily fines of thousands of dollars?
This same landlord letter eviction tactic will be used successfully to shutdown the Medical Marijuana Dispensaries that LA City knows about. Other land lords who don't receive this letter will evict their Medical Marijuana Dispensaries rather then risk facing the fines. Once the LA City Clerk publishes and posts the new Gentle Ban the smart Land Lords will evict their Medical Marijuana Dispensaries that same day. After July 22, 2012 Huizar and the required City Councilpersons will pass the gentle ban. Then your Dispensary's Land Lord will get a letter informing the owner that they are renting to a client who needs to be evicted by a certain date. Or your land lord will face extreme daily fines. Will you be able to find a new location, and fight a new legal battle? Find out after the Untouchable Huizar passes his gentle ban, destroying your lively-hood on July 22nd, 2012.
There is a market that people are trying to satisfy by legitimate means, the mark IS NOT GOING ANYWHERE, But you take away the small fronts, the demand still exist and will transform completely underground with no regulation what so ever, seeing as our possession laws are SO lenient. The market will be fed as it always is, you cant deny the demand, otherwise these so called"pot shops" would not exist. Let's change the type of business for one second, If mechanic shops started to spring up all over the city as the automobile reaches 120 years of age, would you have idiot leach politicians trying to seem meaningful and feed their children by telling new upstarts sorry about your drams guy. We have way to many mechanics in LA already. Would that be a legitimate way to handle the situation?. Ask anyone, 90% of mechanics are shadier than any Cannabis user, yet they are able to operate unscrupulously. What's up with a measure to reduce the number of poisoning fast food restaurants in LA. Establishments like the fast food restaurant is easily more damaging than cannabis use to the Los Angeles public.
Instead you talked trash to bring me back. Good job! Duh
I deleted because you don't understand what is really going on and you can't suck it up. Get real already and realize the fairy tale is over.
July 22nd according to this source.
There is a market for Medical Marijuana and without the storefronts this market will return to the LA Street Gangs who are supported by the South American Drug Cartels. This is what the LAPD wants, this is what Big Pharmaceutical Companies want, this is what the Prison Industrial Complex wants, this is what the Narco Cartels of South America want, and this is what your City Council needs because of these powerful status quo figures in the Medical Marijuana Arena. The Political City Council People don't care about you or anyone else the only person they will listen to is whoever "donates" the most money to their political campaign. Also you are forgetting that this is all about $ from the point of view of the City Council and getting their pockets filled for their next political campaign. The biggest donors are Big Pharmaceutical companies, and these Corporations have the most to risk if their pill sales decrease from Medical Marijuana competition. Your example of reducing the number of fast food restaurants doesn't make too much sense if you allow yourself to accept the fact that this gentle ban is simply about $ and protecting the financial interest of Big Pharma, the Prison Industrial Complex, and Drug Cartels, this gentle ban is not about fairness.
There is a market for Medical Marijuana and without the storefronts this market will return to the LA Street Gangs who are supported by the South American Drug Cartels. This is what the LAPD wants, this is what Big Pharmaceutical Companies want, this is what the Prison Industrial Complex wants, this is what the Narco Cartels of South America want, and this is what your City Council needs because of these powerful status quo figures in the Medical Marijuana Arena. The Political City Council People don't care about you or anyone else the only person they will listen to is whoever "donates" the most money to their political campaign. Also you are forgetting that this is all about $ from the point of view of the City Council and getting their pockets filled for their next political campaign. The biggest donors are Big Pharmaceutical companies, and these Corporations have the most to risk if their pill sales decrease from Medical Marijuana competition.
The biggest donors are Big Pharmaceutical companies, and these Corporations have the most to risk if their pill sales decrease from Medical Marijuana competition. This is all about $ from the point of view of the City Council and getting their pockets filled for their next political campaign.
Cities could not authorize the 100 Pre ICO Collectives according to the Pack v. Long Beach ruling. This article glosses over this important fact. Hypothetically if the Koretz Marijuana Plan passed these newer dispensaries could sue LA City on the basis that the Koretz Marijuana Plan was bogus and federally illegal aka unenforceable as NO City can lend any shred of genuine legitimacy to a Medical Marijuana Storefront due to the federal laws making it illegal to begin with. LA City can try to play favorites and grant a few people license to do something federally illegal while others may not? The Koretz Medical Marijuana Plan if passed would get stopped in the courts from the legal precedent from Pack v. Long Beach
This attitude the Los Angeles City Officials have is to purposefully thwart by any means a genuine medical marijuana ordinance that would make Los Angeles a good example for other major Cities to follow when they begin to deal with Medical Marijuana. Time and time again these City Officials promise to give you legitimacy. They make the Medical Marijuana Dispensaries pay fees, get background checks, pay new sales taxes (Measure M) and for what? to ban you! Cities could not authorize the 100 Pre ICO Collectives according to the Pack v. Long Beach ruling. This article glosses over this important fact. Hypothetically if the Koretz Marijuana Plan passed these newer dispensaries could sue LA City on the basis that the Koretz Marijuana Plan was bogus and federally illegal aka unenforceable as NO City can lend any shred of genuine legitimacy to a Medical Marijuana Storefront due to the federal laws making it illegal to begin with. LA City can try to play favorites and grant a few people license to do something federally illegal while others may not? The Koretz Medical Marijuana Plan if passed would get stopped in the courts from the legal precedent from Pack v. Long Beach
LA City does not need the Federal Goverments assistance to shutdown these Dispensaries. They can simply send out eviction letters and threaten to collect fines from land lords, just like last time. If some how some way a shop and land lord paid the fines and did not shutdown the doors would be padlocked. Why are you believing anything Eric Holder or Obama tells you? These Politicians say one thing and do another. It is apparently their job. The damage that collectives have done is that they have financially trespassed on the profit margins of Big Pharmaceutical companies. Profits above lives is Big Pharmaceutical's motto and mission. Big Pharma will not allow LA to have so many Pot Shops as it sets up Medical Marijuana as a competitor of many of Big Pharmas products particularly for basic pain relief. So back to the Shadows you go!
Sometimes the mods on patch censor people, but I don't believe this was the case just a little fyi.
If you follow the $$$$$$ This gentle ban is about Medical Marijuana Dispensaries having financially trespassed on the profit margins of Big Pharmaceutical companies. Profits above lives is Big Pharmaceutical's motto and mission. Big Pharma will not allow LA to have so many Pot Shops as it sets up Medical Marijuana as a competitor of many of Big Pharmas products particularly for basic pain relief. This can boil ones blood because it is unrighteous and evil. The time to act is now.
I hope everyone of your comments get Flagged as inapporopriate.
safety committee. Look here under date and activity. http://cityclerk.lacity.org/lacityclerkconnect/index.cfm?fa=ccfi.viewrecord&cfnumber=11-1737-S1 The Koretz motion was not passed by the public safety committee but merely noted and filed. Look under date and activity. http://cityclerk.lacity.org/lacityclerkconnect/index.cfm?fa=ccfi.viewrecord&cfnumber=08-0923-S17
I believe you are confusing the SCNC results with City Council Public Safety Committee results. Two different things.
Why would all these companies want to risk competing with a new market competitor? Why would any of these companies want to have something legal that you can produce inside your home for a fraction of the cost for the products they are selling. This is all about Money. Corporate interest will not let Marijuana become legal because they would lose money, and not necessarily be in control of the new emerging industry.
Leave it the way it is, or I'd much rather have it black market, honestly the people of CA already voted on a set of guidelines they want, the system is works fine. The Idea of reducing fast food restaurants is valid, it's from the same place, they smell, are eye sores, and If people can run around saying simply because they dislike Med Cannabis they can attempt to intrude into something that has nothing to do with them. So it's not about fairness, no it's about pointing out the hypocrisy of saying get rid of something because I don't like it.
THE DAILY NEWS IS CENSORING PUBLIC OPINION!!!!!!! When this story broke,I left a logical breakdown of the Gentle Ban using facebook posting reply on the Dailynews.com. I reprinted the commentary to an email sent to the Patch.com. However, if you google Gentle Ban, the Daily News has removed my posting and changed the link without my commentary. HMMMMMM cesorship within the media? Original dailynews link: http://www.dailynews.com/health/ci_20814299/gentle-ban-l-medical-marijuana-clinics-approved-by New dailynews link: http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_20814299/gentle-ban-l-medical-marijuana-clinics-approved-by