Studio City Leaders Gather Medical Marijuana Businesses for Discussion

A lively discussion brought representatives from about 13 of the 20 businesses that distribute medical marijuana in Studio City to a Land Use Committee meeting.

Committee chairman Lisa Sarkin sent letters out inviting the landlords and managers of the marijuana distribution sites that have Studio City addresses, including three distribution-only sites, and invited the community members and a representative from City Attorney Mike Feuer’s office to explain a few things.

“We wanted to get some questions answered, and we wanted to find out why there are still some of these businesses still opening up in our area—two in just this past week,” Sarkin said. “Studio City is three-and-a-half miles long along Ventura Boulevard and we have way too many for this community.”

When the city passed Prop D in May, the only medical marijuana businesses allowed were ones that were registered with the city in 2007 and met certain requirements.

In Studio City, only five of the 20 businesses met that requirement. On top of that, the businesses cannot be within 600 feet of each other (two of them are), and cannot be within 1,000 feet from a school (one of them is). They would have 180 days to conform or relocate, said Nicole Carcel, Deputy for Community Engagement and Outreach for the City Attorney’s office.

Carcel said, “There are many questions we are still trying to confirm and answer, for example the definition of a school, but we are going to get answers as quickly as possible.”

Carcel did confirm that the LAPD is going to be working with federal law enforcement to close some of the medical marijuana shops that are not in compliance.

One of the Studio City Neighborhood Council board members, Denise Welvang, is a pharmacist, who said, “One of the reasons that the distribution is not being done by pharmacists is that we are not trained in this. And, until the federal government does something, our hands our tied. No pharmacist would prescribe it.”

Sam Humeid, president of the Perennial Holistic Wellness Center, who owns one of the allowed spots in Studio City, said, “Some dispensaries that caused the most grief closed their doors or moved out of Studio City, but there are some rogue places still there.” 

Sarkin said she walks past about eight medical marijuana businesses every day, and said some businesses have to air out their shops before opening because of the smell of the nearby pot shops, even though no one is supposed to smoke inside or around the business. 

About 40 people attended the committee meeting. The committee approved a motion by Joann Deutch to encourage the city to gather funds separately to implement Prop D and set aside the money for the attorney’s office and LAPD to use. The motion passed 7-2 with one abstention. Next week, the motion goes before the full SCNC board.

(See part of Sam Humeid’s speech in the video above.)