The Meth Raid That Wasn’t
June 30th, 2009 by Russ
A few weeks ago we reported a story that had reached the national papers about a meth “superlab” discovered on a rental property owned by Bell, California mayor, Oscar Hernandez. Los Angeles Fire Department and Hazardous Materials spokespeople are now amending that story.
So, let’s revisit some of the salient details of the original story and see what’s left:
Investigators found a methamphetamine “super lab” during a raid Saturday on a property owned by the mayor of a Los Angeles suburb.
Well, as it turns out, no lab was found. No traces of chemicals that would be produced by such a lab were found. No one nearby smelled or had otherwise heard of any such lab.
The original story also claimed:
Police also found two children on the premises who were put in the custody of welfare officials.
According to LA Child Protective Services, no children were taken from the home. And finally, according to the LA sheriff’s department:
Investigators said the lab would be able to produce as much as 20 pounds of methamphetamine at once.
The Sheriff’s Department now confirms that they seized not 20 pounds, not one pound, but one ounce of meth from the site. And the two superlab masterminds initially arrested? They have now been released without charge.
Wow. Seemingly, someone has laid an incredible whopper on the national press. This entire story has a very ‘Roswell’ feel to it. It makes one wonder what that drug task-force actually did find in that apartment: Jimmy Hoffa? The safehouse where Michael Jackson faked his own death? Dr. Venture’s super-secret child cloning facility?
Only one thing is certain. The LA Sheriff’s Department is at the center of this. The truth is out there.
California Medical Marijuana Dispensary Crackdown
June 23rd, 2009 by Rick
When the medical marijuana law was adopted 13 years ago in California, it was jumping into a brave new world where nobody quite knew how to regulate it, tax it, or even really control it. As a result medical marijuana dispensaries popped up out of the woodwork and set up shop by providing medical marijuana to the registered patients.
Now, with much of the complaints coming from law enforcement, insinuating that dispensaries are being run by some people that may have some connections to the black market and/or may be selling medical marijuana to minors or anyone that may not be a registered medical marijuana patient.
Los Angeles tried to appease the LAPD by creating a moratorium in 2007 that aimed to shut down some medical marijuana dispensaires that were making profit off medical marijuana sales but because of a loophole, some dispensaries were able to file for a “hardship exemption” and remain open. However as a result other dispensaries were able to sneak in under the radar which led to 600+ dispensaries currently in operation in California.
On Friday all the dispansaries were scampering to stay open… only 186 met the requirements. The remainder of the medical marijuana dispensaries that remain open illegally will face a $2500 day fine on top of the owners being threatened with six months of jail time. Other dispensaries are being targeted to shut down by forcing those that are 1,000 feet from each other, from schools, libraries, parks and other places children would likely be.
THC Expo 2009 Los Angeles
June 10th, 2009 by Erin
If you haven’t seen the billboards or heard about it through word-of-mouth, the THC Expo is coming to Los Angeles!
June 13-14
Los Angeles Convention Center
1201 South Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, California, 90015
Saturday, June 13th, 2009 from 11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Sunday, June 14th, 2009 from 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Along with a hemp fashion show and celebrity speakers talking about our favorite plant, the THC Expo will feature thousands of products for sale, vendors, exhibits, and we even heard that there might be a possibility that the Kottonmouth Kings will make a guest appearance.
At an affordable price @ $10 a day, you can’t afford to miss this event especially if you’re local — one of the first of its kind and a huge step in the right direction for the movement.
Open to people of all ages; however certain areas of the convention will be age restricted due to California law.
theFreshScent and Co. will be attending the event so if you happen to see us in our new tFS tees, be sure to say hello. We’ll be waiting. :)
LA City Council to Kibosh Weed Dispensaries
June 9th, 2009 by RussThings are about to get mighty interesting in the City of Angels. After a two-year city-wide free for all in which weed storefronts have become more plentiful than Starbucks, the LA City Council has decided to strike back against the dispensaries by retroactively reviewing their application paperwork.
The dispute is over a legal loophole that allowed dispensaries to freely open during a two-year moratorium passed by the City Council. Under the less than watchful eye of the Planning and Land Use Management Committee, any applicant claiming any kind of hardship was granted permission to open up shop.
After a great deal of public pressure, the City Council has now reversed course away from its blissful ignorance and is attempting to re-seal a Pandora’s Box that has made LA weed storefronts more common than Starbucks franchises.
Starting this week, the Council is going to be dealing with the hardship applicants on a case by case basis. In other words, there is a very real possibility that the city of Los Angeles is about to start shutting down dozens (if not hundreds) of newly minted businesses in the midst of a severe recession.
Given that most of the store operators were under the assumption that the Council had approved the new Weed Gold Rush, having given their tacit approval of the loophole for two years, things may get a bit heated.
The whole situation reminds me of that old joke: What’s the difference between a lightbulb and a pregnant woman? You can unscrew a lightbulb. I’m not so sure that Los Angeles can unscrew itself from the new economic reality it has created.
LA Loophole Within Moratorium to Be Plugged
June 4th, 2009 by Rick
Back in 2005 there were only four medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles, one each in the areas of Hancock Park, Van Nuys, Rancho Park and Cheviot Hills. Police say now 600 have popped up, with more perhaps out there that they don’t know about.
The rise came about after a moratorium was passed in 2007, that was actually supposed to stop future dispensaries from opening. The 186 that were already registered with the city and operating were allowed to remain open for business.
The moratorium contains a standard provision of a hardship exemption that allows City Council to listen to appeals from the dispensaries to legally operate. Because of typical red tape and city officials not having a clue on how to regulate the dispensaries, none of the 508 hardships applications have been processed (or let alone looked at) but by the dispensaries filing for a hardship application it prevented the city attorney’s office from engaging in prosecution.
Next Tuesday, the City Council’s planning committee intends to send a motion to the council designed to take the hardship exemption clause out of the moratorium, that will essentially close the loophole.
Ed Reyes, Chairman of the committee, said:
I don’t think anyone could have predicted how that clause was going to be used. [...] We’ve got abusive folks who are just gaming the system.
After the motion becomes a law, it is planned to have the city attorney shut down any dispensaries that attempt to open afterwards, allowing the hundreds of dispensaries already operating to be exempt. After the motion is filed it may still take a couple of weeks for it to become a law.
Frank Bush, assistant chief for the Code Enforcement Bureau noted:
Technically, they are not open legally. [...] Before we can take any further enforcement action, the City Council has to review them and take any action.
The concern apparently comes from the 200 complaints filed by citizens to the Department of Building and Safety who in turn sent out 80 orders to those dispensaries citizens complained about to comply with the moratorium. Obviously there is a much bigger agenda at a local city level trying to stifle the medical marijuana community, more than likely taking secret directives from the state, while they in turn are discreetly influenced at a federal level.
LAPD Ignoring Medical Marijuana Law
June 1st, 2009 by Rick
Apparently the LAPD is the new DEA. According to Americans for Safe Access, via Opposing Views, Detective Supervisor Holcomb from the LAPD has been shutting down Los Angeles medical marijuana dispensaries — some as recent as the past few days.
Holcomb told one of the clinic’s lawyers:
The City Council’s ongoing effort to regulate these facilities is irrelevant because the associations violate state law.
Sounding more like a DA rather than a cop, Holcomb cited a few flawed examples that he felt covered his ass when it came to raiding state sanctioned cannabis clubs. Outgoing Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, had the same philosophy when he wrote a draft ordinance designed to close all storefront patients’ associations in Los Angeles.
That was last year, the same year that California Attorney General Jerry Brown published guidelines stating:
A properly organized and operated collective or cooperative that dispenses medical marijuana through a storefront may be lawful under California law.
The Obama Administration and U.S. Attorney Eric Holder even said that the federal government would stop the raiding of medical marijuana dispensaries. The only time they said that they would raid these collectives was when they were violating state law as well. If these co-ops raided by Holcomb and his henchmen in blue, are indeed running a state sanctioned dispansary without criminal element, then the LAPD has a lot of explaining to do, considering this is in direct contradiction of the statements from the White House.
LA Sees Weed Dispensary Boom
May 20th, 2009 by RussIt seems that Los Angeles will be the first US test-case city for legalization. This isn’t because of any recently passed referendum, or new decriminalization ordinance; it’s simply due to the city’s laissez-faire attitude towards the opening of weed-selling storefronts.
According to the LAist, Los Angeles remains the only city in California that imposes no taxes or start up fees onto prospective weed dispensaries. By contrast, San Fransisco applicants pay $8,400 to open a shop, and Oakland dispensaries are charged upwards of $30,000 in yearly fees.
Combined with a legal loophole that allows new dispensaries to open upon claiming any kind of “hardship” to get around wait lists and zoning regulations, there is literally a completely open market for Angelino medical herb. Hundreds upon hundreds of weed shops are opening up in Los Angeles, and by unofficial counts have out-expanded Starbucks.
One would think that conservative economists and Adam Smith disciples would be keenly interested in Los Angeles’s weed experiement. Given the economic forces of nature at hand, this de facto legalization of weed has created the only sector of any economy that can claim a full-fledged boom.
Marijuana Laws ‘Looney Tunes’ Says LAPD Chief
April 3rd, 2009 by Rick
Apparently, Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton, wants stricter regulations imposed on medical marijuana dispensaries in California. He’s also not a happy camper when it comes to the Obama Administration and their change in policy of only going after those dispensaries that violate state law.
The chief told a press conference Wednesday:
I think that the policy of the federal government at this time is unfortunate. I think the policy of this state is ‘Looney Tunes.’
What is ‘Looney Tunes’ is the fact that the Chief’s main concern is the medical marijuana clinics. The Chief’s concern should be regarding the numerous criminal elements in the city that use violence to move drugs — drugs like heroin, crack and meth. It’s as if Elmer Fud, Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck are arguing over if it’s rabbit or duck season — obviously the Chief clearly doesn’t know either.
Bratton said:
They pass a law, then they have no regulations as to how to enforce the darn thing and, as a result, we have hundreds of these locations selling drugs to every Tom, Dick and Harry.
If Tom, Dick, and Harry have medical marijuana ID cards and are medical marijuana patients, then they have a right to be there. Is the Chief implying that people off the street are able to obtain marijuana at the dispensaries? They have enough patients coming to them legally, there’s no need to break the law. If the Chief feels that there are dispensaries distributing marijuana illegally then he needs to conduct a proper investigation.
Bratton said:
While I fully support its use for medicinal purposes, why don’t we regulate it like we do Lipitor or Viagra. You can’t buy those two without getting it through a legitimate pharmacy. If this drug is so important and so helpful, why is it not regulated like every other drug?
Marijuana is not created in a lab. Marijuana does not have side effects that require other medication to be taken. Marijuana is not a pill. Marijuana shouldn’t even be in the same building as a pharmacy.
The medical marijuana dispensaries are an ideal location to distribute marijuana. The staff that run them are knowledgeable and patients can discuss their ailments because they are all taking the same medication. If the pharmaceutical industry becomes involved with the distribution of this plant, prices will sky rocket and marijuana will disappear right back into the underground black market. Smart?
