At a time when cities and counties in California are banning or threatening to ban medical marijuana dispensaries, the Second District Court of Appeal in California came down with a landmark published decision yesterday in County of Los Angeles v. Alternative Medicinal Cannabis Collective (AMCC), which clarified the legislative intent of SB420, now codified in California Health and Safety Code Sections 11362.7 et seq. The Appellate court clearly affirms the legality of medical marijuana dispensaries under state law, and rejected bans imposed by municipalities. This is extremely timely as the city of Los Angeles, Long Beach and other surrounding cities and municipalities are contemplating outright banning medical marijuana dispensaries in their communities.
In Rancho Mirage, the medical marijuana collective 72-067 Highway 111, that was supposed to shut their doors on Saturday, is still open. Since they are ignoring the city’s decree, the collective now faces a court order to close its doors permanently.
The Feds strike again! They began the crackdown by sending out warning letters earlier this month to medical marijuana collective (in California dispensaries are referred to as collectives) owners throughout Los Angeles County.
Two of the collectives affected are in Malibu: Malibu Collective Caregivers and PCH Collective. PCH Collective officially shut their doors on June 19th, and Malibu Collective Caregivers will close down by July 1st.
Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, who had authored Assembly Bill 2312, pulled his bill yesterday from the Senate vote. AB 2312 would have regulated and taxed medical marijuana in California. Ammiano believes that there should be more committee meetings and a detailed report on the issue before a more comprehensive bill is created for the legislature to adopt in the new session next fall.
