These are the applications heard on August 6, 2009 in front of the Los Angeles City Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee. PLUM denied all the applications and has recommended that council do the same.

The suit by the nation's largest medical marijuana advocacy group accuses the city of violating the state constitutional rights of pot clinic operators and claims the city ordinance "deprives the seriously ill of the medicine promised them by the electorate and the Legislature of California."

Organic Science, which has an office at 11664 National Blvd. in Mar Vista, claims to be at the "forefront of medical marijuana research and development, medicinal marijuana growing, sales and distribution."

Provisions largely banning dispensaries from residential and commercial areas and giving them a week to find a new location once the law takes effect constitute a violation of due process rights, the lawsuit says.

The suit by the nation's largest medical marijuana advocacy group accuses the city of violating the state constitutional rights of pot clinic operators and claims the city ordinance "deprives the seriously ill of the medicine promised them by the electorate and the Legislature of California."

Los Angeles is about to implement some of the toughest restrictions in the state on medical marijuana dispensaries. But in an exclusive CBS 2 News hidden-camera investigation, we went undercover into medical clinics and found that recommendations for medical marijuana are being sold without ever seeing a doctor.

Seriously ill people—including those with cancer, anorexia, AIDS, chronic pain, glaucoma, arthritis and migraines—and their primary caregivers are allowed to possess or cultivate marijuana for personal medical purposes upon approval of a physician.

Before a packed City Hall and a public lamenting about the evils of marijuana, the City Council decided Tuesday night to draft an ordinance to phase out all the dispensaries.

"The residents have spoken," Councilman David Argudo said after the vote. "Their voices resounded through the council chambers. We are working to remedy what the council has done prior to me being here."

The city prosecutor's office filed three lawsuits last week seeking court injunctions to force Organica in the Venice area and two Holistic Caregivers stores in South Los Angeles to stop all sales. Trutanich maintains that state law authorizes collectives only to grow marijuana and recover their actual costs, not to sell it.

While in general agreement on more detailed aspects of the city’s regulations, such as a citywide cap of five total dispensaries, the council remained split on how to address the broader problem of crafting a definition of a storefront collective that conforms with somewhat vague state law.

After three hours of discussion, the city council is making its final remarks about the medical cannabis ordinance changes. It is unclear whether or not the ordinance would pass as amended.

Self seems to think that the current dispensaries are rampantly out of control, selling to teens, creating problems for the police, and operating outside of the rules. However, she says she recognizes that cannabis can have a medical benefit.

The city was scheduled to consider an ordinance that would limit how close the dispensaries could be to schools, parks and libraries.

But with a number of residents expressing concerns over the dispensaries and their effect on children, the council took a different direction.

Read more: http://www.sgvtribune.com/ci_14459153#ixzz0gUIfPioj

The city prosecutor’s office filed the lawsuits last week to seek court injunctions to force Organica in the Venice area and two Holistic Caregivers stores in South Los Angeles to stop all over-the-counter sales. Trutanich maintains that state law authorizes collectives only to grow marijuana and recover their costs, not sell it, a practice that is widespread.

"It's a separate thing," explained Sarah Pullen with the DEA. "We were aware of each other's operation today." Pullen could not elaborate further than that search warrants being served. Witnesses tell the LA Times that three men were seen detained in handcuffs.

Los Angeles City Attorneys said nuisance and narcotics abatement lawsuits were filed against Organica and two Holistic Caregivers locations for violating the Narcotics Abatement Law, Public Nuisance Law and the Sherman Food, Drug and Cosmetics Law. Organica's owner, Jeffrey Joseph, is the subject of an arrest warrant for sales of marijuana.

City Atty. Carmen Trutanich had pledged to take aggressive action to shut down illegal dispensaries. Hundreds of stores have opened in Los Angeles while the City Council debated an ordinance to regulate them. The council passed the law, but it still has not taken effect.

City Atty. Carmen Trutanich had pledged to take aggressive action to shut down illegal dispensaries. Hundreds of stores have opened in Los Angeles while the City Council debated an ordinance to regulate them. The council passed the law, but it still has not taken effect.

The UC Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research this week reported to the state legislature that there is "reasonable evidence that cannabis is a promising treatment" for specific, pain-related ailments. (So, yeah, just tell 'em where it hurts).

Evidently, the memo sent out by the Department of Justice reiterating Obama’s pledge to keep federal drug enforcement away from state-legal, medical marijuana growers and dispensaries didn’t make it to a number of DEA in-boxes.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder last year announced an end to the previous administration's practice of raiding medicinal pot distributors, while marijuana for medical use has been legal in California since 1996.

"The federal attorney general has said they're not going to make that a priority, so it's pretty much laissez faire for all 50 states," said Mayor Gregory Salcido. "We need to have an ordinance on the books that is constitutional and serves the best interest of this community."

He called this week for the formation of an ad hoc committee made up of Councilmen David Armenta and Bob Archuleta to look into the issue.

It might sound counterintuitive, but there is no one more motivated than a dope smoker when it comes to matters concerning cannabis, especially one with an entrepreneurial wind at her back. Politicians' knee-jerk reaction to a tidal change in constituents' attitudes toward marijuana has set fire to an entire category of people who are usually content to sit on the sofa watching Man vs. Wild reruns.

I encourage our readers to review the latest revision by clicking here and downloading the document entitled 020210-ORD-30-ORD REDLINED.pdf. Of additional interest is a map of locations where properly licensed Collectives can be located if this latest version of the ordinance is adopted. You can view that map by clicking here and downloading the last attachment file, entitled 020210-ORD-30-MAP.pdf.

Here are some specific proposed revisions and my thoughts about them:

The permit required would be re-named from an Administrative Use Permit to a Medical Marijuana Collective Permit. I’m still not particularly concerned about what we call the license.

"This is a historic first step toward ending cannabis prohibition," said Richard Lee, the measure's main backer.

Advocates, trailed by television cameras and photographers, dropped off petitions with elections officials in the state's largest counties, including Los Angeles, where organizers said 143,105 voters signed.

But it took until now for the federal government to finally admit it.

A spokesperson for the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) told The New York Times last week that the agency does "not fund research focused on the potential medical benefits of marijuana."

Signatures were submitted to elections officials in all 58 California counties, who will then begin the process of validating that those who signed are registered voters. Only about 433,000 valid signatures are needed.

Officers with the Devonshire Area Narcotics Enforcement Detail, along with fifty additional officers from West Valley Area, North Hollywood Area, Topanga Area and Van Nuys Area Narcotics Units, served four search warrants simultaneously at three medical marijuana businesses and one residence belonging to Richard Khoury.

Police say the 30-year-old Khoury owns Alternative Care Collective, located in the 8500 block of Reseda Boulevard, 420 Discount Collective, located in the 5600 block of Kester Avenue, and Encino Discount Collective, also known as The Coffee Joint, located in the15800 block of Ventura Boulevard.

Now, even in L.A., the pendulum is swinging back toward a less permissive system. The city council passed an ordinance yesterday that caps the number of marijuana dispensaries at 70, and limits where the shops can be set up — though roughly 150 existing dispensaries that registered with the city clerk before 2007 are likely to be allowed to stay open under an exemption in the ordinance, the Los Angeles Times reports.

By simply ignoring the issue, Los Angeles created a lax environment where more than 800 clubs opened shop, prompting a community backlash. And now that they’re attempting to put that genie back in the bottle, they’re using tools that most likely run afoul of the rights created by Prop. 215, which legalized medical marijuana.

The ordinance, passed 9-3 and now before Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, would also ban marijuana use at the remaining dispensaries and limit the outlets' location and hours. The new rules could result in the city having less than 70 legal dispensaries.

The ordinance revision process will return to the dais — but to new eyes — after heading to the Planning Commission late last year.

Of the former Ordinance Committee members, only Councilman Grant House remains with Councilmen Das Williams and Dale Francisco moving to the Finance Committee. House will be joined by Councilman Bendy White — who addressed the issue as a planning commissioner last year — and Councilman Frank Hotchkiss.

The ordinance revision process will return to the dais — but to new eyes — after heading to the Planning Commission late last year.

Of the former Ordinance Committee members, only Councilman Grant House remains with Councilmen Das Williams and Dale Francisco moving to the Finance Committee. House will be joined by Councilman Bendy White — who addressed the issue as a planning commissioner last year — and Councilman Frank Hotchkiss.

District attorneys are using the vagueness of the medical marijuana law to prosecute more people. And across the country, kidnappers are getting away, rape kits are not being tested due to funding problems, and murder cases are left unsolved - all evidence of scary misappropriation of resources fueled by district attorneys' passion to be drug warriors.

In the case of People v. Kelly, the California Supreme Court this month held that the quantity limitations in the medical marijuana statutes are unconstitutional. Other decisions have crystallized the standard by which a court or jury determines if a medical marijuana defendant's conduct was legal: Whether the quantity possessed is reasonable for that defendant given his medical needs.

His nonprofit Ventura County Patients Cooperative grows enough cannabis to serve the medical needs of its 40-plus members and in many cases delivers the pot to their doors and bills them monthly. “We’re doing it as best we can and as legal as we can,” he said.

Now, a new initiative that will allow local governments to oversee and regulate cultivation, distribution, and sales – and to determine how and how much cannabis can be bought and sold within area limits – will be on the November 2010 ballot. National advocates say that regardless of the vote – signature gathering went fast and easy, according to reports – a major corner has been turned in national acceptance of marijuana use.

Last month, the Council approved a 45-day moratorium in order to provide city officials time to evaluate the legality of medical marijuana dispensaries and draft a new city policy to regulate the facilities.

Authorities on Thursday closed Jam's Collective on Olympus Avenue, just east of Hacienda Boulevard, because the collective lacked a business license, officials said.

The store's manager, Tom Moreno, said he wasn't aware the collective was missing any paperwork.

The raids, carried with the help of the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, began Thursday morning and were expected to take the better part of the day, said Long Beach Police Cmdr. Laura Farinella.

Farinella declined to identify all the locations citing the on-going enforcement, but confirmed that one of the locations was a dispensary located at Fourth Street and Elm Avenue.

One of the locations was apparently on 4th St. on near Elm Ave. An individual who told us he was nearby during most of the day said law enforcement was at the location from at least midmorning into the afternoon.

City Councilman Ed Reyes said Tuesday that the current proposal — a 1,000-foot buffer between the dispensaries and residences or other "sensitive" areas, such as schools and parks — "will go out the window right away" when the council returns to the issue today.

The council postponed an expected vote on the ordinance last week after council members realized the restriction was likely to be so severe that it would either amount to a de facto ban or reduce the number of medical-marijuana businesses to a few mega-dispensaries located in isolated industrial parks.

Last week, the council introduced amendments to a proposed ordinance that would protect patient privacy and access to medicine (although more work needs to be done).

Through many hours of hearings, council members have struggled to craft an ordinance that would follow state law and honor the voters' intent, and they expressed a willingness to revisit the issue as needed to assure those goals.

Paul Scott, executive director of the Inglewood Wellness Center, which opened its doors in February 2000 and is located at 318 Market Street, used World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, to issue his clarion call to action.

Authorities on Thursday said they arrested Virgil Grant III at a pot clinic he had just opened moments before. Sarah Pullen, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, says Grant was arrested because he wasn't supposed to associate with pot dispensaries while he was out on bond.

The meeting, hosted by Preservation of Los Olivos, came after the group learned that two buildings in the Valley and one in Orcutt almost became home to such dispensaries. The plans reportedly fell through after neighboring tenants objected. Next week, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, at the request of supervisors Janet Wolf and Joni Gray, will consider a moratorium or an outright ban on medical marijuana dispensaries.

His plants are gorgeous, even (or maybe even more so) to a man in recovery who hasn’t touched bud in 11 years. Some are easily 15 feet tall, with the sexiest flowers this side of Holland.

“Weed is as natural and wholesome as spinach,” says Raul, adding, “and a lot more profitable.”

Last month, Judge Glenda Sanders ruled that the dispensaries have to give the city their records as part of a city investigation into the legality of the dispensaries' operations. Only certain city officials would have access to client names. They were supposed to turn over the paperwork by Dec. 7, according to court records.

The council’s considering whether to allow “cash contributions, reimbursements and compensations for the actual expenses” of growing and providing medical marijuana.

If eventually approved, the new ordinance would create a citywide cap of seven dispensaries with a limit of one in each of seven geographic areas — upper State Street, De la Vina Street, Mission Street, downtown east of State Street, downtown west of State Street, Milpas Street and the Mesa.

Plowing through more than 50 proposed changes to its draft medical marijuana ordinance, the council also signaled that it would probably cap the total number of dispensaries at between 70 and 200. The council asked city officials to return next Wednesday with studies on caps and on restrictions that would keep dispensaries either 500 feet or 1,000 feet from places such as schools and parks. The council also added new restrictions on dispensaries and rejected efforts to loosen requirements.

"We have a right as a city to cap the number," he said, saying that a cap was "without question" needed to reduce the number to a level that the Police Department and city officials can adequately monitor. "Communities have a right to protect the character of those communities and the security of those neighborhoods."

The Los Angeles City Council postponed a scheduled Wednesday vote on the ordinance, which would have regulated marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles. Another vote is scheduled for Nov. 24.

The proposed ordinance comes as the medical marijuana dispensaries have increased dramatically in Los Angeles. Also, the city just lifted a two-year moratorium on regulating dispensaries.

The situation is further complicated by recreational and pro-legalization groups who use medical marijuana and the current lack of regulation as an opportunity to profit from and promote their agendas.

But council members, who will return to the measure Tuesday, pressed for a quick end to a drawn-out deliberation that has unfolded as hundreds of dispensaries opened.

LBPD Public Information Officer Nancy Pratt says that at approx. 2:10 p.m., two armed suspects entered the operation in the 2600 block of Magnolia Ave. One of the suspects allegedly pointed a handgun at the employee and threatened him while the other suspect proceeded to gather the marijuana on hand.

Councilman Ed Reyes, who is overseeing efforts to craft a law, introduced a motion that would make a series of major changes to the proposal, and asked that the council take more time to review them.

He also noted that other council members had proposed numerous amendments. "This is only the tip of the iceberg," he said.

Ten-year -old Sam's father told reporter Cher Calvin that his son had been hurting other children at school, pulling the television down, destroying furniture, etc .He would have to put the boy in a hold for an hour, while he had spasms, until he eventually calmed down.

The nation's largest physicians organization, with about 250,000 member doctors, the AMA has maintained since 1997 that marijuana should remain a Schedule I controlled substance, the most restrictive category, which also includes heroin and LSD.

In addition, the council also voted to schedule the adoption of an ordinance to create landscape water conservation standards, and adopted a resolution opposing the declawing of cats within the city.

Many cities and a few counties have banned them. Others have imposed emergency moratoriums. And some have started to sue dispensaries to force them to close. So far, the state's courts have sided with local officials.

Those regulations would prohibit medical marijuana dispensaries from operating within a thousand feet of each other – or of schools, churches, parks, libraries, hospitals, drug rehab and child care centers.

Council members have been urgently working to create a way to control the growth of the collectives, which are estimated at 50 to 60 in Long Beach, and resisted the urging Tuesday by some members of the public and by council members Rae Gabelich and Dee Andrews to return it to committee for more discussion.

Los Angeles officials have been agonising for two years over a move to introduce what they call sensible guidelines to help regulate the booming industry.

Hidden behind a curtain at one San Fernando Valley 'grow' operations, eight different strains of marijuana reach up toward the artificial light. The indoor hydroponic growing operation, yielding roughly six pounds of medical marijuana a month, serves 1,200 patients, and it's all legal.

Monday night, the council’s Economic, Finance and Development Committee proposed strict guidelines for medical marijuana outlets in the city — allowing only nine throughout the city (there currently are more than 40), limiting where they can be located, limiting signs on the sites, limiting hours of operation and ensuring people do not smoke on the premises.

My head hurts too.

And my vision is blurred from going through long lists of Southern California physicians who specialize in herbal medicine. I need relief, and I need it fast, but how does one go about choosing a medical marijuana doctor?

"I am a person first, a scientist second and a friend always," a Melrose Avenue doctor says in an ad that can be found in medical cannabis magazines.

Enacted by the state’s voters under Proposition 36 in 2000, the initiative requires judges to offer treatment to nonviolent drug offenders instead of jail. Ventura County government has wholly funded the $2 million treatment program with state dollars, but expects to receive only a few hundred thousand dollars this year in the wake of the state’s budget problems.

"That's what they said, but that's not what they're going to get," Shannon told the Press-Telegram.

The council's Economic Development and Finance Committee - made up of council members Tonia Reyes Uranga, Rae Gabelich and Gary DeLong - had been directed by the council on Aug. 4 only to gather information, Shannon said.

Medical marijuana patient, Melissa Ziering says, "Would you please allow the dispensary to come into our community so I have access to my medication."

One by one medical marijuana patients state their reasons for wanting the city's moratorium on pot dispensaries lifted.

Mr. Cooley and Mr. Trutanich assert that over-the-counter sales of medical marijuana are illegal under their interpretation of Proposition 215 and AB420, which govern the availability and accessibility of the product through cooperatives of growers.

The White House announced last week that federal prosecutors will no longer be making a priority of prosecuting growers and sellers.

In a meeting scheduled for Monday night, the Long Beach City Council will consider their options for regulating collectives that have opened in the city recently.

The California chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws says it would also cost 6,700 dispensary workers their jobs.

Under the proposed ordinance, only nonprofit medical marijuana collectives -- groups of qualified patients and their primary caregivers -- would be allowed to cultivate the drug to relieve pain from serious illnesses.

Councilman Greig Smith today decided not to hold a hearing in his Public Safety Committee and send the proposal straight to the council to speed it along.

Dispensary owners offering business cards, live bands serving up “stoner” tunes and bong artisans selling their wares was made up most of the event, held at the Rock City Fairgrounds on Hollywood Blvd.

The three judges from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals concluded the federal government could not prove the money was tied to illegal sales.

On March 15, 2005, a police officer visited the United Medical Caregivers Clinic. Staff provided paperwork to show it was operating under the state's medical marijuana law.

The judge issued an injunction banning L.A. from enforcing its moratorium against Green Oasis, a popular pot shop in Playa Vista. That decision is widely expected to prevent City Hall from enforcing its ban throughout Los Angeles.

The judge issued an injunction banning enforcement of the moratorium against Green Oasis, a dispensary in Playa Vista that had challenged the ban. But city officials acknowledged the ruling would effectively block current efforts to enforce the ban against other dispensaries.

“It will not be a priority to use federal resources to prosecute patients with serious illnesses or their caregivers who are complying with state laws on medical marijuana,” Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement when he released the new guidelines. But, Mr. Holder said, “we will not tolerate drug traffickers who hide behind claims of compliance with state law to mask activities that are clearly illegal.”

Still, he wasn't expecting the phone call one August day when a voice said the police were outside and he needed to open up or they would bust down the door. His first thought, that it was a joke, turned to terror when he opened the door.

DeLao's cooking tips are part of "Cannabis Planet," a weekly, 30-minute TV program focusing on the medical, agricultural and industrial uses of hemp.

The show airs at 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday on cable channel KJLA, which reaches 4 million households in Southern California.

The Atascadero City Council will decide tonight if it will seek to repeal an existing ordinance that allows one dispensary provided it’s not within 1,000 feet of a school, church or park.

There are hundreds of dispensaries throughout the county, including as many as 800 in the city of Los Angeles, according to the city attorney's office. They operate under a 1996 voter initiative that allowed marijuana to be used for medicinal purposes, and a subsequent state law that provided for collective cultivation.

Steve Cooley and Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich are among a growing number of officials across the state who say California -- the first state to legalize the sale of "medical marijuana" -- unwittingly created safe havens for drug pushers to dope the population with impunity.

Following last week’s contentious budget talks which have resulted in an interim agreement between the City’s administration and its public unions, there will still be a lot to discuss.

The L.A. City Council adopted a moratorium on new dispensaries in 2007 but failed to ensure it was enforced. In the last two years, the 186 dispensaries allowed to stay open during the ban have been joined by hundreds of others.

That has irked law enforcement officials who argue that many, if not most, of the dispensaries operate as nonprofit collectives in name only.

I’m not going to educate, preach or tell you why I think marijuana is bad for me, you and the rest of civilization. I do however want to make a couple of observations about marijuana and its mainstreaming.

The dispensaries would also have to be at least 1,000 feet from religious institutions, childcare facilities, youth centers, hospitals, drug rehabilitation centers and other community centers, the proposed ordinance says.

If you are a seriously ill patient, or someone who doesn’t have the time to grow your own…. forget about getting easy access to your medicine. This new ordinance would also outlaw edibles and concentrates, items that every single cancer patient I know uses. It would prohibit the sale of medical marijuana and any edibles.

Yet police and prosecutors say the law is vague on who can sell pot and in what circumstances. They worry that the state unwittingly created safe havens for drug pushers who are doping the population with immunity.

California law allows physicians to recommend marijuana for seriously ill patients. But Dr. Tollette recommended marijuana to just about anyone, as long as the price was right. And sometimes he'd smoke it with them too.

Along with agreeing that a cap on the number of dispensaries allowed to operate in the city would be appropriate, members of the ordinance committee moved toward requiring dispensaries that had been grandfathered in under the current ordinance to conform with the regulations within a shorter, six-month period.

The fact is that the 15 members of the City council, those who actually enact Law in L.A., voted to allow such illegal shops to operate within the borders of L.A. City, voted an Interim Control Ordinance, which had a gaping loop hole known as "Hardship" in it, allowing the proliferation of illegal pot shops in LA.

The state's Second District Court of Appeal said in its decision that the city of Claremont in Los Angeles County could ban dispensaries without violating the state's medical marijuana laws. Those laws include the 1996 Compassionate Use Act, which legalized marijuana for medical use, and the 2004 Medical Marijuana Program Act, which lets people cultivate marijuana collectively.

In a month and a half they’ll have to come back to kick the idea around all over again. They could extend the moratorium for almost a year if they so desire.

On Wednesday, Justices William Rylaarsdam, Richard Aronson and Richard D. Fybel heard arguments from attorneys representing a medical mairjuana advocacy organization, the city of Anaheim, law enforcement authorities and a group of about 37 other cities prohibiting medical marijuana dispensaries.

Div. Two, in an Aug. 27 decision certified Tuesday for publication, affirmed Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dan T. Oki’s injunction barring Darrell Kruse and Claremont All Natural Nutrition Aids Buyers Information Service, or CANNABIS, from operating a dispensary anywhere in the city of Claremont.

Kruse approached the city in July 2006 and told planners he wanted to open the dispensary. He was told there was no provision for any such business in the city’s land use rules, so he would have to apply for a code amendment.

The Los Angeles Collective Assn and the Green Oasis dispensary filed a law suit on Monday claiming that the City’s dispensary moratorium is “unreasonable, discriminatory and overly broad.”

And when her turn came, she gripped her cane, made her way to the microphone and joined a chorus of would-be lawbreakers, there to fight a proposed ordinance that would ban the sale of medical marijuana in Los Angeles.

To a generation of impressionable teens weaned on the trite tautologies of Nancy Reagan, Tipper Gore, and Ed "The Fighting Tomato" Meese, Cypress Hill's words rang out like ice cream truck bells (with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle bars among the first things we wanted upon heeding B-Real's sage advice). This was 1993, after all -- the commencement of the Clinton era -- a moment that ostensibly heralded a new dawn of liberalism and an enlightened drug policy. Instead, we got the same song (word to Shock G). The ensuing Bush years managed to trump the "I Didn't Inhale" era hysteria, with Attorney General John Ashcroft presumably referencing "Reefer Madness" to determine federal policy.

Div. Two, in an Aug. 27 decision certified Tuesday for publication, affirmed Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dan T. Oki’s injunction barring Darrell Kruse and Claremont All Natural Nutrition Aids Buyers Information Service, or CANNABIS, from operating a dispensary anywhere in the city of Claremont.

The lawsuit, filed late Monday, is the first to take aim at the city's attempts to halt the explosive growth in dispensaries. It comes as the City Council's Planning Committee continued Tuesday to struggle with a permanent ordinance to replace the moratorium.

The City Council's Planning and Land Use Committee heard presentations from the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office, L.A. County District Attorney's Office and Los Angeles Police Department, but decided to hold more hearings.

The laws can be confusing, dizzying and a bit numbing, particularly for city officials who want to regulate medical marijuana dispensaries, collectives and cooperatives.

"In adopting these laws, California did not legalize medical marijuana but instead exercised the state's reserved powers to not punish certain marijuana offenses," Deputy City Attorney Cristyl Meyers told the committee.

The shooting occurred around 4:45 p.m. Friday in the 11000 block of Pico Boulevard, said Officer Cleon Joseph.

"It's not that we have a hands-off approach, it's just that the state in some ways has tied our hands," said Lt. Don Barnes, chief of police services for the city of Lake Forest. "There's not a lot we can do."

When it comes to medical marijuana dispensaries, local law enforcement agencies have found themselves walking a tight rope of contradicting federal and state laws, as well as local ordinances adopted by cities to either prohibit or limit the use of dispensaries.

The expense derives from the city's refusal, even when ordered by a court, to return marijuana to one Felix Kha, who was a qualified medical marijuana user under state law when he was pulled over on a routine traffic stop in 2005. The ensuing citation for marijuana possession was dismissed when Mr. Kha produced documentation of a physician's recommendation.

Police arrested three people during the raid Thursday night at the Royal Temple of Zion in Echo Park.

Brown stood in front of large poster showing the blackened campsite. He said that 30,000 plants, ranging from 2 feet to 6 feet, were discovered at the remote pot farm. Also found were stacks of propane tanks, melted irrigation tubing, empty canisters of fertilizer, mounds of trash, a torched cooking stove and a semiautomatic rifle.

In February, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said that the DEA would no longer raid marijuana dispensaries that are operating in accordance with state law. Holder later said "our focus will be on people, organizations, that are growing, cultivating substantial amounts of marijuana and doing so in a way that's inconsistent with Federal law and State law."

An Oakland-based group filed papers with the state and now has to collect more than 430,000 signatures to get its measure on the November 2010 ballot. The campaign is being spearheaded by legalization activist Richard Lee. It's one of several efforts to legalize pot in California, including legislation being proposed in Sacramento.

Santa Barbara’s Medical Marijuana Dispensary Ordinance, approved in March 2008, sets guidelines for permitted dispensaries. Before and since the ordinance, several dispensaries have been established that aren’t playing by those rules, and the City Council is sending the legislation back to the Ordinance Committee in an attempt to make a citywide standard that can be enforced.

Medical marijuana patients hailed the decision, but top city and police officials cautioned that pot clubs could pose enforcement and regulatory challenges and bring increased crime.

"I've been getting a lot of complaints recently about some of them that are coming in, and about some of them that are not doing the right things," Santa Barbara Mayor Marty Blum said.

A Los Angeles County Superior Court hearing on the matter was postponed Friday because of scheduling issues.

The council’s 5-0 vote came one day after lawyers for Amazing Healing Supply, a marijuana distribution facility in the city, announced that they will ask a court today to issue a restraining order to block the city from interfering with the business.

Weedmaps is a founder of The Dispensary Defense Group, headed by Richard Cowan, former Director of The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).

The council’s 5-0 vote came one day after lawyers for Amazing Healing Supply, a marijuana distribution facility in the city, announced that they plan to ask a court on Friday to issue a restraining order to block the city from interfering with the business.

Tehachapi’s chief of police Jeff Kermode said the city was aware that they had no ordinances in place that would prohibit, permit or regulate any sort of marijuana-related business, but he said there was no need until last week.

Neighbors and local business owners grew concerned when they received a letter late last week stating that the county had approved a land-use permit for the dispensary on West Clark Avenue.

Incredibly enough, nary a surfer, skater or b-baller in the area complained of second-hand smoke inhalation.

The nonprofit dispensary in Canoga Park, Roscoe's Compassionate Collective, advertised the offer last week in Kush L.A., a monthly cannabis magazine, with a pull-out coupon for patients with marijuana medical cards and updated prescriptions. Since then, the collective has fielded hundreds of calls from people essentially asking the same question: Is this for real?

Fire Capt. Steve Ruda says the fire was reported at about 5:30 a.m. Monday at the Westchester Collective on the second floor of a two-story commercial building in the Westchester area. The building also houses several other businesses.

But marijuana, says the 48-year-old Ware, Mass., resident, is the only thing that even begins to control the migraine headaches that plague her nine days a month, which she describes as feeling like "hot, hot ice picks in the left side of my head."

"Hey listen. Pot is not a bad thing. When's the last time that someone got clocked in the head by someone else because they were stoned?! How about when they were intoxicated? Haha. I know, I know, I'm still wrong according to some.

Hahn suggested during last week's L.A. city council meeting that a city tax on medical marijuana could provide millions of dollars to a cash-strapped city. More than 400 dispensaries operate in Los Angeles, none of which are currently taxed. Her argument: pot is like any other commodity.

When medical marijuana advocates had their chance to talk, they seized on the coincidence and startled the council with their message. Don't ban us, they said, tax us.

Americans have been paying for their sins for most of history. Tobacco and booze are examples. Now comes a proposal from LA Councilwoman Janice Hahn to tax the 400-plus medical marijuana dispensaries currently operating in the city.

Medical marijuana is legal in the state, and it's big business. With Los Angeles facing a budget shortfall, leaders say the city should make some money from it.

Councilmembers Janice Hahn, Dennis Zine and Bill Rosendahl backed a motion on Wednesday proposing that the city explore the possibility of taxing medical marijuana sold in the city.

Hahn, who represents an area from San Pedro to Watts, made a motion Wednesday to explore taxing revenues of marijuana dispensaries.

"We're always looking for a way to raise more revenue," Hahn said, noting the tax could bring in millions of dollars. "The legitimate clinics don't mind this. They feel like it makes them more legitimate, and more a part of the city family."

Marijuana.

So far this summer, local deputies have "harvested" pot said to be worth roughly $186 million from some remote corners of the county.

Surely Phelps -- 14-time Olympic gold medalist and endorsement juggernaut -- was being only himself, only human, when he was photographed in November hitting a bong at a party at the University of South Carolina.

The Planning Commission last week voted 3-1 to recommend against such an ordinance.

The council in April had voted 3-2 to ask staff to draft a ban on the businesses.

College-aged employees behind double-paned glass insist the self-described “one-stop hemp shop” is not actually a store, but a nonprofit collective that accepts donations, not payments, to serve qualified medicinal cannabis patients.

The crime took place before 11 p.m. Thursday in the 2000 block of Cotner Avenue, according to Richard French of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Three men armed with handguns robbed the business of $15,000, as well as marijuana, French said.

Charles Lynch's case was the first to reach court after Attorney General Eric Holder announced in March that the administration would target only traffickers who violated both state and federal drug laws in California and 12 other states that allow the medical use of marijuana.

A city panel voted to change the language on an interim measure that allowed clinics to open under a "hardship exemption" clause. The clause allowed clinics to argue why they should be allowed to open even with the moratorium in place.

Two years ago, the city council approved a temporary moratorium on new medical marijuana dispensaries. The purpose of the interim ordinance, which will expire on Sept. 14, was to give city leaders time to draft regulations that limit where and how dispensaries can operate in Los Angeles.

Charles Lynch was scheduled to be sentenced Thursday, but the judge delayed a decision until June 11 in federal court in Los Angeles.

According to a report in on Salem-News.com, Kern County' Sheriff lead a raid, with Drug Enforcement Agency support of Green Cross Compassionate Medical Marijuana Co-operative in Bakersfield. DEA officials said they merely served as back-ups to the local police during the raid.

Local TV station KGET 17 News reports that the search warrant was served on the Green Cross Compassionate Medical Marijuana Co-operative at 319 Bernard Street in Bakersfield.

Kern County deputies and officials with the DEA served a search warrant Wednesday at the Green Cross Compassionate Co-Op at 309 Bernard Street in east Bakersfield.

They arrested three men, Albert Juarez, 40; Adam Romero Valenzuela, 27; and Brandon Neal Luck, 24. All three were booked on charges of selling and possessing marijuana as well as conspiracy.

But if you ask almost anyone that question right now the answer would be yes, in more ways than one. Freshman Assembly member Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) thinks he has a partial solution to the state's fiscal woes: legalize recreational marijuana and tax it heavily.

Clark, 55, a disabled veteran, thinks the time is right.

Yet the media always accept such figures as gospel. In the last few months, marijuana’s supposed top rank in California agriculture has appeared in newspapers across the country, including this one, and been cited on CNN and NBC. Often it’s accompanied by other turbo-charged stats, to the effect that the value of the state crop is $14 billion, part of a nationwide marijuana trade worth more than $100 billion a year (including imports).

The case was originally filed June 20 by Elaine McKellips and had claimed a raid last year that led to the closure of a Morro Bay marijuana dispensary violated her constitutional right to cannabis.

That's because marijuana recommended by a doctor has been legal in California since 1996. A dozen other states have passed similar laws. Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and New Hampshire are among about ten states that have been debating similar measures.

Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided at least two Westside marijuana dispensaries Tuesday, and a spokesperson defended their actions, despite President Barack Obama's opposition to such raids.

One of the raids was at the Marina Caregivers at 730 W. Washington Blvd. about noon, said Sarah Pullen of the DEA.

Henry Ford hemp ethanol carThe number one question on the President's "Change.gov," web site was whether or not the President was going to tax and regulate marijuana. The same plant that is non-toxic and has never killed anyone in recorded history. People who supported Mr. Obama are expecting him, an admitted past user of both cocaine and marijuana, to do something about the Drug War, which he has called an utter failure. While the raids went on patients chanted, "Save us Obama."

"The debate on this is old, times have changed, the world has changed. . . . Who are we to deny these people relief? . . . I say tax it, sell it in the drugstores, and help our dying economy a little bit."

Rubin is joking of course, but in every joke is a grain of truth. People who smoke pot move onto harder jobs with more responsibilities and that is what Rubin is hoping for. The next job he is looking for is leader of Los Angeles. No less than Mayor.

Altogether, prosecutors charged that Mr. Kristich distributed more than 15,000 pounds of pot through seven dispensaries, known as the McDonald’s of medical marijuana at its peak of operation.

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents served search warrants on four medical marijuana vendors in the Los Angeles area on Tuesday, seizing more than 200 kg (440 pounds) of cannabis, edible marijuana products and about $10,000 in cash, a DEA spokeswoman said.

The Drug Enforcement Administration raided four dispensaries in the city this week and seized 500 pounds of marijuana, bringing fresh attention to the rift between state and federal laws on medical marijuana use. President Barack Obama said during the campaign he would not use the Justice Department, which oversees DEA, to circumvent laws in California and other states that permit the sale of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

The two defendants, who include a veteran of the war in Iraq, say they use the marijuana for medical reasons so their actions were legal under Proposition 215. The ruling came Friday at a preliminary hearing.

At least three groups of officers with the Drug Enforcement Administration simultaneously served search warrants on dispensaries Tuesday about noon, said Sarah Pullen, a DEA spokeswoman.

"I can't get into details as to the probable cause behind the warrants except for the fact that they're dealing with marijuana, which is illegal under federal law," she said.

On Tuesday, three different groups of DEA officers simultaneously served search warrants to the dispensaries about noon, said Sarah Pullen, a DEA spokeswoman.

“I can’t get into details as to the probable cause behind the warrants except for the fact that they’re dealing with marijuana, which is illegal under federal law,” she said.

Barack Obama is in, George Bush is out -- and out, too, it seems, the policy of raiding medical marijuana dispensaries. Or didn't you hear?

Apparently not. In Los Angeles today, at least two Westside medical marijuana dispensaries were reportedly raided by agents, in spite of the fact that Obama said during the campaign that the use of medical marijuana can be ''appropriate.'' A number of states agree, and have voted accordingly, including California. As Obama told Oregon's ''Mail Tribune'' newspaper, as president, ''I'm not going to be using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws on this issue.''

In the waiting room, patients sit on stylish lounge chairs, flipping through magazines. There are dark bamboo floors and walls painted in shades of blue, chosen to foster warmth and serenity.

The event yesterday was at the Arts District Healing Center and the Freedom Gallery on 618 East First Street in LA. The organization running the event was the Union of Medical Marijuana Patients. The photo above and at the bottom of this post are attempts by me to capture the fact that LAPD was right across the street, you can see the building, again through the festive ribbons in front of the Freedom Gallery door.

Planning Commission staff recommends approving the permit applied for in September 2008 by Stanley Zahn, owner of PCH Collective. The dispensary would inhabit approximately 660 square feet and consist of a waiting room, reception room, one restroom, medicine room and an office.

Lynch, the former operator of the Morro Bay medical marijuana dispensary, Central Coast Compassionate Caregivers (CCCC), faces up to 100 years in federal prison. Federal Judge George H. Wu scheduled Lynch’s Sentencing for Monday February 23rd 2009 at 8:30 AM

Sentencing for the Arroyo Grande man, who faces five years in prison, was set for Feb. 23, according to attorneys involved in the case.

According to Lynch's Web site, he presented new evidence showing he had nothing to do with his employees' alleged street sales.

On Oct. 15, 2004, local police seized marijuana plants, growing equipment, and personal correspondence from the Montebello home of Terry Gene Walker.

A request for Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Craig Veals to issue contempt proceedings was filed in response to the alleged refusal by the city of Montebello to return medical marijuana and other belongings taken by its local police department from Terry Walker, according to the ASA. Montebello police in October 2004 seized marijuana plants, growing equipment, and personal correspondence from Walker's Montebello home, according to the ASA.

Indeed, as early as December 7, an intrepid Web voyager could find her way to a page on the Ventura County Public Health site titled “Medical Marijuana Program.” The ordinary-appearing page provides information for qualified Ventura County medical cannabis patients regarding how to obtain the state-issued Patient’s ID Card.

The program, which was enacted under Senate Bill 420, is designed to alleviate confusion between police and those who are legally allowed to transport and consume the drug.

Though 41 other counties in California have enacted similar state-mandated programs, Ventura County officials wanted to see how a series of lawsuits played out before starting a program here.

The SLO County Sheriff’s Department, which executed a search warrant on his home, said he was not complying with California law. Steenken maintains that he was harassed by the Sheriff’s Department.

Monday night, the council directed staff to put together an ordinance that would ban storefront dispensaries but allow nonprofit, primary caregivers to get marijuana for their patients.

In March of 2007, the Compassionate Caregivers dispensary, owned by Charles Lynch, was raided and shut down by federal agents.

Garden Grove police seized the marijuana from Filex Kha during a traffic stop in 2005.

Officers responded to reports of gunfire at 10 p.m. Friday at the dispensary in the 1500 block of Sepulveda Boulevard, Los Angeles Police Lt. Darryl Grayson said.

Council members voted Monday night in favor of a new ordinance that will ensure medical marijuana dispensaries are kept out.

Founded in 2006, the Coalition for a Safe and Clean Environment has donated $7,200 to the campaigns of Assemblyman Ed Hernandez, D-West Covina, campaign finance statements show.

The City Council voted 4-1 Tuesday night to ban the pot stores. The ordinance takes effect in 30 days.

Councilman Mark Rosen cast the lone dissenting vote, saying the ban is "mired in mid-20th-century thinking."

Garden Grove, Calif., has one dispensary, which opened seven months ago. One of the owners of Unit-D said that the dispensary plans to remain open as long as it can, The Orange County Register reported.

At the corner of the parking lot is the door that takes visitors into Unit-D, the only known medical marijuana dispensary in Garden Grove.

At the Laguna Woods City Council meeting Sept. 17, an ordinance passed by a four in favor one abstention vote to allow the dispensaries.

Several people spoke against the proposed ordinance on dispensaries at Tuesday night's council meeting. No one spoke in favor of the ban.

Bruce Benedict filed the lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court last month, saying he is allowed by California law to grow and distribute pot.

Council members will consider a municipal ordinance that would make it illegal to operate a medical marijuana dispensary in the city.

A notice of intention to circulate a petition to recall Lintott was filed Aug. 22 with County Clerk-Recorder Susan M. Ranochak.

"She starved in front of my eyes," Horne says. "Maybe some medically prescribed marijuana might have stimulated her appetite."

In 30 days, ailing residents of heavily senior Laguna Woods will be able to buy medically prescribed marijuana — from a dispensary within their city of 18,500.

At the Laguna Woods City Council meeting Sept. 17, an ordinance passed by a four in favor one abstention vote to allow the dispensaries.

City Manager Leslie Keane said that in the 30 days since the council met last, she had not received any public opposition.

However, under federal law, marijuana use is still illegal. That has put sick Californians who follow California law in the untenable position of still violating federal law and still being subject to arrest.

Herb Papenfuss, attorney for Nature's Wellness Collective owner Bob Adams, said Adams is tired of fighting federal and local officials. Marijuana use for medicinal purposes is legal under state law, but federally, marijuana usage for any purpose is illegal and city officials have sided with federal law.

Ostensibly, he issued these guidelines to clarify the boundaries regarding patients, caregivers, collectives and law enforcement. Ultimately, however, the vagueness of the guidelines will only further motivate law enforcement and district attorneys throughout the state who are sincerely trying to follow the laws.

The proposal, which divided the medical community, was narrowly approved on the same day the Legislature passed a bid to ban employers from taking action against workers who legally use marijuana for medical purposes.

First of all, let’s just put it out there that Hedges must be a fairly good sport. He gets his mug all over New Times occasionally, and rarely in a flattering light, but even though he’s a small guy he’s big enough to continue to talk, unlike another certain hulking area politician, who shall remain nameless, since the voters have kicked him out anyway.

The council unanimously approved extending the original moratorium by 10 months and 15 days, until June 11, 2009.

The simultaneous busts netted marijuana worth about more than $1 million on the street, according to Sgt. Steve Carney, who heads the Sheriff's Office narcotics enforcement team.

In this latest reason.tv video, we talk to Lynch's lawyers and the forewoman of the jury to find out precisely how Lynch got convicted and what happens next. It's a disturbing, provocative video that should make even the hardiest drug warrior wonder just what the hell we're doing locking up businessmen who play by the rules and give aid and comfort to sick people. That Lynch's conviction was virtually guaranteed under federal law simply underscores how immoral those laws are.

Thirty years after comedians Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong popularized the myth of stoners as amiable goofballs in "Up in Smoke," film and television producers are instead portraying pot smokers as regular folks from all walks of life.

On TV, there is "Weeds," which became a hit on cable network Showtime following its 2005 debut. It revolves around a widowed mom who deals dope to make ends meet.

Charles Lynch of Arroyo Grande — who operated Central Coast Compassionate Caregivers before it was raided last year by federal agents and local sheriff’s deputies—could face a minimum of five years in prison.

Charles Lynch of Arroyo Grande — who operated Central Coast Compassionate Caregivers before it was raided last year by federal agents and local sheriff’s deputies—could face a minimum of five years in prison.

Selling marijuana to people under age 21 is an even more serious crime under federal law, and yet he didn’t dispute, on the stand of a federal court, that he’d sold marijuana to people younger than 21.

Charles Lynch, 46, was found guilty of distributing more than 100 kilos of marijuana, some of it to people considered minors under federal law.

Lynch, flanked by his defense attorneys, hung his head and grimaced as the verdicts were read in a Los Angeles courtroom. He could be sentenced to a minimum of five years in federal prison or as many as 85.

Charles Lynch was found guilty on Tuesday of distributing more than 100 kilos of marijuana, some of it to minors. The 46-year-old man's Los Angeles trial dramatized the conflict in state and federal marijuana laws.

Lynch, owner of Central Coast Compassionate Caregivers, faces five to 85 years in federal prison.

Cultivating, using and selling medical pot to authorized patients is allowed under California law. But federal law outlaws marijuana cultivation, use and sales.

Charles Lynch was found guilty on Tuesday of distributing more than 100 kilos of marijuana, some of it to minors. The 46-year-old man's Los Angeles trial dramatized the conflict in state and federal marijuana laws.

Three justices from the 2nd District Court of Appeals decided Wednesday that state law does not require "a patient to periodically renew a doctor's recommendation regarding medical marijuana use."

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents arrived at about noon Thursday at Organica Collective in Culver City, Calif., the Los Angeles Times reported.

No arrests were made, but Organica Collective in the 13400 block of Washington Boulevard was left in disarray.

The trial of Lynch, who operated a medical marijuana dispensary in Morro Bay until it was raided last year at the request of Sheriff Patrick Hedges, is being closely watched as a test of the conflict between state and federal drug laws.

Nature's Wellness Collective owner Bob Adams said the dispensary was raided by approximately 14 DEA agents armed with assault rifles and accompanied by members of the Orange Police Department just after 1 p.m. Tuesday. Adams said agents took all of his medicinal marijuana supply, money from the store's register and ATM machine, computers, cameras, smoking pipes and his city-issued business license and detained him and his three employees.

The agents raided Nature's Wellness Collective on Lincoln Avenue as part of an investigation into marijuana trafficking, DEA Agent Sarah Pullen said.

There was no previous city law on marijuana dispensaries. The council was presented with two ordinance proposals on Monday, one to ban all medical marijuana facilities within Malibu, and the other to allow three dispensaries in the city. All council members said three would be too many.

There are two medical marijuana facilities operating in Malibu, Green Angel and PCH Collective. If the council votes in favor of allowing the dispensaries, those two facilities could apply for conditional-use permits to stay in business, and others could apply to be the third dispensary within Malibu.

Thursday's court decision clears the way for Nature's Wellness Collective to continue operating while the dispensary pursues its lawsuit.

Thursday's court decision clears the way for Nature's Wellness Collective to continue operating while the dispensary pursues its lawsuit.

A Superior Court judge Thursday denied the city's motion to dismiss a civil suit filed by Nature's Wellness Collective – which argues it has a legal right to stay open. The city had contended it was well within its rights to shutter the dispensary.

The decision would appear to be the final piece of the puzzle in a lengthy debate by city officials on how to deal with the controversial facilities. The council voted 4 to one in favor of the ban, with Mayor Ellen Taylor opposed.

Officials with the Orange County chapter of the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws (NORML) said they were refused a booth after being told by an organizer that the city and event sponsors did not support the group's message. The group advocates the repeal of marijuana prohibition and the use of medical marijuana.

A drug raid at his home about a year ago left Monson without the marijuana he says he needs. The raid has left him depending on a medical marijuana dispensary in Orange that was also raided. Fighting to stay in business, the small store-front dispensary has helped Monson deal with his pain.

A drug raid at his home about a year ago left Monson without the marijuana he says he needs. The raid has left him depending on a medical marijuana dispensary in Orange that was also raided. Fighting to stay in business, the small store-front dispensary has helped Monson deal with his pain.

In the past few months the city has received several inquiries about the potential establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries, or cannabis clubs, on Ventura Boulevard in Old Town.

Allow me to explain:

Living in constant pain has become a way of life for me. I was born with a rare genetic blood disorder called Factor V Leiden thrombophilia. The condition is life-threatening and causes spontaneous blood clotting throughout every blood vessel in my body. The clots lead to acute and severe pain in my extremities.

Virgil Grant III, 41, and Psyhra Grant, 33, were ordered to return to court July 22 for trial.

The Grants and an employee were indicted by a federal grand jury and arrested last week on suspicion of selling marijuana within 1,000 feet of a school.

Virgil Grant III, 41, and his wife, Psytra Grant, 33, were arrested Tuesday, according to a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles.

The Grants, of the town of Carson, also face money laundering charges, which the federals routinely add to any such indictments the way an ice cream shop adds whipped cream and nuts.

In the aftermath of the Dec. 19, 2007, accident, investigators found “a large amount of marijuana and marijuana edibles” in the pickup truck driven by the suspect, Jeremy White, 20, of Paso Robles, according to federal authorities.

Virgil Grant III, 41, and his wife, Psytra Grant, 33, were arrested Tuesday and appeared in court but neither entered pleas, said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office.

Virgil Grant III, 41, of Carson, was indicted in U.S. District Court along with his wife, Psytra Grant, 33, but neither entered pleas, said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office. The charges include selling drugs within 1,000 feet of a school.

One of the dispensaries, based in Compton and named The Holistic Caregivers or THC, was linked to providing products to a man who later was involved in a fatal car accident.

Virgil Edward Grant III, 41, of Carson and his wife, Psyhra Monique Grant, 33, made their initial appearance in U.S. District Court on Tuesday afternoon while federal drug enforcement agents raided their shops.

California and 12 other states now allow the use of medical marijuana, yet the federal government does not.

That means sick people with authorization from their doctors to use marijuana are still in legal jeopardy, that California employers can fire workers who use marijuana recommended by a physician, and that people in need of an organ transplant can be barred from organ-transplant waiting lists.

California and 12 other states now allow the use of medical marijuana, yet the federal government does not.

That means sick people with authorization from their doctors to use marijuana are still in legal jeopardy, that California employers can fire workers who use marijuana recommended by a physician, and that people in need of an organ transplant can be barred from organ-transplant waiting lists.

The Los Angeles Times reported today that prospective organ transplant recipients were being removed from the transplant list because they'd used doctor-prescribed pot. As the story says: "Asked why the committee considered marijuana use under a doctor's supervision' a history of substance abuse,' a hospital spokesman cited the federal law categorizing marijuana as an illegal drug."

"Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay," the second movie to feature the titular pot-smoking characters, grossed nearly $15 million on its opening weekend, which might portend a big opening for August's "Pineapple Express," a Judd Apatow-produced comedy about a pot smoker and his supplier on the run. Also rolling out: "The Wackness," with Ben Kingsley as a bong-using psychiatrist; "Humboldt County," in which a medical student spends a summer in a marijuana-farming town; and "Super High Me," with comedian Doug Benson using the drug for 30 days.

Council members voted 5-0 to approve the introduction of an ordinance prohibiting medical marijuana dispensaries that would make the city’s current temporary ban permanent.

The council approved the idea in concept in July by a 3-2 vote, but one of the council members who supported the idea now says she intends to vote against it.

Bob Adams, the owner of Nature's Wellness Collective, said the city knew the nature of his establishment when his business license was approved in January. Adams said he wasn't told about the ordinances the city passed to discourage dispensaries from opening in Orange.

I don't care how many letters Jamison has following his name, he is flat wrong in his commentary about medical marijuana. He speaks with the authority of a doctor on a subject that he obviously knows nothing about.

As Jamison is a doctor, I would expect he would know that marijuana is not a narcotic, yet he still uses that terminology.

Most chastised me for flushing my pot down the toilet before trying it, calling it a cowardly cop-out, a threat to the safety of the region's water supply and a missed opportunity to let others know what kind of pain relief marijuana actually provides.

Craig Steffens is a medical marijuana patient. Last October, San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's deputies seized a small amount of marijuana and a glass pipe from him.

The City Council passed a moratorium in 2006 prohibiting marijuana dispensaries and the commission’s April 23 deliberations are part of the due process to amend the zoning land use to prohibit dispensaries in Manhattan Beach as part of the municipal code.

James John Carberry, 56, could have been sentenced to as much as 20 years in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Manuel Real, who ordered him to perform 1,500 hours of community service.

William Eugene Connelly, 51, the owner of Seven Seas Compassionate Care Center, 6403 Seven Seas Ave., had pleaded guilty in March to possessing 40 pounds of marijuana with the intent to distribute.

Bill Connelly owned the Seven Seas Marijuana Dispensary in Northwest Bakersfield.

Last month, he admitted to selling medical marijuana from the store which is illegal under federal law, but not state law.

The U.S. attorney's office says James Ealy, who pleaded guilty in February to misdemeanor possession of marijuana, was also ordered Monday to perform 1,000 hours community service.

Another dead teen. Even though the medical-marijuana initiative was passed by California voters in 1996, the distribution of marijuana, except under special circumstances, is still illegal. Narcotics are controlled by the federal government and federal laws supersede state laws. Yet, our teens and young adults continue to flock to physicians who charge between $150 to $200 to issue a medical-marijuana card with little or no medical indication.

Then they zeroed in on the supply chain, targeting businesses that provide goods and services needed to grow the illegal weed indoors.

Then they went after a mortgage loan company they say financed houses in which the plants were grown.

City officials say the dispensary, which reopened Wednesday, should expect more raids in the future.

What else would I expect from a concert held on 4/20 -- a shorthand reference to smoking pot -- that featured reggae artist Ziggy Marley, son of Bob?

Kruse now is permanently barred from operating a dispensary unless specifically permitted by the city, and he also is responsible for paying the city for its "costs of suit," Judge Dan T. Oki ruled Tuesday.

In September 2006, Kruse opened a dispensary without first obtaining a business license from the city. The business was closed in February after a temporary restraining order was issued by Oki.

The Planning Commission held a public hearing in nearly empty chambers April 17, and with zero members of the public offering input, made quick work of staff’s recommendation to transform a two-year moratorium on the establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries within the city to a permanent prohibition via an amended zoning code.

In the case of Gonzales vs. Raich, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress has the constitutional power to ban the use of marijuana, even when a state approves it for "medicinal purposes." Marijuana is on the list of prohibited substances under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. It is classified as a Schedule I drug that has, according to the federal government, no "medical uses." That's the law of the land.

It would go into effect immediately.

La Mirada would be the 64th city in the state to ban such establishments. It adopted a moratorium or temporary ban in April 2006, but it will expire April 24 and can't be extended.

In this area, La Habra and Pico Rivera both have moratoriums on dispensaries. Whittier has an ordinance that limits where they can be open.

Police say it happened Thursday night in the 500 block of Mountain View Road, when three men broke down her door, demanding specific property.

The decision was made unanimously in late March, said Sonja Stump, chairwoman of the board of directors.

The Board of Supervisors’ 5-0 vote upheld two appeals that were filed after the county Planning Commission voted in January to allow the North County Resource Center to open.

“The biggest part of this whole thing is that the community is not accepting it,” said Supervisor Harry Ovitt, whose district includes Templeton. He added that the lack of oversight of marijuana dispensaries contributed to his vote against the one proposed for Templeton.

This came nearly three weeks after the California Supreme Court declined to review an appellate court ruling, which ordered Garden Grove police to return seized medical marijuana to a patient.

Cannabis clubs in Northern California allegedly are selling vials of the marijuana with a picture of Cruise laughing hysterically, the Rush & Molloy column reports.

Senate Joint Resolution 20, authored by state Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, calls on the federal government to enact legislation requiring the Drug Enforcement Administration and other agencies to "respect the compassionate use laws of states, including returning any assets seized from medical marijuana dispensaries."

Senate Joint Resolution 20, authored by state Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, calls on the federal government to enact legislation requiring the Drug Enforcement Administration and other agencies to "respect the compassionate use laws of states, including returning any assets seized from medical marijuana dispensaries."

"We have put a moratorium in place on all new clinics until we develop regulations," Councilman Dennis Zine said. "Our goal is to bring the sale of medical marijuana under control so it is accessible to people who truly need it.

"This is about the compassionate use of a medicine that helps sick people."

The council passed an interim zoning ordinance last October that suspended the opening of any new dispensaries.

The city earlier this week made another offer to Mr. Kruse that would release him of responsibility to repay any outstanding fines or penalties associated with operating his dispensary without a business license, City Attorney Sonia Carvalho said. Under the deal, Mr. Kruse would also not be responsible for the city’s legal expenses in handling his case.

Officials who visited a medical office advertised on the Internet as Cannabis Evaluation Specialists said they found no marijuana, but Dr. Theodore Schlater III had no city business license.

"They had to cease and desist immediately," Interim City Manager Mark Bozigian said.

"They cannot operate that kind of business in this city."

The ordinance will not ban medical marijuana prescriptions, but will prohibit any site, facility, business and vending machine in the city that distributes or processes marijuana for medical purposes for physicians and their qualified patients.

If approved, the ordinance would go into effect April 10 and would ban any site, facility, business and vending machine that distributes or processes marijuana for medical purposes to physicians, qualified patients or their caregivers.

Tuesday, the man spoke with 17 News, saying he did it to avoid added prison time.

William Connelly, 50, used to own Seven Seas Compassionate Care Center in northwest Bakersfield.

He was charged with possessing marijuana and selling it, but Connelly still believes he did nothing wrong.

Los Angeles police on Monday said the men, both appearing to be in their 20's, robbed the two dispensaries last month.

In both robberies, one Feb. 18 and the other three days later, the men took off with an unspecified amount of cash and marijuana.

The crime at Peace of Green at 228th Street and Western Avenue occurred about 4 a.m. Monday, Los Angeles police Capt. Dave Lindsay said.

At least 20 bills pending this year deal with immigration, including granting college tuition breaks to illegal immigrants; studying how many forest fires are caused by illegal immigrants; cracking down on employers who hire illegal immigrants; and requiring state prisons to verify the immigration status of new prisoners and deport those who are here illegally.

The panel voted 4-1 on Tuesday evening to curb establishment of the clinics and reverse a decision two weeks ago to consider regulating zoning for the dispensaries.

Mayor Sharon Quirk, who previously supported the clinics, said that after meeting with Police Chief Pat McKinley she had a better understanding of the various enforcement and financial pressures that would have been placed upon the city.

The Qualified Patients Association, the medical-marijuana advocacy group that filed the lawsuit, plans to appeal Wednesday's Orange County Superior Court ruling, said Tony Curiale, the association's attorney.

Recently, picking up your prescribed pot got theoretically easier with the launching of the world's first marijuana vending machines here in the City of Angels, which is causing international waves from objectors who cast doubt on the therapeutic validity of the Schedule 1 drug.

But those freewheeling times are skidding to a halt.

The City Council has imposed a moratorium on any new pot shops and is moving to regulate the existing ones. Users are feeling a chill, too, from a recent court ruling that allows California employers to fire pot smokers -- even if the marijuana is used at home and purchased under state law.

"We know that the use of cannabis is illegal under federal law of the United States and we trust the authorities will stop such activities, which contravene the international drug control treaties," INCB president Philip Emafo said in the statement.

That's vending machine magic in a nutshell. But LA's got some new vending machines that are raising some eyebrows, and possibly violating some international treaties. They are the newly installed marijuana vending machines that are operating out of at least three of the city's medical marijuana dispensaries, and the International Narcotics Control Board is reportedly worried that the overall illegality of the drug is being ignored, and that the therapeutic use of marijuana has not been sufficiently proved effective.

"The International Narcotics Control Board is deeply concerned about reports that computerized vending machines to dispense cannabis [marijuana] have been put into operation in Los Angeles," Philip Emafo, president of the board, said in a statement.

"The International Narcotics Control Board is deeply concerned about reports that computerized vending machines to dispense cannabis (marijuana) have been put into operation in Los Angeles," Philip O. Emafo, president of the board, said in a statement.

James Carberry, who managed a medical marijuana store known as the "Yellow House" in a bungalow on North La Brea Avenue, and James Lawrence Ealy pleaded guilty Monday afternoon in a hearing before U.S. District Judge Manuel Real.

Both men were scheduled to begin trial on Tuesday, Feb. 5, but instead negotiated plea agreements with federal prosecutors.

People suffering from chronic pain, loss of appetite and other ailments that marijuana is said to alleviate can get their pot with a dose of convenience at the Herbal Nutrition Center, where a large machine will dole out the drug around the clock.

"Convenient access, lower prices, safety, anonymity," inventor and owner Vincent Mehdizadeh said, extolling the benefits of the machine.

Essential Herbs and Oils, located at 68-487 E. Palm Canyon Drive, received a cease-and-desist letter from the city Wednesday afternoon, ordering the business to stop selling medical marijuana, said Deputy City Manager Julie Baumer.

California State Senate Bill 420, which was passed in 2004 and built off of the 1996 Compassionate Use Act, requires that all counties handle the application process for the voluntary identification card, which will register patients prescribed marijuana in a statewide database and further validate their possession of the illegal drug in the eyes of law enforcement.

If the City Council does indeed vote to regulate the dispensaries, Fullerton would apparently become the only Orange County muncipality with such regulations.

The schedule approved Tuesday by the county Board of Supervisors institutes a $125 charge for the purchase of such a card.

Aaron Smith of the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington D.C.-based group, commended Placer for adopting the fee.

A woman answering the phone at the dispensary Monday would not give her name but said the dispensary does have a business license from the city and has been open for about a month.

James Carberry, who managed a medical marijuana store known as the "Yellow House" in a bungalow on North La Brea Avenue, and James Lawrence Ealy pleaded guilty Monday afternoon in a hearing before U.S. District Judge Manuel Real.

Patients suffering from chronic pain, loss of appetite and other ailments that marijuana is said to alleviate can get their pot with a dose of convenience at the Herbal Nutrition Centre, where a large machine will dole out the drug around the clock.

Two licensed marijuana dispensaries in the west coast city have unveiled 24-hour medical marijuana vending machines, this week. The machines have been installed by the Herbal Nutrition Centre in Los Angeles to help people explore little known medicinal uses of the drug.

Filled with small sachets stuffed with glistening buds of different sizes and strains, the machines will dispense marijuana in packets of 7g or 3.5g.

Federal organized-crime prosecutors arrested Larry Kristich, 65, last summer in connection with the distribution of more than 15,000 pounds of marijuana through seven outlets in the San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay areas from 2002 through 2005.

Larry Roger Kristich pleaded guilty Thursday and he will be sentenced April 21. Besides the prison sentence, he's facing up to $95 million in fines.

The 64-year-old businessman owned the Oakland-based Compassionate Caregivers marijuana dispensaries in San Francisco, San Diego, Ukiah, Oakland, San Leandro, Bakersfield and West Hollywood.

Larry Roger Kristich, 65, who returned from Costa Rica last summer after being indicted, pleaded guilty Thursday afternoon to one count of maintaining drug-involved premises and one count of promotional money laundering. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. Kristich also agreed to forfeit more than $1.2 million cash generated by sales at his stores.

There's a catch though; the machines are only for the use of patients who cannot control their pain or nausea with other prescription drugs.

Two licensed marijuana dispensaries in the west coast city this week unveiled 24-hour medical marijuana vending machines.

The machines are filled with small sachets filled with glistening buds of different sizes and strains. Though they might seem like a stoner's hallucination, access to the machines is strictly controlled by round the clock security guards.

Patients suffering from chronic pain, loss of appetite and other ailments that marijuana is said to alleviate can get their pot with a dose of convenience at the Herbal Nutrition Center, where a large machine will dole out the drug around the clock.

It may seem even less likely that the city's manicured country club lawns, lakes and tennis courts would appear in a movie that promotes legalizing drugs.

Lanny Swerdlow, a registered nurse and longtime cannabis advocate who runs it, said the clinic's doctor issued about a dozen recommendations for the drug on the opening day, Jan. 17. The clinic does not dispense marijuana.

They say, as medical marijuana patients, they did nothing wrong.

Richard McCabe, 65, and his wife JoAnn, 74, have used medical marijuana for nearly 10 years to treat their arthritis and chronic pain.

They say in all that time they never ran into legal trouble, until last August.

The Santa Clarita Planning Commission is set to tackle the issue of medical marijuana use within the city during a public hearing at tonight’s Planning Commission meeting.

Last week, City Council members voted for the ban on selling medical cannabis for 10 months and 15 days. The original ban was 45 days long.

Kruse's attorney, Allison Margolin, said she requested the date be pushed back because of a scheduling conflict, because Kruse hired a new attorney who needs to be educated on the case and because of new case law that might affect Kruse.

In a 5-0 vote Thursday night, the council approved the first reading of an ordinance that would prohibit the establishment of storefront medical marijuana dispensaries. A second reading and possible approval is scheduled for Jan. 24.

In the public comment section of the public hearing, no one in the audience spoke.

Santa Maria, Solvang, Lompoc, Pismo Beach, Grover Beach and San Luis Obispo all have passed similar ordinances.

It took nearly six months, but the county Planning Commission decided Thursday to allow a controversial medical marijuana dispensary to open in Templeton.

The 3-2 vote was the third attempt by commissioners to resolve the fate of the proposed North County Resource Center at 3850 Ramada Drive. The commission was deadlocked in July amid disagreement over whether the facility complied with a county ordinance that governs cannabis co-ops and postponed a decision again in October.

Buellton had a dispensary under the name Hezekiah Inc. on Second Street, which closed in either August or September after an eviction by the property owner, according to Planning Director Marc P. Bierdzinski.

The San Luis Obispo County Planning Commission approved a permit request to open a facility to provide cannabis to patients with a prescription. The facility will provide counseling and educational services to patients when they receive the marijuana.

Four out of five council members voted to pass an urgency ordinance prohibiting any medical marijuana dispensary from setting up shop in the next 45 days. Councilman Mark Yarbrough was absent.

Charles Lynch of Arroyo Grande pleaded not guilty to charges in August. His trial is scheduled for the spring, he said.

In March, San Luis Obispo County sheriff’s officials and federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided Charles Lynch’s dispensary, Central Coast Compassionate Caregivers, at 780 Monterey Ave.

California voters approved Proposition 215 in 1996, making marijuana legal for medicinal purposes while possession of marijuana remains illegal under federal law. City code neither allows nor explicitly prevents the presence of such dispensaries in Brentwood. Just last year the city council approved a temporary ban pending investigation of negative impacts of facilities on neighborhoods and communities.

He's been dubbed by a local business weekly as "The Valley's Most Powerful Person," chairs the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and doles out dollars to charity by the millions.

He works for one of the world's largest law firms. He can preach for hours about business tax, government reform and transportation.

With his immaculate white shirts, slicked-back hair and easy familiarity with powerful people, Fleming embodies The Man.

Officers say three men showed up at ;the door of a home in the 7000 block of College Avenue about 8 p.m. Thursday. The men apparently got away with some cash, electronic equipment and some medical marijuana. The 50-year old homeowner had a medical marijuana card -which allows him access to medical marijuana.

The fire was reported at a home in the 3200 block of Dos Palos Drive at about 7 a.m. Sunday, said Cecil Manresa of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Firefighters confined the blaze to the patio, Manresa said.

Eric Porter, 37, was arrested Sunday for investigation of cultivation of marijuana and was being held on $50,000 bail.

The fire was reported about 7 a.m. and firefighters managed to confine it to the patio. Upon further inspection, firefighters found what they believed to be dozens of marijuana plants.

Indoor marijuana farms allow organized criminal groups to grow powerful new strains of the drug faster, more profitably and with less risk than an outdoor garden.

Stacy Hochanadel, who owned CannaHelp in Palm Desert, and managers James Campbell and John Bednar, all 31, are charged with felony possession of marijuana for sale, the transportation and sale of marijuana and keeping a place to sell controlled substances.

In a unanimous vote, the council moved to impose a 45-day moratorium on pot shops. During that time, the city will consider zoning restrictions and other guidelines for dispensaries, officials said.

The move follows two inquiries on the city's dispensary licensing process, officials said. There are no marijuana shops in Monterey Park, and the city has no regulations for the "clubs," which can under state law distribute pot to those with a doctor's prescription.

The decision came after Del Aire residents complained that the store would contribute to the area's seedy atmosphere and be too close to a child-care facility.

James Shaw, a spokesman for the center, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles. Co-plaintiffs are the Healing Center and Union of Medical Marijuana Providers.

Instead, the activist ended up in the back of a San Bernardino County sheriff's squad car, arrested for allegedly assaulting a guest speaker who denied him entry to the public event.

On Wednesday Swerdlow pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor battery charge.

The man, Felix Kha, had a doctor’s prescription for the marijuana, which he used for the treatment of chronic pain.

In the ruling issued Wednesday, a three-judge panel from the state’s Fourth District Court of Appeals cited constitutional principles of federalism and power-sharing between state and national governments in ordering the marijuana returned. California law allows for the prescription and possession of medical marijuana in amounts of less than eight ounces.

Stacy Hochanadel, the former owner of CannaHelp, and managers James Campbell and John Bednar, all 31, are charged with felony possession of marijuana for sale, transport and sale of marijuana and keeping a place to sell a controlled substance.

Hochanadel's Palm Springs attorney, Ulrich McNulty, confirmed through his secretary today that tomorrow's hearing would go forward.

Statewide police and prosecutors' organizations and 16 city governments from around California joined officials of the Orange County community of Garden Grove in arguing that the court-ordered return of a patient's pot supply would condone drug use, interfere with federal enforcement and even expose police to possible federal prosecution for distributing marijuana or aiding in its use.

Last week, federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) officials raided the Long Beach Cannabis Club, which is located downtown (near a new condominium project and the CityPlace center). Agents seized 33 kilos of marijuana, about $10,000 cash and arrested the proprietor, Samuel Matthew Fata.

Since the raid, the club has remained closed. But there are an estimated 10 other clubs operating in Long Beach, according to a list put together by the Long Beach City Prosecutor’s office.

The 45-day moratorium approved at Tuesday's council meeting will give city staff a chance to analyze the risks and benefits associated with allowing cannabis to be sold to patients who have a prescription. After the trial period, staff will make recommendations to council members on whether to extend the ban up to 22 months.