Cooley Has Harsh Words for Medical Marijuana Providers

DA Cooley: All LA Pot Shops are Illegal

CityWatch
Vol 7 Issue 84
Pub: Oct 13, 2009

Guest Commentary

By Celeste Fremon (Posted first at WitnessLA.com)

He said WHAT????

Yes, marijuana clinics need to be regulated, and, yes, the City Council
has zero excuse for their positively absurd slow-dragging on the matter,
but what in the world is this about?

Here's the opening of the LA Times article [LINK-
http://latimesblogs .latimes. com/lanow/ 2009/10/cooley- says-pot- dispensari\
es-will-be-prosecut ed.html] that explains the newest ill-considered
initiative that appears to be coming out of the offices of Mr. Cooley
and Mr. Trutanich. Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley
said today that all the medical marijuana dispensaries in the county are
operating illegally, and that "they are going to be prosecuted."

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.

Based on a state Supreme Court decision last year, Cooley and City
Attorney Carmen Trutanich have concluded that over-the-counter sales are
illegal. Most if not all of the dispensaries in the state operate on
that basis….

Okay, so let me get this straight. Our two elected CITY officials have
gotten together and, between them, decided to enforce federal law and
totally ignore the laws of the state of California, the wishes of the
state's voters AND the official policy of the Los Angeles City
Council?

How many ways is this stupid? Tough to count.

Jerry Brown has exactly the right idea. He's going after the obvious
scammers and leaving everyone else alone.

This grandstanding bit of nonsense, however, is NOT the right idea. Not
in any way, shape or form.

-----
(This column was posted first at WitnessLA.com. Celeste Fremon is the
author of "G-Dog and the Homeboys" and the editor of
WitnessLA.com )

http://www.citywatc hla.com/content/ view/2786/