Court ruling backs dispensaries that grow on-site

 Dispensaries
Mar 022012
 

California cities may not ban medical marijuana dispensaries, but the operations may sell only weed that is grown on site, an appeals court ruled in an Orange County case. The unanimous decision by a three-judge Court of Appeal panel in Santa Ana was the first in the state to prohibit cities from enacting zoning restrictions that effectively ban all marijuana dispensaries. The court was also the first to rule that dispensaries must grow the marijuana they sell, a requirement that would force most of them out of business, Maura Dolan reports in the Los Angeles [...]

Vallejo police shut down 2nd medical marijuana dispensary

 Dispensaries
Mar 022012
 

A second Vallejo pot club has been shut down in what police now say is an ongoing crackdown on the city’s 20 or more storefront dispensaries. The Vallejo Police Department’s Crime Suppression Unit served a search warrant Wednesday night at the Better Health Group on Sonoma Boulevard, Tony Burchyns reports in the Vallejo Times-Herald. Detectives removed from the dispensary about 400 pot plants and 340 food products containing marijuana derivatives. Police also said they seized more than 30 pounds of “processed” marijuana and more than an ounce of hash. Police also arrested one of the [...]

Lake Forest dispensary wins court reprieve

 Dispensaries
Mar 012012
 

LAKE FOREST – A panel of appellate court justices in Santa Ana Wednesday overturned a lower court judge’s injunction shutting down a medical marijuana collective in Lake Forest. Fourth Appellate District Justices William Rylaarsdam and Richard D. Fybel, led by Richard M. Aronson, ruled that city officials cannot use their nuisance abatement ordinance as a wholesale ban on medical marijuana dispensaries and collectives. The justices struck down a preliminary injunction from Orange County Superior Court Judge David Chaffee in May 2010 that would have shut down the Evergreen Holistic Collective. A stay on the injunction [...]

Redding dispensary ban awaits court ruling

 Dispensaries
Feb 252012
 

Nearly three months after Redding outlawed medical marijuana dispensaries, the city and the dispensaries may get a court decision Monday on the legality of that ban. Lawyers for the city and seven Redding dispensaries on Monday will appear before Shasta County Superior Court Judge Stephen Baker, who will hear arguments on the city’s request for a preliminary injunction — an order for the dispensaries to comply with the ban. At stake in the case is whether the dispensaries can remain open or the city’s ban will stand with court backing, Sean Longoria reports in the [...]

Few dispensary sites in Kern Co. ballot measure

 Dispensaries
Feb 242012
 

The medical marijuana ordinance that Kern County supervisors decided this week to send to voters in June would, if passed, outlaw nearly every established collective or cooperative “shop” in unincorporated Kern County and make it very difficult for them to reopen in a new location. To stay in business, the collectives would have to find a new home on industrial-zoned land that is at least a mile away from schools, public parks and churches, James Burger reports in the Bakersfield Californian. County zoning maps released this week show much of the land technically “open” for [...]

Kern County puts strict dispensary law on ballot

 Dispensaries
Feb 222012
 

Medical marijuana advocates who blocked a Kern County ban on storefront collectives with a signature drive last year vowed Tuesday to fight a very restrictive ordinance sent to the voters by supervisors. “The campaign will go forward full force,” said Heather Epps, president of Kern Citizens for Patient Rights, the advocacy group that gathered the more than 17,350 signatures needed to overturn a complete ban supervisors had approved on collectives and cooperatives anywhere in unincorporated Kern County. Supervisors repealed that first ordinance, which they passed in August 2011, to clear the way for voters on [...]

Feds, cops, state tax board raid Vallejo dispensary

 Dispensaries
Feb 222012
 

The operator of one of Vallejo’s more prominent medical marijuana dispensaries was arrested Tuesday, following a raid on his home, business and associated properties by federal, state and local law enforcement agents. Almost 800 plants were seized from the different locations, police said, Jessica A. York reports in the Vallejo Times-Herald. Matthew Shotwell, operator and founder of Greenwell Cooperative at 616 Marin St., was arrested, said Vallejo Police Lt. Ken Weaver. Shotwell was arrested on one count each of cultivation of marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale and of operating a location that supplies marijuana, [...]

Long Beach gives dispensaries 6 months to close

 Dispensaries
Feb 152012
 

LONG BEACH – The Long Beach City Council on Tuesday voted 8-1 to ban medical marijuana collectives but to exempt 18 city-approved operators for six months. City Attorney Robert Shannon had sought an outright ban after an appeals court in October ruled that the city’s 2010 permit process for the collectives violated federal law prohibiting the sale and distribution of marijuana. The ban motion, proposed by Councilman Robert Garcia, protects collectives who participated in the city’s process “in good faith” while the California Supreme Court considers the city’s appeal Pack v. Long Beach. The city [...]

Dispensary ordinance back on Long Beach agenda

 Dispensaries
Feb 132012
 

LONG BEACH – Will the Long Beach City Council make medical marijuana havens go up in smoke Tuesday or will it grant a reprieve? Either way, the city may have the means to close down the cannabis collectives. Due to council members’ absences, the council has twice delayed a companion vote to ban dispensaries and repeal its 2010 statute regulating medical pot centers, Eric Bradley reports in the Long Beach Press-Telegram. City Attorney Robert Shannon recommended the actions after an appeals court in October ruled in Pack v. Long Beach that the law violated federal [...]

Dispensary tax seminars set in Oakland, Seattle

 Dispensaries
Feb 022012
 
Dispensary tax seminars set in Oakland, Seattle

Has your medical cannabis business been targeted with an IRS notice or tax audit? If you haven’t been hit yet, YOU WILL! Harborside Health Center’s Stephen DeAngelo and the country’s leading tax experts on 280E will present effective strategies for dealing with current tax audits and for minimizing your 2012 tax liabilities. OAKLAND Saturday, February 25, 1 to 6 p.m. Main Ballroom (enter thru Just Dance) 2500 Embarcardero, Oakland, CA 94606 (Map) (Hotels/motels) (Restaurants) SEATTLE Saturday, March 10, 1 to 6 p.m. Courtyard Marriott 925 Westlake Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109 (Map) (Hotels/motels) (Restaurants) TELL [...]

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