I will have more on the Alex Sanchez tomorrow morning.
But on Monday, while Judge Real was denying Sanchez bail, a Superior Court judge said that LA’s ban on new medical marijuana dispensaries is invalid.
The judge’s decision about the dispensaries moratorium did not directly address the newly announced intentions on the part of Los Angeles DA, Steve Cooley and City Attorney Carmen Trutanich to go after all the city’s storefront dispensaries. But, it is hard to see how it will not have an dampening effect on Cooley and Truanich’s announced plans.
Oh, yeah, and of course all of this came on the day when the Obama administration had its own marijuana news.
The LA Times has the story. Here are some clips:
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.
The decision came on the day the Obama administration issued guidelines that limit federal prosecution of medical marijuana users and dispensaries. A Justice Department memo makes official a policy change that the president adopted earlier this year — one that inadvertently contributed to the city’s dizzying dispensary boom.
Those actions cheered supporters of medical marijuana, but Los Angeles officials insisted they were committed to closing down and prosecuting dispensaries. The city attorney and the district attorney maintain that most are selling marijuana for profit in violation of state law.
Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley did not back off that position Monday. “A collaboration of numerous agencies, including federal, state and local police agencies, county and city prosecutors, will combat the proliferation of illegal medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles City and County,” he said.
Several City Council members said the ruling will force them to take quick action to pass an ordinance that could lead to law enforcement raids to close dispensaries that opened after the moratorium was adopted in August 2007.
It would have been nicer if the City Council had forced themselves to regulate LA’s marijuana clinics But some progress is better than none.
To be clear, a judge and the Justice Department are ordering public safety officials to NOT enforce the laws.
There’s no confusion over the drug laws. All that activists care about is getting away with ignoring laws with which they disagree for the sake of their own pleasure and irresponsibility.
It won’t be long until some dopehead gets high during this period of new permissiveness and kills someone while driving. You can put your names on the death certificate as a contribuing cause of the death.
I’m very happy about this ruling. I love that this is going to be available to patients such as my grandmother who continues to smoke during her chemo to help with her appetite. The folks down at her home are cheering Obama’s decision. I’m glad Obama made it clear so we don’t have to keep up this confusion between federal and state. Yay for rulings that make sense! Hurray for California!
The pothead kids who are abusing the system, obviously are going to do whatever they want to do, legal or not. This protects the legitimate patients. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
All I know about this is that after my mother-in-law had surgery for lung cancer and subsequent chemo treatments, she was miserable and could barely eat. She got some prescription marijuana, I went to some weirdo shop on Telegraph Ave that the kids told us about and bought her a smokeless apparatus to inhale it and it was a Godsend. Her appetite AND her mood changed dramatically for the better. She started gaining rather than losing weight. It was not a joke and anyone who thinks so has no compassion for old ladies or sick people. Of course, I know there are a bunch of folks who game the system and abuse it and they should be in jail along with the priests who drink communion wine in their off hours, all of the housewives abusing over-prescribed drugs and guys who take Viagra for recreational purposes.
As reg describes a valid point (for once), isn’t it better to debate the issue on its merits AND go through the legislative route for change rather than have Washington and activist judges dictate to us?
I do not oppose any legitimate use of a drug for medicinal purposes. So, if you want others to accept that, then the state needs to do a better job of monitoring and controlling the distribution sources for those purposes only and stopping the sales of the drug from those same sources but for illegal purposes.
How can Viagra NOT be for recreational purposes? And Woody, will we notice if “some dopehead gets high during this period of new permissiveness and kills someone while driving” in between all the deadly alcohol-related car accidents? Why would you support the advertising, sale and consumption of a substance (alcohol) with little or no medicinal purpose, strictly as a mood and mind-altering substance, considering its documented effects on the human body AND neighorhoods cursed with proliferations of bars and liquor stores? Why is that okay?
As for our city council — the black humor inherent in watching those clowns fumble or ignore just about every responsibility they’re charged with because they’re too busy stuffing their and their buddys’ pockets with public cash is … maybe not so funny.
Uh, dacalicious, let me point you in another direction for my feelings on alcohol. Comment at Marc Cooper’s Then, further down:
Can I also be responsible for all drunk driving deaths and smoking deaths because I don’t think the government should ban those habits? Can I also get mining deaths since mining shouldn’t be outlawed? How about vending machine accidents as I am pro-vending machine?
More seriously, Reg makes a good point that those who are pro-recreation legalization should not take advantage of medicinal legalization as it undermines the case of those who the public was trying to help.
Woody, just fyi- the law was passed by a vote of the people of California. Judges weren’t involved and Washington wasn’t involved (accept to overrule the will of Californians during the Bush administration – something I think was stupid but not some kind of violation of the federal-states compact). You may not like the law, but it conforms to all of your preferred process standards.
I think Woody’s position on alcohol and gambling is shockingly and appealingly out of character.
Wow, I’m for the legalization of all gambling and government run prostitution. Closely regulate and tax them both, they’re not going away.
Sure Fire, you’re not happy enough with the government gambling away your money on pork schemes and screwing you over?
“Reg makes a good point”
I was actually just making a joke – I don’t really want to put priests in jail for breaking into the communion wine in their off hours. The local medical marajuana scene could qualify as semi-bogus because the word spreads that you go tell a doctor who could care less about such things since its not an addictive drug like morphine that you’ve got back pain or migraine headaches or a poor appetite. I don’t think the feds or other law enforcment should be spending time on over-prescribed drug abuse, outside of a handful of highly addictive substances. Not that I don’t think this is a public health problem – but it would become a law enforcement nightmare if pursued across the board. Doctors and patients would all be up in arms, because there are so many gray areas with appropriate use of prescription drugs. Since marijuana has fewer health or psychological drawbacks than our legal recreational drug of choice, it should just be moderately regulated but not become the focus of any witch hunts. It’s wrong for people with medical conditions that marijuana effectively helps relieve not to have access, and its also bad to use scarce policing resources to harass recreational users who are otherwise behaving themselves. The former is worse because people can suffer, but the latter is pretty stupid.
Sure Fire says, “I’m for the legalization of all gambling and government run prostitution. Closely regulate and tax them both…” We finally agree on something: He needs to move to Nevada.
Since neither he nor his fellow rightwing Limbaugh-clone legal renegades Trutanich or Cooley respect the laws or intent of the people of California, and are intent on going counter to the Obama Adminstration’s position that U S Attorneys should use their resources for real criminals instead of manufacturing them out of dispensary owners and patients who are compliant with state law (as interpreted by none other than the State Atty General — yeah, I know, spare me the inevitable pretext of “finding” some pot laced with a pesticide, which happens to be legal for use in California agriculture, that “proves” all pot sold including organic pot grown indoors is by and for the profit of Mexican drug cartels).
reg, the point that I referenced wasn’t intended to be funny, unless you were making a joke out of your mother-in-law’s suffering. Naturally, I would have predicted that you wouldn’t put priests in jail for drinking or “certain sordid matters.”
I say legalize marijuana and prostitution. If there were establishments which could provide pot and prostitutes it could create lots of happy people and more tax revenues to wasted by our government. A win-win for all.
“unless you were making a joke out of your mother-in-law’s suffering”
WTF ???
Go crawl back in your hole.
Woody, lived where both were legal and had no problem with it.
WBC, I have no problem with Trutanich’s position on pot. Your big problem seemed to be with his campaign lies, things that all politicians do to get elected. Your obsession with this is a wing-nut rap and nothing more.
SureFire, I had no doubt you had no problem with Trutanich’s position on pot. (Unlike most everyone else: I noted with some amusement that Doug McIntyre’s replacement on KABC, Peter (Something? slips my mind) was among those making fun of his illogical and contrarian position this morning – along with how he’s intent on running up the bill for the Controllers’ lawyer out of sheer ego when he’d promised to uphold them, and how he hides from the press especially after that crazy-sounding allegation about finding “criminal aspects” to the Jackson/AEG affair, but won’t say what he meant, generally just hides behind Cooley…(Even McIntyre came around to outing him as the liar and demagogue Chick said he was, and sided with current controller Gruel, but not before he used his airwives to spread lies about Weiss that were virtual reposts from the Trutanich campaign). Then the trio who come on after Peter, had even more fun with Trutanich, whose name they couldn’t quite remember except as someone making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Just sayin’, cuz he had the rightwing radio ranters all shilling for him and giving him a total pass on knowing what the hell he was talking about before, but now, at least one station seems to have taken a turn for the middle… well, he’s still got the real rightwing wacko on late-night KRLA, probably KFI though they’re in the OC.)
Even those who don’t care about little things like ethics and integrity, and running on the positions you actually believe in and intent to uphold, SHOULD care about the fact that this is a HUGE waste of resources — financial and manpower — devoted to creating a NEW class of felons to fill up the already over-crowded jails, even as of course, you don’t want to early release even very sick octegenarians who are costing a fortune. INSTEAD of using our stretched-to-thin cops to bust real criminals and gangbangers, and hey, wasn’t Trutanich going to suddenly change his stripes, away from defending thugs, rapists and yes, infamous baby seal-shooters who have money, and help under-privileged youths, save the seals and beaches, get rapists the streets, maybe even a poor person or two?
Plus it means wasting huge financial resources on lawsuits they will lose. Start with the August Fourth Circuit Court Decision (People vs. Hochanagel) which affirmed that storefront sales for cash are legal in California. Well, these two are getting the attention alright, and lots of blogs and pot shops are talking about collecting recall petitions, not even waiting. (Maybe Jan Perry will sign one, as will the employees of AEG and Regal Cinemas?)
reg, you said that you were joking on what I said was a good statement, and I was referencing your mother-in-law’s reliance on marijuana for pain managment. So, if you were joking and I was referencing her, then you must be making a joke out of her suffering. Why get mad at me about something that you said?
reg, you may enjoy this, although it shouldn’t be news to you. Black History Month should help break down homophobia by celebrating the sexuality of black heroes such as Malcolm X
Well, one out of two isn’t bad for yourself.
Woody – I honestly can’t make a bit of sense out of your last comment.
For someone who is well read, you’ve met your match.
I meant in that last paragraph, maybe even get a rapist or two OFF the streets, and even HELP a poor person or two…
Santiago has a point. People in Holland seems to be getting along just fine b/c both are legal. I think if everything were legalized, there could be laws within which they could exist. The number of pot smokers and rapes is actually lower than the US (per capita).
Woody – there’s a reading comprehension problem, but it’s yours. The only explanation for those comments is that you’re incredibly stupid or just a freak who says crazy shit to annoy others.
I think the problem here Woody is that you assumed I was addressing you, which is an indication you don’t really follow the discussion. My direct quote “Reg makes a good point”, to which I note that I was joking about who should go to jai,l was lifted directly from Mavis’ comment #7, which addressed that latter part of my comment which (I thought) was obviously ironic. I wasn’t responding to you. Not at all. You assume people are paying attention to you when they’re not, since you’re the consummate narcissist.
I am not paying attention to Woody !!!
I am not paying attention to Woody !!!
I am not paying attention to Woody !!!
I am not paying attention to Woody !!!
I am not paying attention to Woody !!!
I am not paying attention to Woody !!!
Hey, thanks for the shout out WBC …Yea, Doug once dated and lived with a chicana in East LA untill he was dumped and moved alone to Burbank. Never quite got over that dumping and has hated all messicans since …Legal or illegal.
Hey, didn’t KABC also dump that redneck …James Kevin?
Sure Fire must know.
http://petertildenshow.com/sectional.asp?id=33504
By the way, if any of you know how to contact him, I’d like to get Sure Fire to come on the show and wrestle naked on the air with Danny De Vito, the winner taking home a large jar of Thorazine.
Hey Celeste, there is only one Mama Celeste …Forget Chef Boyardee!
reg, it wasn’t a giant leap for me to think that you were addressing what I said. Here’s why.
Maybe you need to make a better distinction rather than expect people to read your mind correctly. Besides, there’s not a lot to read there.
reg, found your picture online: LINK
I love that Woody spends countless hours looking up all this GAY material. Of all the homophobes on this site, Woody is the only one that continually links to all this gay material. I guess you love what you do, that’s why you keep wanting to share with everyone. Classic self-hating person aren’t you? You hate you have these gay intentions, thoughts and curiosity.
Its alright, there’s nothing wrong with being gay…unless you are in the wrong part of the country or married with children and have to live up to your obligations of a homophobic solid Christian.