Marijuana Bust in Valley Should Scare Pot Shops Happy Over L.A. Ban Reprieve

By Dennis Romero Fri., Aug. 31 2012 at 8:03 AM

The Loft / Facebook

See also:
*Marijuana Dispensaries Get Reprieve After Ban is Put on Hold Thanks to Signature Drive.

Even as medical marijuana advocates were successful this week in putting the brakes on a pot shop ban in Los Angeles, the LAPD has continued on its mission to shut down weed retailers in the West Valley.

The latest victim, we were told by a witness, was a place called The Loft at 21146 Ventura Blvd. in Woodland Hills. All that cops would officially say is that a search warrant was served this week at a dispensary in the 21100 block of Ventura Boulevard.

It happened ...

View Larger Map

... Tuesday around 3 p.m. as Topanga Area Narcotics Enforcement Detail detectives raided the place and found "a cache of narcotics, money, and other evidence of illegal drug sales," according to an LAPD statement.

Arrested on suspicion of holding pot for sale were 21-year-old Anna Woods of Thousand Oaks and 22-year-old Carmen Hsieh of Los Angeles. They were held in lieu of $20,000 bail.

One other suspect, who was not named, was being sought, cops said.

Cops found 10 pounds of pot worth an estimated $10,000, according to the department's statement.

Our source says the shop was known as an "after-hours" dispensary. At least one listing had it staying open until midnight.

DEA

So selling weed, even at a dispensary, is illegal? The City Attorney says yes, and the LAPD in the West Valley has simply been busting dispensaries for exchanging marijuana for cash.

City law enforcers contend that state medical marijuana law only allows the sharing of pot on a nonprofit basis to benefit the "seriously ill."

So if you think the marijuana ban's temporary demise gives protection to pot shops think again.

In fact City Councilman Jose Huizar, who co-authored the ban, warned that police could still shut down dispensaries.

[Added at 2:29 p.m.]: One of the arrestees called to say that she and the other woman were volunteering at the dispensary part-time and had nothing to do with its management or ownership. She said she's a recent college graduate.

[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

Tags:

dispensaries, dispensary ban, Huizar, LAPD, marijuana, marijuana crackdown, West Valley

We Recommend

EvilVillains

Ugh...Huizar. Yuck.

mark_abald

I really, REALLY hope the people of Los Angeles REMEMBER how much and how WELL the City council listens to their concerns.

The whole council should be recalled.

michael1399

@mark_abald I think they listened very well. They've done their job well.

joycehong123

@michael1399 They are costing the city millions with their illegal ban. They will pay a political price for this come next election. http://goo.gl/6sXeg

michael1399

@joycehong123 Looks like your little referendum is costing LA (me) $250K. There will be a political price for that move as well as a hefty criminal price that pot shop owners will be paying once the raids really kick in.

malcolmkyle16 topcommenter

Prohibitionists are neither civil nor productive members of society, they are soulless parasites—inhuman, oppressive criminals from whom protection is required.

Maybe many of the early Prohibitionists did not really intend to kill hundreds of thousands worldwide, or put 1 in every 30 American adults under supervision of the correctional system. But similar to our "Great Experiment" of the 1920s, the prohibition of various other drugs has once again spawned rampant off-the-scale criminality & corruption, a bust economy, mass unemployment, a mind-boggling incarceration rate, a civil war in Mexico, an un-winnable war in Afghanistan and an even higher rate of drug-use (both legal & illegal) than in all other countries that have far more sensible policies.

Prohibition is nothing less than a grotesque dystopian nightmare; if you support it you must be either ignorant, stupid, brainwashed, insane or corrupt.

"A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government."

—George Washington

The morally & fiscally bankrupt policy of prohibition is a dire threat to the well-being of all of us—if you support it then you are "an enemy of the people" and should be dealt with as such.

nikldan

Well said. @malcolmkyle16

bakerbeats

I hate to say it but "The writings on the wall"(Jim Morrison "The End")You "Pot Carpetbaggers" (Google Carpetbaggers) Have "screwed the pooch" You good folks who really qualify for "natural medicine" are being duped and burnt by profiteers -Watch out for health problems caused by non-organic grown Herb-

trichometrist

1 Like

"City law enforcers contend that state medical marijuana law only allows the sharing of pot on a nonprofit basis to benefit the "seriously ill.

Prop 215 clearly states "safe and affordable access" maybe a lawyer can answer that after they waste taxpayers money.

djromero moderator editortopcommenter

@trichometrist I hear you. This is an issue that has been hashed out, so to speak, repeatedly in my past coverage. In fact I interviewed the co-author of SB 420, John Vasconcellos, who contends that his law was intended to allow for profit sales However, the LA City Attorney's office argues that court rulings have deemed that part of the law ineffective because, essentially, the state legislature had no right to change a state voter initiative (the original 1996 law you mention). Google my coverage.

etta_mae

3 Like

If "selling weed, even at a dispensary, is illegal," then dispensary owners should sue the city for giving them business licenses under the pretense that they are allowed to conduct business.

RECALL the Huizar!!!

michael1399

@etta_mae There is no such license.

mark_abald

@michael1399 @etta_mae

Michael you speak from a state of collossal ignorance.. EVERY single store/ business that sells to the public (In the City of L.A.) MUST get a City License.

Most pot stores I'VE been in HAVE THEM. So, just HOW far IS your head up your ass, anyway???

michael1399

@joycehong123 "Dispensaries are legal businesses as long as they are setup as non profits and have a Business Tax Certificate."

Tell that to LAPD when they raid your store. Doesn't fly Joyce, and you know it.

LA has also "stepped up to the plate" as you say with several regulatory scenarios and the greedy little shops have hobbled everyone of them. Seems to me it's not the council who's to blame for no regulation, just the shops themselves.

Maybe a few DEA raids will bring them back to the table?

joycehong123

@michael1399 Dispensaries are legal businesses as long as they are setup as non profits and have a Business Tax Certificate. It is not the dispensaries fault that the city has failed us all on this issue. Other cities have stepped up to the plate and enacted sensible regulation which has reduced crime. Los angeles needs to do the same or the council members will be simply voted out of office.

michael1399

@mark_abald @etta_mae Mark, you are referring to a Business Tax Registration Certificate or BTRC. The only thing this document authorizes is for the holder to pay City business taxes. It does not authorize the operation of a pot store. All the stores in LA are operating illegally. Not one of them has been authorized by the City with a license or permit. You can double check this yourself by calling the Office of Finance and asking which pot stores are legal and/or how to legally open a pot store in LA. (while you're at it, ask them for a good proctologist, so you can have YOUR head removed.)