Los Angeles City Council Votes to End Federal DEA Medical Marijuana Raids
Meanwhile, DEA intensifies effort with raids today on at least 6 dispensaries in the city
Los Angeles, CA -- As the Los Angeles City Council voted
today to move forward with the regulation of medical cannabis
(marijuana) dispensaries, federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
agents were conducting raids on at least 6 dispensaries in the greater
Los Angeles area. The Council approved the first reading today of a
moratorium on new
dispensaries in the city, with final approval expected within a week.
The moratorium will give the city time to draft regulations that
would establish a permit process and guidelines for providers of
medical marijuana. The Council also passed a resolution in
support of a vote in Congress scheduled to occur today that would deny
funding to the U.S. Department of Justice, and the DEA, for enforcement
against medical marijuana patients and providers.
Los Angeles City Councilmember, and former police officer, Dennis Zine,
held a press conference this morning, prior to the vote, where he
revealed a letter sent by three Councilmembers to DEA Administrator
Karen Tandy. The
letter from Los Angeles Councilmembers Dennis Zine, Janice Hahn and
Bill Rosendahl was sent in response to increased federal activity,
including
numerous raids on medical cannabis dispensaries as well as letters sent
by the DEA to at least 140 landlords of dispensing facilities. The
letter requests that the DEA "abandon this tactic and allow this
City Council to continue the important work of regulating these
facilities without Federal interference." Despite the apparent conflict
between state and federal law, Zine affirms the need to "uphold the
will of our voters and adopt sensible guidelines to regulate the
provision of medical cannabis in our communities."
A vote will also take place in Congress today that would prevent
federal funds to be used to interfere in the twelve states that have
adopted medical marijuana laws. The Hinchey-Rohrabacher amendment to
the House Commerce-Justice-State appropriations bill, named after its
authors Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), would end
the federal crackdown currently occurring in Los Angeles and other
parts of California. The resolution adopted today by the Los Angeles
City Council supports the Hinchey-Rohrabacher amendment and the
prohibition of further raids on "[medical] marijuana dispensaries in
states that have laws supporting their operation."
"These continued actions by the DEA, in spite of the strong endorsement
of medical marijuana by the Los Angeles City Council, is
reprehensible," said Chris Fusco, the Southern California Field
Coordinator for Americans for Safe Access, the nation's largest medical
marijuana advocacy organization. "It shows that the federal government
will stop at nothing to undermine California's medical marijuana law,
and that today's DEA actions are in retaliation for the successful work
being done by advocates and city officials." Two hundred protesters
gathered today at California Patients Group, one of the dispensaries
raided by the DEA, and confronted federal agents. Instead of arresting
a group of people being held inside the facility, federal agents were
forced to release them or face continued civil disobedience, in the
form of blockades, by protesters at the scene.
In another apparent rebuke locally to federal efforts against medical
marijuana access, Los Angeles' neighbor to the east, the City of
Claremont, voted Tuesday night to allow and regulate a dispensary
within its city limits.
In order to bring attention to the increased federal activity by
the DEA, Americans for Safe Access (ASA) is calling for statewide
protests
Friday. In Los Angeles, protests will occur at 9am at the
federal
building (255 East Temple) to be followed by a march to City Hall (200
N Spring St.) to request that the city do everything it can to ensure
protection for its patients and providers from further federal
interference.
For further information, refer to:
Letter
from LA Councilmembers to DEA Administrator Karen Tandy:
http://www.safeaccessnow.org/downloads/Zine_DEA_Letter.pdf
Resolution adopted by the Los Angeles City Council in support of
Hinchey-Rohrabacher:
http://www.safeaccessnow.org/downloads/LA_Resolution.pdf
The DEA letter to more than 140 landlords in the Los Angeles area:
http://www.safeaccessnow.org/downloads/DEA_Landlord_Letter.pdf
ASA's one-pager on the Hinchey-Rohrabacher amendment:
http://www.safeaccessnow.org/downloads/Hinchey_One_Pager.pdf