Medical marijuana association sues city of Los Angeles

Los Angeles medical marijuana collectives have formed an association which is challenging the city's medical marijuana moratorium.

The association filed a lawsuit on Monday claiming the city’s 2-year-old moratorium is unconstitutionally vague. The association also says City Council violated state law when it extended the ban until mid-March. The Los Angeles Times reports this is the first reaction to Los Angeles’s efforts to stop growth in dispensaries. The City Council's Planning Committee is trying to draft a permanent ordinance to replace the moratorium. Local officials are firm in their conviction over-the-counter sales of medical marijuana are illegal under state law and much of the medical marijuana being sold is sold-over-the counter. Some council members state any ordinance not permitting marijuana sales will not work. The Los Angeles Collective Assn. and the Green Oasis dispensary filed the lawsuit, charging the moratorium is "unreasonable, discriminatory and overly broad." In addition, the lawsuit says City Council did not follow required procedures when it extended the ban and claims the council is precluded by state law from extending the moratorium beyond 24 months. "They're basically operating without an ordinance," said Robert A. Kahn, an attorney who is representing the association and Green Oasis told the Times. Councilman Ed Reyes, who is overseeing the drafting of an ordinance, was not surprised by the lawsuit. "It's another sword hanging over our head," he said to the Times. "Now, we have to move as diligently as possible." Dan Lutz is a co-owner of Green Oasis and president of the collective association. Lutz’s decision to file the suit came when the City Council voted to shut down his dispensary, which he and a partner opened in May. Lutz and hundreds of other dispensary owners filed a request with the City Council for an exemption from the moratorium to be allowed to operate; however, they began operations without permission. "We were being railroaded by kangaroo courts," Lutz said. "They were just denying them out of hand. Obviously their intent was just to close everyone down."