New medical marijuana rules in LA

LOS ANGELES - A lawyer for the city of Los Angeles filed a lawsuit Thursday asking a judge to ease the transition of the city close more than 130 stores medical marijuana under a new ordinance.

The clerk of the city found that only 41 pot shops comply with the ordinance, city officials were designed to surprise 70 clinics in the city.

The counterclaim asks a judge to determine that the interpretation of the city's ordinance was appropriate.

The new law was passed in January and aims to regulate the clinics, hundreds of whom came after officials failed to implement a 2007 moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries.

The regulations require that clinics have been reported previously with the city and the owners to pass a background check.

Later, the construction and Security Department will inspect sites to ensure clinics are 1,000 meters of schools, parks and other gathering sites, city attorney spokesman Frank Mateljan. Each bottle of pharmacy should be made on an independent laboratory.

Mateljan said his office will not try to close any clinics before the court decides.

He said 132 clinics were ineligible due to a change in ownership or management. Other stores were ineligible because they moved more than once or their owners did not complete or pass a background check.

About 30 lawsuits have been filed challenging the city process of clinical assessment. Most were submitted by some of the 400 ordered to close in June, when the ordinance took effect.

"They go beyond a strict interpretation of the ordinance and make every effort to find out how to disqualify," said James Shaw, who runs a clinic pan center and represents the Union Medical marijuana patients. "This is not what the council intended. The city attorney wants to close their minds."

More clinics will be chosen by lot to reach a total of 70, Mateljan said.

"This is just the first round of qualifying," he said. "The spirit of the law will be upheld by the time we reached the end of the process. We are moving very deliberately to achieve a balance between allowing access to medical marijuana and making sure that the laws of the city is maintained."

Posted in: LA,marijuana,Medical