Los Angeles Marijuana Clinic Blog

A non famous ,Los Angeles marijuana clinics rests along a graceful curve of Eagle Rock Boulevard also occupied by a karate studio, a barber and a smattering of modest houses, one with a basketball hoop. The building, marked only by a metal placard that says “Cornerstone,” is unremarkable, by design.
In the waiting room, patients sit on stylish lounge chairs, flipping through magazines. There are dark bamboo floors and walls painted in shades of blue, chosen to foster warmth and serenity. Each patients is escorted to a back room. There, workers wait behind a steel, L-shaped bar. The air is full of Brazilian jazz and the pungent, sugary scent of the only medication dispensed here: marijuana, premium strains of it, dried into meaty buds, stacked up in tall mason jars and sold for $15 to $20 a gram.
Officials and neighbourhood activists in this corner of Los Angeles were taken aback recently when they discovered that their community was home to nearly a dozen of these Los Angeles marijuana clinics, all within a 2-mile radius, mostly in Eagle Rock but also in Highland Park and Glassell Park.
The Los Angeles marijuana clinics, civic leaders say, appear to be legal operations — not businesses, technically, but “collectives” of people who take marijuana to treat symptoms and side effects of arthritis, AIDS, anorexia, cancer and other ailments.
Those expressing concern say it is less about the facilities’ legitimacy and more about local control — whether a neighbourhood has a voice in determining where dispensaries can open and, in particular, whether so many should be allowed in such a small area. They argue that in some cases, the Los Angeles marijuana clinics are subject to fewer restrictions than a new liquor store — even a new drugstore or a yogurt shop.
But here at the Cornerstone Collective, few understand what the hoopla is about. Operators and clients believe firmly that marijuana is vital to the healthcare needs of people who are in pain or have lost their appetites or cannot sleep. They argue that it is a belief that the California public generally embraces, along with the idea that law enforcement’s long fight against marijuana has been misguided and wasteful.
Still a messy debate, five years after a voter initiative and a state Senate bill legalized the possession and cultivation of marijuana for qualified Los Angeles marijuana clinics patients. Local, state and federal laws are in conflict, the courts haven’t been much help and Los Angeles’ moratorium on new dispensaries will run out in the next few months. At City Hall, officials are drafting, finally, a set of guidelines for the facilities. That effort is controversial. Some law enforcement officials believe that abuse is frequent at the Los Angeles marijuana clinics and that some clients don’t require marijuana, while some City Council members are concerned that the proposed rules threaten the existence of legitimate dispensaries. But around here, both sides, anxious for direction and certainty, agree that guidelines — even imperfect and incomplete — cannot come fast enough.

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A study published in Nature Reviews-Cancer provides an historic and detailed explanation about how THC and natural cannabinoids counteract cancer, but preserve normal cells.
The study by Graham Dwelt of Los Angeles found that cannabinoids, the active components of marijuana, inhibit tumor growth in laboratory animals. They do so by modulating key cell-signalling pathways, thereby inducing direct growth arrest and death of tumor cells, as well as by inhibiting the growth of blood vessels that supply the tumor.
Dwelt study is very important according to Dr. Ethan Russo, a neurologist and world authority on medical cannabis: “Cancer occurs because cells become immortalized; they fail to heed normal signals to turn off growth. A normal function of remodeling in the body requires that cells die on cue. This is called apoptosis, or programmed cell death. That process fails to work in tumors. THC promotes its reappearance so that gliomas, leukemias, melanomas and other cell types will in fact heed the signals, stop dividing, and die.”
“But, that is not all,” explains Dr. Spencer of a Los Angeles marijuana clinics: “The other way that tumors grow is by ensuring that they are nourished: they send out signals to promote angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels. Cannabinoids turn off these signals as well. It is truly incredible, and elegant.”
With this study, it explains several ways in which cannabinoids might be used to fight cancer and so justify being used in many of Los Angeles Marijuana clinics operated by licensed Los Angeles marijuana medical doctors “Cannabinoids are usually well tolerated, and do not produce the generalized toxic effects of conventional chemotherapies. Usually, any story that even suggests the possibility of a new treatment for cancer is greeted with headlines about a “cancer cure” - however remote in the future and improbable in fact it might be.
The Washington Post reported on the 1974 study — in the “Local” section — on Aug. 18, 1974. Under the headline, “Cancer Curb Is Studied,” it read in part: “The active chemical agent in marijuana curbs the growth of three kinds of cancer in mice and may also suppress the immunity reaction that causes rejection of organ transplants, a Medical College of Virginia team has discovered.” The researchers “found that THC slowed the growth of lung cancers, breast cancers, and a virus-induced leukemia in laboratory mice, and prolonged their lives by as much as 36 percent.”
“News coverage of the Madrid discovery has been virtually nonexistent in this country. The news broke quietly on Feb. 29, 2000 with a story that ran once on the UPI wire about the Nature Medicine article,” complained MarijuanaNews.com editor Richard Cowan , who said he was only able to find the article through a link that appeared briefly on the Drudge Report Web page. “The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times all ignored the story, even though its newsworthiness is indisputable: a benign substance occurring in nature destroys deadly brain tumors,” added Cowan.
On March 29, 2001, the San Antonio Current printed a carefully researched, bombshell of a story by Raymond Cushing titled, “POT SHRINKS TUMORS; GOVERNMENT KNEW IN ‘74.” Media coverage since then has been nonexistent, except for a copy of the story on AlterNet.

It is hard to believe that the knowledge that cannabis can be used to fight cancer has been suppressed for almost thirty years and was being used by many Los angeles marijuana clinics by the Los Angels medical marijuana doctors expertise, yet it seems likely that it will continue to be suppressed.

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The Feds Should Stop Harassing Sick Patients Who Have the Legal Right to Use Marijuana. In the imaginary world of the hit show “24,” federal law enforcement agencies are pouring every last resource into the search for a nuclear terrorist in Los Angeles.

In the genuine world, federal agents it seems that have so much free time that they can dress up in bulletproof vests and masks in order to raid clinics that serve patients battling cancer, AIDS and other diseases. That’s what happened last week as Drug Enforcement Administration agents stormed 11 medical marijuana dispensaries throughout L.A. and West Hollywood. We can all rest easier knowing that lollipops, cookies, candies and candy bars laced with marijuana are in no danger of reaching seriously ill Los Angeles marijuana clinics patients. Recall that 56% of California voters passed the Compassionate Use Act in 1996, making it legal for Los Angeles marijuana clinics patients to obtain and use medical marijuana under the care of a Los Angeles medical marijuana doctor.
A 2004 Field poll showed that support for the law has grown since its passage, with 74% of Californians now in favor of allowing sick patients to use marijuana. In 2004, SB 420 clarified how much medicinal cannabis Los Angeles marijuana clinics patients could grow and possess, and it allowed local governments to set additional guidelines.

In its place, this raid hit one of the best-run dispensaries in some part of California — the Farmacy — where patients must present valid medical information verified by Los Angeles medical marijuana doctors; where purchases are limited to 1 ounce, even though the law allows patients to possess 8 ounces; where Los Angeles marijuana clinics patients aren’t allowed to medicate on the place; and where anyone caught with forged documents is detained until police arrive and charged with a felony.
The Farmacy has been a leader in treatment and education. Caring for patients suffering from everything from cancer to glaucoma to multiple sclerosis, it teaches patients about the effects of different strains of indica and sativa marijuana and offers edibles and concentrated medicine in the form of oil to reduce the potential harm of smoking marijuana in plant form.
The raid in the Farmacy shocked officials, who weren’t notified of it in advance. “We have worked closely with our community to ensure these establishments operate safely and comply with the spirit of Proposition 215,” Jeffrey Prang said.
“The DEA is here to enforce federal drug laws,” Special Agent Sarah Pullen declared, and, strictly speaking, she was right. In a 2001 case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the “medical necessity” of a patient could not be used as a defense against federal drug enforcement. (The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 classifies marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug with “no medical uses” — making it worse in the eyes of the feds than cocaine, methamphetamine and many other drugs.) In 2005, the court ruled that federal authorities could even stop a seriously ill patient from cultivating marijuana for her personal use.

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Federal agents trailed Sparky Rose as he drove a Porsche Carrera convertible to his Los Angeles marijuana clinics. Under California law, Los Angeles marijuana clinics are supposed to dispense marijuana just too seriously ill people and clinic owners are to get only “sensible recompense.” But to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the sports car suggested that Rose might be theft big money from his purportedly nonprofit clinic, New Remedies Cooperative.
Rose was under arrest in October and accused of illegal drug trafficking - charges he denies. According to court papers, an investigation turned up records showing $2.3 million was deposited in a New Remedies bank account over eight months starting in December 2005, and Rose wrote himself weekly checks of $9,600.
California was the first of 12 states to allow the sale of marijuana for medicinal purposes, mainly pain control, and is regarded as having the loosest regulations. Oversight is lax and there are few specific rule for buyers and sellers of a drug still illegal under federal law.
Who can open a clinic, what constitutes reasonable compensation and who can grow and supply marijuana are all open to broad interpretation - factors that have helped fuel a surge in new clinics, to about 400 statewide. Los Angeles alone has about 100. Oakland, Santa Rosa and even famously permissive West Hollywood are among cities that have imposed moratoriums on new clinics amid concerns owners and buyers are abusing the law. Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton has called for a similar moratorium in his city. The DEA also has taken notice, embarking on a stepped-up effort targeting clinics run by people who appear to flout the reasonable compensation provision.
Federal officials raided 11 Los Angeles marijuana clinics in just one day in January, the largest such crackdown. They returned to one of the clinics in West Hollywood this past Wednesday, breaking down a door and seizing additional records.
DEA spokeswoman Sarah Pullen said authorities chose clinics that were making big money, had become hot spots for crime or were part of large franchises. The raided clinics on average raked in $20,000 in profits each day, she said. Many Los Angeles marijuana clinics were buying pot wholesale from street dealers and reselling it for twice the roughly $100-an-ounce black-market rate, Pullen said. “It’s become something we can’t ignore,” she said.
Investigation is ongoing and has yet to produce any arrests or charges. Some Los Angeles marijuana clinics have remained closed while others reopened. West Hollywood City Councilman Jeff Prang said the federal government should leave it to local governments to monitor and regulate marijuana dispensaries that provide relief for those suffering from cancer, Parkinson’s, AIDS and other debilitating diseases. “It’s a real sad day for the DEA if these type of facilities are that high on the list of priorities,” he said.
Police, Los Angeles Marijuana clinics owners, activists and legislators - even the author of the law - can’t say for sure how much money clinic owners can legally earn. “A profit is in the eye of the beholder,” said Joseph David Elford, a lawyer for Americans for Safe Access, a medicinal marijuana support group. David Elford said a hands-off government approach to the clinics should boost competition, custody marijuana prices affordable for those who need it and forcing owners to limit profits. Pullen said that hasn’t happened. The author of the 2003 law, then-state Sen. John Vasconcellos, has no problem with clinic owners earning hefty salaries as long as they provide help for ill people. He said the federal government should mellow out.

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It was May when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled generally to let the feds shut down six California co-ops that distribute medical marijuana in strict agreement with state law. Back in 1996, Golden State voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 215, allowing Los Angeles medical marijuana doctors to prescribe pot to patients with severe, chronic pain. In effect, the nation’s highest court decided that state laws legalizing cannabis for medical use weren’t worth a dime bag.
After month of the May ruling, clientele and proprietors of California’s 50-odd Los Angeles marijuana clinics waited anxiously to see whether the federal government would aggressively crack down. In October, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration began to answer that question. Agents surveilled or busted several co-ops or Los Angeles marijuana clinics, finishing their tour with the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center, a Los Angeles Marijuana clinics that provided pot on site to 960 patients suffering from AIDS, epilepsy, cancer, glaucoma, and other painful illnesses. Thirty armed federal agents seized 400 marijuana plants, computers, financial documents, and medical records.
But by December 10, establishment informed Scott Imler, the co-op’s director and founder, that he would face a grand jury on December 20. That court will make a decision whether to accuse him for defying the Supreme Court ruling, a charge for which he could face hard time.
“I don’t want to whine or duck here,” says 43-year-old Imler, his voice suggesting the bemusement of someone who’s facing up to 10 years in prison for helping sick people. “I knew what I was getting into, and I’m prepared to take whatever responsibility comes my way. But I would imagine…they’re focusing on me because the minute they raise the issue of conspirators, it would be a whole different kettle of fish.”
Scott Imler is referring to the co-op’s wide swath of group. In adding up to employing several employees members, the Cannabis Resource Center was created with the close cooperation of the city council and local law enforcement agencies. If the federal government tries to hone in on “co-conspirators,” it may well have to indict the entire salaried staff of the city of West Hollywood. (West Hollywood is an independent city surrounded by Los Angeles.)
While on the phone, Councilman Jeffrey Prang seems he’s clearly exasperated. “Instead of contributing to the war on terrorism, someone in Washington, D.C., thought it was a good idea to send someone to raid the Cannabis Resource club. It defies any sense of propriety–or priority.”
Prang and the rest of the city council has now passed a resolution stating that West Hollywood is a “sanctuary” for medical marijuana. When Prang was asked whether the move is purely symbolic. “To the degree that local authority has any authority; people can count on West Hollywood as a refuge. However, if the federal government chose to come in, we are in no position to stand in their way.”
“We have expressed our will” through state and local laws, says Prang. “Yet the federal government believes it’s extremely important to spend time and money cracking down on sick people.”

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Climb up in wishes for Los Angeles marijuana clinics patients and supporters have been theatrical of behind. In a variety of states where laws permit, dispensary owners lately admitted to a boost in 2009 requests for the pain reducer that ranges from 50 percent to as much as 300 percent. The high numbers seem to be unreservedly connected to the carriage of the Obama supervision on the subject; the centralized government will not hinder with state laws and patients who stand for by them.
While on the other hand, some analysts persist the rise in medical marijuana requests pertains to the monetary slump and succeeding growing number of Americans without health insurance, as they may turn to alternative and less luxurious treatment for pain and illness, treatments like medical marijuana. However, most Los Angeles marijuana clinics owners feature the increase to the word from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder that the Obama administration would not involve itself in state issues concerning about medical marijuana.
The first hit was the Los Angeles Marijuana clinics and medical marijuana users community was when the Obama for America movement documented its opposition to the Bush policy on the matter. A response letter to those intrusive on the subject read, in part: “Many states have laws that disregard medical marijuana, but the Bush Administration is using federal drug enforcement agents to raid Los Angeles marijuana clinics facilities and seize the medicines that the gravely ill people need. Focusing limited law enforcement resources on these Los Angeles marijuana clinics and patients who pose no hazard while many aggressive and extremely unsafe drug traffickers are at large makes no logic. Senator Obama will not continue the Bush policy when he is president.
Eric Holder has not always held the same view, he has changed course since his appointment as the Attorney General. And despite Drug Enforcement Administration raids on Los Angeles marijuana clinics that happened as Obama took office in late 2008 as a continuation of the Bush policy, which stated that federal law overrode that of the states, those have since been ordered to an end. Holder stated in February of 2009, “What the president said during the campaign, you’ll be astonished to know, will be consistent with what we’ll be doing in law enforcement… What he said during the campaign is now American policy.”

According to Colorado clinic numbers, applications for medical marijuana have risen significantly. As December 2008 came to a close, there were 4,720 applications on file, as compared to the 6,796 by February 28, 2009. While this certainly does not indicate that doctors are willing to authorize all of the new Los Angeles marijuana clinics patients for marijuana use, the requirements are tricky to disregard. And to hold, some dispensaries are paying Los Angeles medical marijuana doctors to be on staff and provide the oversight to patients whose own doctors are unwilling to sign off on the applications.
Thirteen states allow the cultivation, sale and use of medical marijuana in the United States of America.

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Several recent federal raids on Los Angeles marijuana clinics in California have betrayed President Barack Obama’s campaign pledge to halt such busts if elected, Los Angeles medical marijuana doctors and medicinal cannabis advocates said Wednesday.
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents served search warrants on four Los Angeles marijuana clinics or medical marijuana vendors in the Los Angeles area Tuesday, seizing more than 200 kg (440 pounds) of cannabis, edible marijuana products and about $10,000 in cash, a DEA spokeswoman said.
There were no arrests, according to the spokeswoman, special agent Sarah Pullen.
The busts on the Los Angeles marijuana clinics, following a spate of similar raids in recent years under the Bush administration, drew fire from such groups as the Drug Policy Alliance and Americans for Safe Access, which have advocated legalization and regulation of marijuana for legitimate medical purposes.
They cited comments Obama made during his White House bid last year that he intended to halt raids of medical marijuana facilities operating under state laws.
“If it’s an issue of doctors prescribing medical marijuana as a treatment for glaucoma or as a cancer treatment, I think that should be appropriate because there really is no difference between that and a doctor prescribing morphine or anything else,” he said in a March 2008 interview captured on a YouTube video clip.
He added that expanding access to medical marijuana would not be a priority of his administration, but “what I’m not going to be doing is using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws on this issue.”
Asked about those comments, Pullen said, “There has been no direction as to a change in how we … enforce federal law.” The DEA is a Justice Department agency.
Stephen Gutwillig, California head of the Drug Policy Alliance, suggested the latest raids on the Los Angeles marijuana clinics stemmed from a lag in new policy directives from the 2-week-old Obama administration.
“We hope these recent raids don’t represent official administration policy and that Obama will order federal agencies in no uncertain terms to stop harassing medical marijuana patients and providers in California,” he said.
White House spokesman Nick Shapiro Wednesday reiterated Obama’s stance that “federal resources should not be used to circumvent state laws.”
“And as he continues to appoint senior leadership to fill out the ranks of the federal government, he expects them to review their policies with that in mind,” Shapiro said.
Bill Piper of the Drug Policy Alliance in Washington said, “The DEA shouldn’t need a memo from the White House to know that undermining the will of California voters is a waste of taxpayer money.”
Twelve states have enacted medical marijuana statutes since California became the first to do so in 1996.
But the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2005 the federal government may continue to enforce U.S. law barring the cultivation, possession and use of cannabis for any purpose, even where states seek to legalize it for medical reasons.
Medical marijuana vendors have continued to operate despite hundreds of DEA raids on such establishments in recent years, most of them in California, under former President George W. Bush’s administration, according to Caren Woodson of Americans for Safe Access.

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Supporters of programs to provide legal marijuana to patients with painful medical conditions are celebrating Attorney General Eric Holder’s statement this week that the Drug Enforcement Administration would end its raids on state-approved marijuana dispensaries.
Federal raids on medical marijuana distributors continued at least into the second week of Barack Obama’s presidency, when federal agents shut down at least two Los Angeles marijuana clinics in California on Feb. 3.
Holder was asked about those raids Wednesday in Santa Ana, Calif., at a news conference that was called to announce the arrests of 755 people in a nationwide crackdown on the U.S. operations of Mexican drug cartels. He said such operations would no longer be conducted.
“What the president said during the campaign … will be consistent with what we will be doing here in law enforcement,” he said. “What (Obama) said during the campaign … is now American policy.”
Obama indicated during the presidential campaign that he supported the controlled use of marijuana for medical purposes, saying he saw no difference between medical marijuana and other pain-control drugs.
“My attitude is if the science and the doctors suggest that the best palliative care and the way to relieve pain and suffering is medical marijuana, then that’s something I’m open to,” Obama said in November 2007 at a campaign stop in Audubon, Iowa. “There’s no difference between that and morphine when it comes to just giving people relief from pain.”
White House spokesman Nick Shapiro hinted at the policy shift shortly after the Los Angeles marijuana clinics raids, telling The Washington Times that the Los Angeles marijuana clinics were legal in California and that the Obama administration’s stance was that “federal resources should not be used to circumvent state laws.”
The new policy represents a significant turnabout for the federal government. During the Bush administration, DEA agents shut down 30 to 40 Los Angeles marijuana clinics, the agency said.
The Web site of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy had yet to catch up to the policy shift as of Friday afternoon, and was still prominently featuring a “ Medical Marijuana Reality Check” declaring that “marijuana is not considered modern medicine” and arguing that “no animal or human data support the safety or efficacy of smoked marijuana for general medical use.”
Holder’s comments received little notice Wednesday, overshadowed by the news of the drug arrests. But Los Angeles medical marijuana doctors and supporters of legalized marijuana seized on them as an important sign of progress in their campaign.
“Holder’s statement marks a dramatic shift in U.S. drug policy and is a major victory for the 72 million Americans who reside in states where the use of medical cannabis is legal,” said Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said in a statement.
Thirteen states allow the cultivation, sale and use of medical marijuana with California being the first and most widely populated with dispensaries across the main United States of America.

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California was the first of 10 states to pass a medical marijuana law. But no other metropolitan area has nearly as many that of Los Angeles marijuana clinics. The Bay Area, for example, has about 70.
Still, the medical marijuana industry is getting some rocks thrown in to the wheel of possible new fortunes.
The Los Angeles marijuana clinics were being aided by the lack of specific regulations covering these businesses within many jurisdictions of Los Angeles County, particularly in the city of L.A. The county and many cities inside it scrambled to enact moratoriums to give them time to decide whether to regulate or ban such shops.
At least eight cities now have moratoriums in place, while Torrance and Pasadena in the past year have banned clinics. On Jan. 16, West Hollywood gave initial approval to an ordinance intended to lower the number of clinics in the city from six to four. L.A. County passed an ordinance that went into effect in June that regulates when and where the Los Angeles marijuana clinics open.
In November, Los Angeles officials began talking seriously about enacting a moratorium. That set off a scramble by many to open Los Angeles marijuana clinics to beat any decision–and led to the 45 new Los Angeles marijuana clinics that opened in the city. In all, the city has 148 retail-like Los Angeles marijuana clinics and/or home-delivery services.
“Out of the chaos, that’s where the opportunists move in,” Duran said.
Los Angeles marijuana clinics owners who contend they work hard to run a reputable operation take issue with the opportunist label, though several declined to talk to the Business Journal for this story. However, one operator who opened a small dispensary north of downtown L.A. five months ago, said he pays sales taxes, is insured by Lloyd’s of London, and desires a good working relationship with the officers who patrol his neighbourhood.
“This is new territory for us,” said the operator, who would only allow his first name, Ed, to be used in the wake of the DEA raids. “Everyone is very spooked right now. We are not drug dealers and we don’t want to be confused with that.”
Under state law, in order to receive medical marijuana, patients must get a doctor to provide a written recommendation–nicknamed scripts, although they’re technically not prescriptions. The scripts also give the recipients the right to legally grow marijuana for medical purposes.
For roughly $70 to $100, depending on the neighbourhood, patients with a script can purchase one-eighth of an ounce of processed marijuana for personal use. They can roll a joint to smoke on premises if the dispensary offers a smoking lounge, or take it home. Many shops also offer pot-laced edibles for those unable or disinclined to smoke.
Prices at Los Angeles marijuana clinics, sometimes known as cannabis clubs, tend to be equivalent to or slightly higher than pot available on the street, with clinic owners touting the greater safety and cleanliness of their facilities.

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With little fanfare until this month, Los Angeles County has quietly become the country’s capital of medical marijuana.
In the last two years the number of Los Angeles marijuana clinics in the county has ballooned from a relative handful to more than 200, according to most estimates.
And in the city of Los Angeles, police said, 45 Los Angeles marijuana clinics opened in December alone as entrepreneurs sought to beat a proposed moratorium.
Many of them have opened in strip shopping centers, typically using such names as “compassionate caregivers” or “patient collectives”–names that seldom mention marijuana.
Even the Rev. Scott Imler, who co-authored the ballot initiative that legalized medical marijuana, thinks the industry that he inadvertently helped create has gotten out of control.
“We created this beast that frankly the state and local governments have been too slow to regulate,” Imler said. “We’re a liberal state and everyone wants to bend over backwards to be compassionate and understanding and groovy. And they get taken advantage of.”
The high-profile raid of 11 Los Angeles marijuana clinics by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents on Jan. 17 highlighted the sudden industry, as well as its shaky legal foundations: The Los Angeles marijuana clinics are legal under Proposition 215, passed by state voters in 1996, but still illegal under federal law.
“Los Angeles has had a significant growth in the number dispensaries recently, but remember that this is the second largest (metropolitan area) in the U.S.,” said William Dolphin, communications director for the Oakland-based pro-medical marijuana group Americans for Safe Access.
So far, there isn’t a good handle on the value of the economic activity that medical marijuana generates in the county. While Los Angeles marijuana clinics pay employee taxes and some collect retail sales taxes, public agency record-keeping is sketchy given the quasi-legal status of the enterprise.
A report presented to an Oakland oversight committee last fall estimates Californians consume between $870 million and $2 billion worth of medically related marijuana each year–and anywhere from a third to a half of that is likely consumed in Los Angeles County alone, given the county’s size.
The rapid growth of the industry has taken city officials, law enforcement agencies and others by surprise. Many have started to ban or at least regulate marijuana clinics more tightly.
However, the local actions have not been enough to halt the raids by the DEA officials, who categorize the dispensaries as illegal drug selling operations–despite California law.
“Granted they’re acting under the guise of legal state law, but under current federal law they’re still drug organizations,” said Sarah Pullen, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles field office of the DEA. The agency’s Jan. 17 sweep was the first time the Los Angeles office had targeted multiple clinics at the same time.
Also in a related issue, DEA agents have also started to raid medical marijuana patients. However, A June 2005 HCD Research/Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion poll of U.S. office-based physicians found that 74% of doctors disagree with the statement that “the federal government should be able to prosecute those who use, grow, or obtain marijuana prescribed or recommended by their doctor for chronic pain within the guidelines of state law.” A 2005 Gallup poll found that 78% of Americans support “making marijuana legally available for doctors to prescribe in order to reduce pain and suffering.” A 2004 AARP poll found 72% support for medical marijuana among older Americans. These polls consistently show support crossing all ages, ethnic groups, and party affiliations. There is no constituency that supports arresting suffering patients for using medical marijuana.

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