Prop. 64, which opened the doors to recreational marijuana, imparted a significant amount of power and discretion to local jurisdictions to decide the type and volume of marijuana businesses that would be allowable. Some communities, like San Jose and San Francisco, embraced commercial cannabis at the outset. Meanwhile, others like Fontana have tried to outlaw the shops entirely. Those with the harshest restrictions have in some cases (Fontana, for instance) been successfully challenged.

For the most part, communities agree the drug should be legal, but just practically speaking, it takes time to supplant an unregulated market. Questions have still arisen regarding how the wealth should be distributed, who gets a chance to participate and how tight should restrictions be. A dedicated California marijuana dispensary attorney can advocate on behalf of all types of cannabis corporations, whether a brick-and-mortar store, a delivery service, farmers or ancillary business.

In some cases, some municipal marijuana markets have paved the way a small number of well-capitalized cannabis firms to dominate, while others have seen the proliferation of smaller, mom-and-pop-type pot shops. An analysis by the California Cannabis Growers, the state’s biggest marijuana trade organization, insists the success of the regulatory schema will hinge primarily on how many businesses are allowed to enter the market. Local regulations can hinder up-and-coming entrepreneurs trying to get a foot in the door.

Many marijuana business attorneys are seeing situations wherein some companies have become severely backlogged with product because they can’t distribute due to a lack of local ordinances. They end up losing substantial sums in these scenarios.

On average, a person in California must drive 60 miles to arrive at a dispensary, according to the state’s Bureau of Cannabis Control. This creates a somewhat confusing scenario, as many Californians assume legal marijuana is everywhere. But the residents in these under-served areas aren’t simply using less marijuana. Instead, they’re getting it on the black market – which has actually grown in some ways because the state has made it quite difficult for new businesses to enter the above-board market and little incentive to compel them to keep trying.

It’s had a ripple effect in places like Los Angeles, which has approved just three of the hundreds of annual licensing applications received by the Manufactured Cannabis Safety Branch. Ancillary companies can only work with those that are licensed, so they’be been stuck at a standstill too.

State and local agencies insist they are doing all they can to keep the licensing process moving. Our Los Angeles marijuana business attorneys know that no one likes navigating through bureaucracy, but it’s a necessary evil at this point for many firms. Because you might only get one shot at this opportunity, business owners need to make certain state laws and local ordinances are meticulously followed on their end – which makes working with a lawyer a necessity.

The Los Angeles CANNABIS LAW Group represents growers, dispensaries, collectives, patients and those facing marijuana charges. Call us at 949-375-4734.

Additional Resources:

Doing a weed start-up? Wait in line, Nov. 19, 2018, By Lisa Renner, Capitol Weekly

More Blog Entries:

Fontana Marijuana Lawyers Hail Axed Home-Grown Pot Rules, Nov. 15, 2018, L.A. Marijuana Dispensary Attorney Blog

compliance with state and local regulations. We are experienced in civil and criminal cannabis-related cases and fight hard for the rights of our clients. We support the continued expansion of marijuana legalization and hope to see a day soon when businesses are free to operate on a national scale.

Too often, we see hard-working cannabis business owners who may be niave or unclear about the state and local regulations and their obligations. In a recent case in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, a former Congressional aid was recently convicted of taking advantage of a dispensary owner.

Recently Michael Kimbrew, a former Congressional aide, was found guilty of attempted extortion and bribery. He was convicted of taking a $5,000 bribe, which he allegedly elicited from a pot shop that at the time was operating illegally, according to the Associated Press. Prosecutors allege he approached the Compton dispensary in 2015, when it was still illegal to operate such a business in the city. He then allegedly told the owners they would be shut down unless they could work out a deal with him. That deal reportedly included a $5,000 payment to Kimbrew, even though he did not have the connections to get them proper medical marijuana permits that he allegedly claimed he did.

Prosecutors said he went as far as bringing the owners to Compton City Hall, where the representative he worked for had an office. That representative was not mentioned in the indictment. She said Kimbrew worked for her for a year and was fired in 2016.

The deal never went far. An undercover FBI agent, posing as a partner of the marijuana business, obtained video of Kimbrew talking about the bribe and accepting a $5,000 payment from the agent, making this a pretty open and shut case. He could face up to 18 years in prison.

Our trusted Los Angeles medical marijuana lawyers are glad to see the FBI go after the real criminals: People who take advantage of business owners. As laws continue to expand to make it possible for more cannabis businesses to operate legally, it will never be legal to extort owners or elicit bribes. We hope the laws increasingly offer protections to honest marijuana business owners and that eventually we will see cannabis declassified on the Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. Section 812.

We recommend business owners who are unsure if they are in compliance with local and state marijuana laws talk to our experienced legal team right away. Don’t leave yourself vulnerable to veiled threats or real legal ramifications. Take control of the future of your business with sound and credible legal guidance. Our lawyers can help you with everything from a business plan to obtaining business licenses to consulting. If you do happen to find yourself in trouble with the law, we’re there to assist with that, too. We have the real connections to help get your business on the right track.

The Los Angeles CANNABIS LAW Group represents growers, dispensaries, collectives, patients, defendants, workers and those facing criminal marijuana charges. Call us at 949-375-4734.

Additional Resources:

United States of America v. Kimbrew, July 21, 2017, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

More Blog Entries:

Santa Fe Springs Mayor Sentenced for Marijuana Dispensary Bribery, Nov. 10, 2012, Cannabis Law Group

However, there are many aspects of the marijuana business, and much the money is being made from things other than the growing and sale of marijuana itself. One of the increasingly more profitable ventures is the development and sale of what is being called marijuana equipment. While there are still a lot of regulations and legal pitfalls that can get these companies into hot water, the business is doing very well, according to a recent news article from USA Today. Some of the products that have become increasingly popular are home growing units. While you can still walk into a hydroponics shop and purchase expensive lights and growing medium and all kinds of other accessories, some people do not want to have a traditional indoor grow operation in their closet, for example. These days, people want to by a high tech box that looks like a futuristic refrigerator in which they can grow marijuana. Not only can they grow marijuana, they don’t need to know all that much about gardening or even get their hands dirty. The machine does all the work and looks like a high-tech piece of equipment, which it is.

One such unit retails for $3,000 and is even Wi-Fi ready. This means you can use your tablet or smartphone to track the progress of your growing marijuana plants and can even see them on the included web cam. Over a thousand units of this product have already been sold, and there are others like it on the market.

Another product is designed to fill cartridges with medical cannabis for use in vape pens. This company is in Orange County, California and has growing demand for large machines that sell for over $16,000.

This demand is only expected increase as more and more states legalize medical marijuana and recreational use of marijuana. However, while there is a lot of money to made when selling products that may be designed for cannabis use across state lines, it is not hard to imagine how a business owner could end up in regulatory trouble or even federal prison.

This is not to say that you should not go into the cannabis equipment business, but you should certainly first speak with an experienced Orange County cannabis business attorney before spending any significant amount of money on your startup. While some people are hesitant to spend money on legal assistance too early in the process, and have an attitude of let’s get started now and worry later, this can get you into a lot of trouble. It can also end up costing you and your business a lot more in the long run to fix problems that have occurred than to make sure things are done right in the first place. Additionally, you certainly want to avoid anything that can result in your being arrested.

The Los Angeles CANNABIS LAW Group represents growers, dispensaries, collectives, patients and those facing marijuana charges. Call us at 949-375-4734.

Additional Resources:

Marijuana equipment start-ups flourish as large rivals avoid legal pitfalls, March 27, 2017, By Trevor Hughes, USA Today

More Blog Entries: Report: Colorado Marijuana Laws May Not be Safe, Feb. 5, 2017, L.A. Marijuana Lawyer Blog

These unlicensed, unregulated operations are snapping up black market business by selling the drug at a lower cost – made possible because those other shops aren’t following the stringent guidelines as expected by state regulators. They ignore city safety codes and guidelines, which means they can undercut licensed dispensaries on price. Licensed regulators have responded by suing a number of these operations.

You may recall back in 2014, Santa Ana city officials approved a city initiative called Measure BB. This gave the green light to about 20 medical marijuana dispensary licenses in the city, to be chosen via a lottery system. However, despite efforts to carefully regulate the legal marijuana system, the number of licensed dispensaries in the city soon became overwhelmed by the number of unlicensed shops.

A report from the Orange County Register last March revealed that seven months after the city started licensing medical marijuana dispensaries, there were twice as many unlicensed marijuana retailers as licensed ones. One store owner noted he and his staff were “stoked” to have a legitimate operation, to be doing everything on the up-and-up. But the “rogue sellers” had begun to make that increasingly tough.

However, the unlicensed sellers have been arguing that the city’s law violates the Compassionate Use Act, which legalized medical marijuana almost two decades ago. As of that writing, police had been successful in shuttering about 90 of the nearly 110 unlicensed shops that were open. However, getting the remaining ones to close their doors had proven difficult because, for starters, police reported there was a lack of information about who actually owned those facilities. And there were also ongoing legal questions about whether the government had the right to shutter the gray retail market that had largely gone unregulated in the state since the original marijuana legalization measure passed in 1998.

Now, the licensed marijuana dispensaries are taking matters into their own hands. They note that they are required to undergo a series of costly measures to operate legally in the city, including ensure their employees have undergone background checks, provide proper on-site ventilation and pay city taxes. The regulated marijuana dispensaries are seeking an injunction that would close up unlicensed medical marijuana providers and also result in an unspecified amount of damages suffered due to business lost as a result of these operations.

Meanwhile, attorneys representing the unlicensed facilities say they plan to fight back. They allege the city’s lottery was not in fact fair. Rather than being random, they allege, individuals and dispensaries that made political donations to certain local politicians were given preference for a sanctioned slot.

At this point, there haven’t been any hearings scheduled in the litigation.

Meanwhile, one of those unlicensed facilities has filed its own marijuana lawsuit against the city and its police department for relentless, ongoing raids. One of those became national news when city police officers were seen on camera consuming snacks from the business in the midst of one of those raids. Plaintiffs in that case are seeking $650,000 in damages.

The Los Angeles CANNABIS LAW Group represents growers, dispensaries, collectives, patients and those facing marijuana charges. Call us at 949-375-4734.

Additional Resources:

Legal vs. illegal pot shops: Lawsuit alleges one can put the other out of business, Jan. 27, 2017, By Sean Emery, Orange County Register

More Blog Entries:

Marijuana for PTSD Still Controversial in Colorado, Feb. 11, 2017, L.A. Marijuana Lawyer Blog

However, some are predicting it may soon be even more convenient than that. There are rumors that the drug may be available at some point at your local supermarket.

Will that render California marijuana dispensaries a thing of the past? Probably not. Sure, picking up your pot with your produce may be convenient, but you won’t necessarily get the one-on-one service and expertise that you do with a dispensary. After all, marijuana is a drug and many users want to make sure that not only are they getting a product that is quality, but also one that fits their needs and is safe.

Still, he gears are turning on the pot-in-stores front. Last year, Whole Foods CEO John Mackey answered a question by MainStreet on whether the store would ever consider selling cannabis. He responded the store would only do so if the plant was legal to use and the community approved – which in this day and age sets a reasonable and relatively low bar, meaning it could be a real possibility in the near future.

A study conducted by 3rd ArcView State of Legal Marijuana Markets found that if marijuana was legalized across the U.S., the market would balloon to about $36.1 billion – which exceeds the organic food industry by approximately $3 billion.

Just in Colorado and Washington, consumers purchased some $370 million worth of marijuana products in 2014 alone.

Last year in Colorado Springs, it was reported in Colorado Springs that a new business model involved giving customers the convenience of shopping for marijuana while they filled up on fuel. “Gas and Grass” combines a typical gas station with the easy availability of marijuana. There, the dispensary and the gas station are part of one large building, but the dispensary has its own separate entrance and is subject to all the same rules and restrictions as other marijuana dispensaries.

On the gas station side, there are lottery tickets, cigarettes, beverages, snacks and other items that one might typically find in a convenience store. On the dispensary side, patrons can choose from an array of marijuana products, including edibles, as well as marijuana-themed shirts, hats and other souvenirs.

It would seem logical that grocers wouldn’t be far behind.

Of course, there is evidence that “old-fashioned” cannabis dispensaries offer an inherent and irreplaceable value. The foremost best thing about having a legally-operated dispensary is that it is a great resource for patients and customers. It serves to educate users. It can help to ensure they receive the very best product for their condition. Personalized instructions can be provided based on individual need. There are strict controls that serve to ensure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands (i.e., children or those who would try to sell it on the black market).

Beyond that, there is also a benefit to knowing exactly where your marijuana is grown, by whom and what – if any – chemicals or other products were used in the cultivation process. Whether grocery stores could provide that level of service and value remains to be seen.

Any business or entrepreneur interested in wading into the marijuana industry should schedule a consultation with an experienced marijuana attorney.

The Los Angeles CANNABIS LAW Group represents growers, dispensaries, collectives, patients and those facing marijuana charges. Call us at 949-375-4734.

Additional Resources:

Whole Foods Could Sell Pot Someday, Feb. 10, 2016, By Daniela Galarza, Eater.com

More Blog Entries:

New Yorkers Priced Out of Medicinal Marijuana? July 2, 2016, California Marijuana Lawyer Blog

The findings are important because even as legalization of medical marijuana has become more widespread, its use for pediatric patients is controversial. Access has increased, but it’s a controversial subject. There are many advocates who believe there is no situation in which children should be prescribed the drug.

These researchers sent the electronic survey to more than 650 pediatric oncologists at three National Cancer Institute centers in Washington state, Massachusetts and Illinois – three states that have legalized the drug for medicinal use. Nearly half of recipients responded. Of those who did, 92 percent said they were willing to help child cancer patients access medical marijuana to help manage their symptoms.

More than one-third conveyed their belief that cannabis therapy is appropriate in the early stages of cancer treatment. Nearly one-third said they had received requests from families or even patients personally to access medical marijuana therapy, and that they receive these questions at least once every month.

These findings mirror other previous findings.

For example, in 2013, researchers published a worldwide report in The New England Journal of Medicine that showed 76 percent of cancer doctors supported the use of medical marijuana to treat metastatic breast cancer. This was out of 1,446 doctors surveyed in 56 states and provinces globally. The results, researchers said, were “surprising” given the fact that marijuana is illegal in most parts of the world.

When researchers looked at the breakdown in the U.S., however, they saw widespread disparities. For example in Utah, only 1 percent of doctors supported the use of medical marijuana. But then in Pennsylvania, 96 percent of cancer doctors supported the use of medical marijuana in treatment.

Of those who voted in favor, they stated the view that those in the medical community are charged with alleviating suffering. They pointed out the known dangers of many prescription narcotics, and stated that medical marijuana is more widely supported by patients and, in their experience, provided marked benefits to those who suffered serious illness.

Another study commissioned in 2014 by Web MD asked 1,500 doctors their views on marijuana as having legitimate therapeutic benefits. More than 80 percent said that it did and 67 percent said it should be a legal, accessible therapeutic option for patients. The doctors in the state study hailed from a dozen different specialties.

Some doctors report changing their positions in recent years amid growing evidence following California’s legalization of medical marijuana that the drug actually works. For example, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, chief medical correspondent for CNN, penned an article in 2013 titled, “Why I Changed My Mind on Weed.” He used to be staunchly against marijuana as medicine because he believed, among other things, that the Drug Enforcement Administration had listed the substance as a Schedule I narcotic for good reason, based on solid scientific proof. But as it turns out, the science behind the claim that the drug has no accepted medicinal purpose (the threshold for a Schedule I) was not sound.

The Los Angeles CANNABIS LAW Group represents growers, dispensaries, collectives, patients and those facing marijuana charges. Call us at 949-375-4734.

Additional Resources:

Survey: Pediatric Oncology Providers Favor Cannabis for Pediatric Treatment, June 7, 2016, By Paul Armentano, NORML/ The Daily Chronic

More Blog Entries:

AAA: Per Se Limits for Marijuana DUI Not Scientific, June 10, 2016, L.A. Marijuana Lawyer Blog