marijuana - Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo

Shooting at Marijuana Dispensary

Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:10:00 GMT

Photo by mares8 via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr

Los Angeles detectives are investigating another shooting at a marijuana dispensary. In Northridge this past weekend $11,000.00 was stolen from a dispensary, and an employee was shot in the face. He was taken to the hospital and was in critical condition according to a Los Angeles Times’ article. Days before on Thursday, June 24 two stores in L.A. were held up. In Echo Park two employees were shot, one of them died. Another pot dispensary in Hollywood was also robbed; multiple robbers entered and killed one person during the incident. This activity has concerned officials but they have not established a connection between the three robberies. See, Penal Code Sections 211, 245(a) (1) and 187.

Medical Marijuana: Should Its Distribution Be Stopped?

Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 03:51:00 GMT

According to The Orange County Register, the Los Angeles City Attorney is trying to legally force three dispensaries to stop selling marijuana for medical purposes. Specifically, the city prosecutor’s office is trying to get injunctions to force Organica and two Holistic Caregivers stores to stop all their over-the-counter sales. The City Attorney states that the law only authorizes “collectives” to grow marijuana and recover their costs, not to sell it.

Americans for Safe Access, an organization that supports medical marijuana, has repeatedly assisted these dispensaries in their legal battles against the City Attorney. Joe Elford, chief counsel for the organization stated that “the city attorney’s legal arguments are horribly flawed and have no basis in law.” He also accused the City Attorney and the District Attorney of taking action before the dispensaries even had time to comply with the city’s ordinance. Chief Deputy City Attorney, William Carter said that they are simply “enforcing the existing local and state laws as [they’ve] been doing for a long time” and therefore will not withdraw these lawsuits.

Return of Property

Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 04:27:00 GMT

Kris Jones was arrested just one day before his birthday in Huntington Beach, Orange County. During his arrest $700 was taken from him, which included birthday money from his family. Huntington Beach police arrested Jones on suspicion of: selling marijuana and possession of a controlled substance with the intent to sell(Health and Safety Code Sections 11351, 11378). Jones later pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to serve three years of probation in addition to 90 days in jail.

Jones has now filed a claim against the city of Huntington Beach asking for the return of the $700 which was confiscated by police on the date of his arrest. Jones will soon go before a judge who will determine whether the money will be given back or not. Money that is part of evidence of the crime is unfortunately never returned and rather– permanently confiscated. Thus, it’s in one’s interest to have a criminal defense attorney prepare a written motion for the return of property and make an articulate argument in court to have a successful outcome in court.

California Voters to Have Final Word on Pot Dispensaries

Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 00:33:00 GMT

The discussion regarding legalizing marijuana and dispensaries in LA County continues to be in the spotlight. With the number of dispensaries growing in the county the debate of the impact of such establishments on the community is growing as well. There is the side that argues marijuana proves to be useful for managing medical conditions that involve pain. It has also been suggested that there is a significant amount of revenue the state could gain from legalizing pot (as well as a way to address the state fiscal crisis while not raising taxes). With more then four thousand signatures currently, a petition has been circling in order to add the issue to the November 2010 ballot. Federal policy has shifted for certain aspects of possession of a limited amount of marijuana, refocusing efforts on other fronts of the illegal drug trade instead. California voters could vote to allow local authorities like cities and counties to draft their own laws regarding medicinal marijuana. (See Health and Safety Code Section 11357(a, b), [H&S 11357(a), (b), Health and Safety Code Section 11358, [H&S 11358], Health and Safety Code Section 11360(a, b), [H&S 11360].

Here is KCAL9 News reporting recently on the Los Angeles City Council’s decision to delay a medical marijuana dispensary vote until January 2010.

Federal Law Does Not Allow Marijuana to Be Sold or Used for Medical Purposes

Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:55:00 GMT

As reported by the Associated Press, Deputy Attorney General David Ogden released a policy memo that outlines suggestions for state attorneys regarding prosecution of medical marijuana users and distributors. Federal law does not allow marijuana to be sold or used for medical purposes even though various states do, California among them. The memo suggests that state prosecutors would make better use of their time by not focusing on prosecuting legitimate marijuana patients or the dispensaries in states that have legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes. This memo was also distributed to the higher rungs of the Drug Enforcement Agency and FBI.

This policy does not prohibit federal agents from making arrests nor does it stop prosecutors from filing charges. The memo draws attention to illegal usage and distribution, or marijuana cases connected to other violations such as money laundering or illegally armed people. One reason for the shifting focus is because of the limited resources the federal agencies have. The article quotes Attorney General Eric Holder “[i]t will not be a priority to use federal resources to prosecute patients with serious illnesses or their caregivers who are complying with state laws on medical marijuana…”. It would appear then that medical marijuana users and providers in California will be less likely to face prosecution from federal authorities. (See California Health and Safety Code Section 11357(b)). Criminal Law Updates from the Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo (714) 547-4636.