LA City Attorney Orders Pot Shop Closure By Sept. 6
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The Los Angeles City Attorney Wednesday ordered more than 1,000 medical marijuana clinics to shut down in three weeks or pay a price.
The City Attorney's office sent out warning letters, which advised every pot shop in the city to close by Sept. 6 or face a daily fine of $2,500 and prosecution.
The city's medical marijuana dispensary initiative is commonly referred to as the "Huizar ban."
It's the city's way of shutting down pot shops while leaving medical marijuana as legal. Patients can still grow it, which is a joke to pot shop owners such as Sam Humeid.
"They have the legal right to grow their own. Can they actually do it on their own? It's next to impossible," said the Perennial Holistic owner. "That leaves thousands of people going to the streets, going to their local whoever, their drug dealers, to get their medication."
One dispensary owner called Councilman Jose Huizar a proponent for drug dealers, as the ban will shut down their competition.
A Huizar spokesperson said that's a laughable claim as many dispensaries are buying from dealers themselves.
Humeid said the city council is trying to do the right thing, but hopes they make the right move for the people who really need the clinics.
The city said they can't regulate the industry, so the clinics have to shut down.
