First Batch of Marijuana Hardship Exemptions Headed to Council on Tuesday
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — City Council will begin the process of reigning in the proliferation of medical marijuana dispensaries on Tuesday when it considers the first dozen of roughly 500 applications that have been filed since a 2007 ordinance forbidding new facilities.
One of those dispensaries whose Hardship Exemption will be considered Tuesday is The Vapor Room, which claims to be in the Arts District.
City ordinance 179027, which went into effect in the fall of 2007, prohibits new marijuana dispensaries from opening in the city of Los Angeles. It was intended to allow the city time to craft rules to govern the facilities, which multiplied after the 1996 passage of SB 215 (The Compassionate Use Act).
Included in the ordinance was a hardship exemption, which allows the City Council to "grant an exemption from the provisions of this ordinance in cases of hardship duly established to the satisfaction of the City Council." That language could also be struck from the ordinance by Council on Tuesday.
The Vapor Room filed its hardship application on -- appropriately enough -- April 20, 2008. The application listed the facility's owner as Dylan Williams. When blogdowntown tried to contact Williams this afternoon at the number listed on the application, a message said that it was disconnected.
The application said that the facility was already in use as a dispensary, and that the "applicant just became aware of [the] need for registration with [the] city."
Williams also blamed city and federal rules for the lack of an earlier application.
Applicant claims that city failed to properly post and notify him of requirement. Applicant also hesitated filing due to fear of DEA use of registration information.
If the city declines the hardship exemption applications, it can then initiate enforcement proceedings against the use.
Update (6:10pm): The first version of this story listed The Vapor Room's address at 305 S. Hewitt, the address listed on the application. In the comments, Bedlam's Jonathan Jerald states that the address is not correct, and that there has not been a dispensary operating at that location.
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AB390 on June 08, 2009, at 05:26PM – #1
Why shouldn't adults be allowed to make their own decisions when it comes to marijuana?
If you want marijuana to be legalized, taxed, and regulated for adults, YOU can make it happen. Tell your legislators to support California Assembly Bill 390. It's easy. Visit yes390.org
Jonathan Jerald on June 08, 2009, at 05:41PM – #2
305 S. Hewitt is not now and never has been the address of a medical marijuana dispensary, nor is there a "Vapor Room" at that or any adjacent or nearby address. It is the business address of Bedlam Enterprises, LLC, which has held the lease on that address since two months before that address was publicly posted on the City Clerk's website as that of "The Vapor Room." Apparently Dylan Williams identified 305 S. Hewitt as the address of an existing marijuana dispensary when he filed for a hardship extension in June of 2007. In fact, that was simply not true.
As a consequence of the public posting of our business address as that of a marijuana dispensary we have been visited by people seeking to buy marijuana, "surveyed" by a security team from Central City East Association and made a possible target of criminal activity, not to mention possibly attracting the unwarranted and unwanted attention of various law enforcement agencies. That posting is now aggravated by this ill-informed blog. Clearly, blogdowntown did nothing to confirm this address as that of "The Vapor Room" before writing this piece, This is irresponsible journalism at it shoddiest, laziest level.
End the Prohibition on June 09, 2009, at 02:38AM – #3
Obviously there is great public demand for marijuana or all of these dispensaries wouldn't be able to compete with each other. Where do you think this demand is going to go when the dispensaries are closed? Back on the street of course!
After seventy years of prohibition we still have 15 million regular marijuana users, and a further 100 million people acknowledge that they have obtained and consumed marijuana during the time of the prohibition. The prohibition does NOT reduce the use of marijuana, it just makes drug dealers and the Mexican cartels very very rich!
Every day the cartels murder an average of 17 people in order to protect the billions they receive from selling drugs into the U.S. The ONDCP estimates that 60 - 70% of this money comes directly from marijuana sales. When we legalize the production and sale of marijuana to adults we'll bankrupt the cartels and there will be NOTHING that they'll be able to do about it!
The dispensaries are hurting the cartels. Closing them is insane! We need to encourage them into our communities, allow them to compete against each other and allow them to sell to every adult, regardless of medical condition.
We need to starve the cartels of their very lifeblood and force the drug dealers off our streets and out of our schools. The dispensaries are the only thing that can do this. The prohibition, the police, border security - all these have failed. The only thing that can end the cartel murders is legalizing the production and sale of marijuana to adults!
Your legislators are waiting to hear from you on this issue. Tell them to end the prohibition!
Budorman on June 22, 2009, at 10:55AM – #4
keep the city and state solvent buy marijuana at a licensed dispensary the money will go back to society if we have the stores many many stores