Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley says he will prosecute medi-pot dispensary owners and employees who he says are violating state law by selling pot for profit.
Cooley told the Los Angeles Times earlier this month that the state’s medi-mari law does not allow for the sale of pot; pot can be distributed to patients by collectives but not for remuneration. The L.A. city council has been working on an ordinance to regulate dispensaries, but Cooley said he will prosecute regardless of what city officials decide to do. “The L.A. City Council should be collectively ashamed of their failure to grasp this issue,” Cooley told the daily. “Undermining [state law] via their ordinance powers is counterproductive, and quite frankly we’re ignoring them.” Indeed, Cooley said he’ll be stepping up pot-related prosecutions starting in December. “It’s a target-rich environment,” he said.
Meanwhile, this month in Colorado Republican state Attorney General John Suthers has advised Gov. Bill Ritter that the state can collect taxes from pot sales at medi-mari dispensaries there. As a result, Ritter’s staff told the Denver Post that they will tell dispensary owners to obtain retail licenses and begin collecting taxes immediately. Notably, however, Suthers told the daily that his opinion did not address whether the sale of pot is legal under the Colorado medi-pot law, only whether sales of the drug are taxable. Since the law provides that even illegal drugs are taxable, the pot sold in the state’s dispensaries should be as well, he said. “I think it’s most likely that it’s the legislature that is going to clarify the standing of dispensaries,” he said.
This article appears in November 27 • 2009.