Our Corona medical marijuana criminal defense attorneys know medical marijuana can be legally confusing. Even though state law allows marijuana to be sold and possessed for medical purposes, federal law bans it. As the Orange County Register pointed out March 9, the situation is further confused by ordinances in several OC cities banning dispensaries that provide the drug to more than one person. In Santa Ana, for example, the law allows qualified patients to possess marijuana, and allows hospitals and hospices to provide it, but does not allow storefront-type dispensaries. It was unclear what the city's objection was, but it has recently notified at least 29 suspected dispensaries operating within city limits that they are under criminal investigation.
Medical marijuana dispensary owners simply cannot get a permit from cities with this type of ban, which also include Anaheim, Yorba Linda and San Clemente. That's true even if they already have a state permit and collect sales taxes for the state. A lawsuit seeking to overturn the Anaheim law is on appeal, but in the meantime, some dispensaries are simply operating without a permit. Others have obtained city permits by lying about the nature of their business. And at least one, SoCal Compassion, has moved to an unincorporated part of the county. If a city with a ban successfully raids a medical marijuana dispensary, the owners face a fine and a complete shutdown of their business. They may also face criminal prosecution if law enforcement believes they have violated state medical marijuana laws.
As Placentia medical marijuana criminal defense lawyers, we are disappointed with these bans. Medical marijuana dispensaries are operating successfully and peacefully throughout California, and we have yet to see any evidence that they attract abnormal amounts of crime. However, it is undisputed that dispensaries pay state sales taxes and provide a service to people with valid medical marijuana prescriptions. Operating a business without a license is clearly not legal, but in this case, it's an understandable outgrowth of the untenable situation many dispensaries have been put into. We do not believe owners of law-abiding, legitimate medical marijuana dispensaries should be forced into a legal corner by anti-marijuana prejudices, and we certainly do not think they should be criminally prosecuted if they have followed state law.
Howard Law, P.C. defends law-abiding medical marijuana dispensaries, cooperatives, collectives and patients who are being unfairly prosecuted despite following state law. Our Downey medical marijuana defense attorneys have seen cases where a law-abiding business or individual has gotten into trouble because of an honest mistake. In other cases, there was no mistake -- the authorities simply didn't like the idea of medical marijuana being openly sold. However, even politicians and police officers have to follow the law, and medical marijuana is legal in the state of California. That means we can robustly defend clients who are wrongly accused, sometimes getting charges thrown out or prosecutors to never file them in the first place. In other cases, we can convince a judge that a single mistake shouldn't result in a conviction and stigma as a "drug criminal."
If you're accused of selling, possessing or transporting marijuana that was always medical in nature, you should call Howard Law, P.C. right away. To set up a free, confidential case evaluation, please send us an email or call 1-800-872-5925 today.
