Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer proclaimed on April 9 that 503 illegal medical marijuana dispensaries have been shut down since he took office in July 2013.

Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer on April 9 discussed his efforts to close illegal medical marijuana dispensaries. He was joined by prosecutors and law enforcement officials. (photo by Edwin Folven)

Dozens of the illegal dispensaries were located in the Hollywood and Wilshire areas. Twenty-nine illegal dispensaries have closed in Hollywood during the past two years, and 13 dispensaries have been forced to close in the Melrose/Fairfax community, according to statistics provided by Feuer’s office.

Feuer said although the number of closures is significant, there is more work to be done. He estimated that there are still a few hundred illegal dispensaries operating in Los Angeles, and he emphasized that closing them will require a team effort involving his office, the police department and members of the community.

Feuer vowed to continue enforcing regulations created under Prop. D, a law approved by voters in 2013 regulating medical marijuana dispensaries. He encouraged anyone who knows about a dispensary operating illegally to notify prosecutors by emailing atty.medicalmarijuana@lacity.org.

“There were too many dispensaries, they were too close together and they were too close schools and sensitive sites,” Feuer said. “We’ve been making remarkable strides since [Prop. D was approved by voters]. We have succeeded in closing more than 500 illegal medical marijuana businesses in the city of Los Angeles. In addition, we have filed 245 criminal cases against 1,000 defendants.”

Operators of hundreds of illegal dispensaries have been identified and warned to close, and in situations in which they were non-compliant, Feuer said his office has filed lawsuits to force closures.

He added that landlords who rent to dispensaries have also been targeted and notified that they face fines and potential property seizures if they allow an illegal dispensary to continue operating on their property.

Feuer said he has also targeted medical marijuana delivery services — which are all illegal under Prop. D — including the creator of an app that facilitated the delivery of medical marijuana. Additionally, he said he successfully shut down a medical marijuana “farmers’ market” that had begun operation in Boyle Heights.

Prop. D allows a limited number of dispensaries that had filed with the city prior to a 2007 moratorium to potentially qualify for immunity from prosecution. Feuer said approximately 125 such dispensaries are currently open in Los Angeles.

He stressed, however, that Prop. D does not legalize dispensaries, and those that potentially qualify for immunity must comply with regulations such as being 1,000 feet away from schools, parks, libraries, community centers and other “sensitive” locations.

“There is lots of activity on multiple fronts,” Feuer added. “When Prop. D was passed, I was asked immediately upon being elected if I thought it would withstand judicial scrutiny because there were many challenges to Proposition D contemplated, and again and again and again those challenges have been brought [against] the lawfulness of the action the voters put in place. In each and every instance, dozens of times, we succeeded in fending off those challenges, and continue to enforce Proposition D.”

Los Angeles Police Department Cmdr. Andrew Smith added that illegal dispensaries continue to be a priority for law enforcement. Patrol officers routinely look for new dispensaries that are opening, and forward the information to investigators to initiate enforcement.

“They are not hard to spot,” Smith said. “Our gang and narcotics division officers are in charge of checking out the locations. They check with the city attorney’s office to see if they are legal, and if not, we will take the steps to close them down.”