San Diego Criminal Lawyers Blog
In the last few months, San Diego city officials have been cracking down on illegal marijuana dispensaries that are operating without permits. Back in March, city officials shut down nearly 20 dispensaries operating without permits. These 20 were all shut down within 60 days of each other. Several months later, city officials claim that these shut-downs have been successful. As of July, there were 15 dispensaries that were in the process of being shut down by the city. This number has decreased from the 69 dispensaries that were shut down in 2014.
Medical Marijuana
Medical marijuana was legalized by California voters via Proposition 215 (aka ” CA Compassionate Use Act” back in 1996 and later codified in the CA Health and Safety code § 11362.5. In 2004, Senate Bill 420 (aka “Medical Marijuana Program Act”) built upon the Compassionate Use Act, allowing for qualifying patients (ie. diagnosed with cancer, anorexia, arthritis, etc) to obtain a medical marijuana card as part of the California Dept. of Public Health’s Medical Marijuana Identification Card (MMIC) program to possess marijuana. This means if you are a MMIC card holder, you are legally entitled to possessing the amount of marijuana that is reasonably related to your prescribed medical use.