Confusion about marijuana sales traced to California law
Yamileth Bolanos helps a customer pick out a strain of medical cannabis at the PureLife Alternative Wellness Center in Los Angeles. Bolanos and other collective operators argue state law allows sales. But, she admits, "It's like the Bible, everybody reads it the way they want to." Credit: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times / December 24, 2009
Prosecutors in Los Angeles insist that collectives cannot sell medical marijuana at their stores and can provide it only to members who actively cultivate it together. Dispensary operators, on the other hand, argue that it is absurd to expect them to run Soviet-style collective farms and to rule out cash payments for pot.
When the Los Angeles City Council finishes its marijuana ordinance, which may finally happen this month, it is likely to inflame this increasingly contentious debate over how the drug can be distributed.
The conflict hinges on the state's 2003 medical marijuana law and almost entirely on a single sentence.
"The law's screwed up in a lot of ways. There's big gaping holes," said Yamileth Bolanos, who runs PureLife Alternative Wellness Center and is one of the city's most politically involved operators. "It's very confusing for everyone, even the prosecution and law enforcement. It's like the Bible, everybody reads it the way they want to."
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