LA Marijuana Dispensaries See 2 Killings on Same Day
Police are investigating two killings at pot shops in the Los Angeles area.
Police say they do not know whether the fatal shooting at the two medical marijuana dispensaries are connected, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Apparently, during a robbery attempt a medical marijuana dispensary one employee was killed. Police say the owner of another medical marijuana dispensary found the body of an employee. The motive of the second killing is unclear, officials said.
The shootings come as Los Angeles has begun regulating hundreds of marijuana clinics.
As previously discussed, pot shops are being told they must follow the city's new marijuana dispensary laws or face closure.
The City of Los Angeles is going after medical marijuana dispensaries it calls illegal and police are cracking down on clinics that are not in compliance with the marijuana dispensary laws.
Those medical marijuana dispensaries refusing to close in defiance of the new ordinance will be shut down or face possible civil fines or criminal charges.
City prosecutors released a list of 439 medical marijuana dispensaries that must close.
Shops that illegally sell medical marijuana in Los Angeles could face daily fines, a $1,000 penalty and six months in jail.
As previously discussed, the new ordinance caps the number of medical marijuana clinics in the city at 70. It also includes a 1,000 foot buffer zone from schools, parks and other public gathering spots.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley and other prosecutors have taken a hard-line stance that state law authorizes the possession, use and cultivation of marijuana for medicinal purposes, but not the sale of the drug.
He has targeted hundreds of medical pot shops that profit and sell to people who don't qualify for medical marijuana.
Related Resources:
- Police: Follow Marijuana Dispensary Laws or Face Closure (FindLaw's Blotter)
- LA Puts Medical Pot Shops on Notice (FindLaw's Blotter)
- LA City Council Approves Pot Ordinance to End Green Rush (FindLaw's Blotter)