Preliminary injunction bars Venice-area dispensary from selling medical marijuana

[Payaso]

Los Angeles County Superior Court judge James C. Chalfant has issued an order to keep Organica from selling medical marijuana. This judge has the misguided impression that it is illegal to sell medical cannabis in California, despite Prop 215.

In a second ruling against a medical marijuana dispensary, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday that bars a popular Venice-area outlet from selling or distributing the drug at its sprawling store on Washington Boulevard.

The decision by Judge James C. Chalfant could embolden city prosecutors to seek more court orders to close dispensaries as they try to find the most efficient way to reduce the number in Los Angeles. As he did in a previous case, Chalfant concluded that the state's medical marijuana laws do not allow collectives to sell cannabis.

Chalfant's decisions are preliminary orders and both cases are slated to go to trial. But his rulings against Hemp Factory V in Eagle Rock and Organica, which straddles the Los Angeles-Culver City line, could eventually force the courts to settle the issue, which has become increasingly contentious as prosecutors in Southern California step up efforts to halt such sales.

Most, if not all, collectives sell marijuana to their members for set prices.

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