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LA seeks to shut down Boyle Heights marijuana farmers market
Touré Sudan of Gravity Massive and Tiger Foods prepares samples of cannabis-infused edible treats at the California Heritage Market, the first-ever medical marijuana farmers market in Boyle Heights.
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Benjamin Brayfield/KPCC
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Medicinal marijuana patients wait in line to enter the California Heritage Market, the first-ever cannabis farmers market. Some people waited more than two hours to enter the event. People with severe disabilities were ushered to the front of the line.
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Benjamin Brayfield/KPCC
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Chris Agathakis, left, and T. Sand of Adams Apples dispensary sell medical marijuana to patients during the cannabis farmers market at the California Heritage Market. Organizers hope to host the event every weekend, similar to a farmers market for fruit and vegetable produce.
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Benjamin Brayfield/KPCC
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Mike Slan smells a jar of medical marijuana at the California Heritage Market. He moved back to California to grow medical cannabis, he said. The pot farmers market helped him connect with patients directly.
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Benjamin Brayfield/KPCC
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Jamie Hale talks to a patient about growing cannabis during the pot farmers market at the California Heritage Market in Boyle Heights. Hale and her partner, Andrea Kosinski, run Magic Dragon, a company that specializes in growing medicinal cannabis.
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Benjamin Brayfield/KPCC
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A marijuana farmers market that kicked off in Boyle Heights two weeks ago may prove to be short-lived.
Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer told KPCC he'll move to shut down the event on Tuesday by seeking a restraining order blocking its operation.
Feuer said the "so-called farmers market" violated Proposition D, the voter-approved ordinance that restricts the number of pot dispensaries allowed to operate in the city. He said the event also constitutes a nuisance to the residents of the neighborhood.
"It also fails, we allege, to comply with basic city land use laws," Feuer said. "And they couldn't get a permit if they tried. So for many reasons — from the violation of Prop D to the impact on the community to the failure to comply with city land use law — we allege that this isn't a use that should be allowed to continue and we're going to seek a court order to put a halt to it."
The three-day inaugural farmers market took place over July 4th weekend, bringing thousands to a warehouse in the 1500 block of Esperanza Street. Many were drawn to the promise of lower prices and direct-to-consumer sales. It featured about 25 vendors of marijuana products and paraphernalia and drew a line of attendees that stretched for blocks.
West Coast Collective, the East L.A. marijuana dispensary that organized the initial event, said he was "shocked and disappointed" with the city attorney's action.
Attorney David Welch told KPCC the market allowed growers to sell directly to the collective's patients, which he said reduced the prices for their customers.
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"It's clear that the voters wanted only 134 dispensaries to operate in the city," Welch said. "There's hundreds in the city today. Yet the city attorney is going to waste resources on one of the 134 that his own website [lists as being] allowed to operate."
"Until the judge decides that this is an improper way of operating, my clients have no intent of ceasing" to operate the farmers market, he said.
The market was for medical marijuana prescription holders only, and organizers verified the ID cards of visitors before issuing wristbands for entry.
This story has been updated.
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