An L.A. Superior Court Judge has temporarily halted operations at what is being called the city’s first marijuana farmers market which opened Fourth of July weekend in a Boyle Heights warehouse.
Los Angeles City Atty. Mike Feuer filed the order to stop the California Heritage Market operations because he said it didn’t comply with the city’s law for marijuana dispensaries.
The order restricts operators from setting up booths and advertising it. According to the city’s injunction, police and fire must be granted access to the site.
Voters passed Proposition D last year, which established parameters where marijuana dispensaries could do business.
Feuer says the judge’s ruling supports the spirit of Proposition D. “The court was very clear: There could be no multiple vendors selling at this site, only bona fide employees,” Feuer said.
Attorney David Welch, who represents the Progressive Horizon collective, says the argument doesn’t make sense. He says a farmers market is no different from a dispensary in that they both sell goods from a variety of vendors.
The market, held in a warehouse directly behind the West Coast Collective dispensary in an industrial zone in Boyle Heights, drew more than 1,000 people.
All types and forms of marijuana were for sale to medical marijuana patients.
A hearing is scheduled Aug. 6 to determine whether the farmers market will be permanently closed.
