'This Is Not the End of Speed Weed in Los Angeles'

Editor's Note: The following is a Letter to the Editor from Speed Weed CEO AJ Gentile in response to the Patch article "Marijuana Home Delivery to End in LA this Month" about the company's agreement with the City of Los Angeles to halt delivery of marijuana inside the city limits at the end of the month.

On Friday 13, 2016, the LA City Attorney's office issued a statement that “SpeedWeed has ceased operations” because we are allegedly in violation of zoning ordinance Measure D (“Proposition D”). SpeedWeed is presently open and fully operational. We have been working with the City Attorney on a “wind down” period to pause operations within the City Limits. Because of the City-imposed injunction, we are forced to put 40 good people out of work. With a heavy heart, we requested time to give our employees the chance to make new arrangements for work and do what is best for their families and to insure safe access for our members. The City agreed.

SpeedWeed continues to operate and expand. This is not the end of SpeedWeed in the City of Los Angeles. This is only the first chapter. We intend to have our day in court. Win or lose, it is important that a judge, jury and the Los Angeles voters understand the insidious way Proposition D was drafted, passed and enforced. LA citizens are unaware of the unintended consequences of this unjust, obscure and very dangerous zoning rule.

LA City Attorney Mike Feuer has publicly stated he believes individuals have the right to safe access but Proposition D, the “will of the voters,” was passed “overwhelmingly” and he must enforce that ordinance. The ordinance, that passed in 2013 with very low voter turnout and very little voter education, puts the entire LA cannabis industry into the hands of a few brick-and-mortar dispensaries and prevents any new business from entry. In the industry, these dispensaries are known as “The Marijuana Monopoly.” As interpreted by the City Attorney, Prop D bans home delivery in the City of Los Angeles under all circumstances, including to thousands of blind, elderly, disabled, and homebound patients who rely on medical marijuana delivery services such as SpeedWeed.

SpeedWeed had been operating successfully for years before the passage of “Prop D.” Its passage predates Mr. Feuer's election so we give him the benefit of the doubt when his statements portray this rule as widely supported voter mandate. Furthermore, Prop D is inconsistent with a number of state laws including the newly passed Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act (MMRSA). Mr. Feuer is misinterpreting the true will of the voters, and he is unaware of the destructive consequences of this broadly applied ordinance.

We work closely with the California State Assembly and the California BOE. We have excellent relationships with many cities throughout California; including several in Los Angeles County. SpeedWeed's Code of Conduct is the industry standard on how to run a cannabis business safely and legally. Officials throughout California frequently ask us why LA continues to damage the cannabis industry: an industry so fragile, but so important to the future financial health of California. The answer is politics and money.
We are reaching out to Mr. Feuer in the hopes that we can form an amicable and productive relationship. We are willing and able to help him and LA City Council solve the “Prop D Problem.” Mr. Feuer has a responsibility to learn how Proposition D negatively affected hundreds of thousands of LA citizens. He must decide if he supports privacy rights, patient rights, and a safer Los Angeles. Or he must support the City Council and Prop D which puts all cannabis dollars in the hands of a very few, violates our personal and medical privacy, fuels the underground economy and makes the city a more dangerous place.

We hope Mr. Feuer will allow us to present our irrefutable evidence that with SpeedWeed in business, Los Angeles is a safer, freer place.
In future statements, we will detail the politics surrounding the writing, passing and enforcement of Prop D including the strange way our individual case has been conducted. First, we offer friendship and guidance to LA City Attorney Mike Feuer. Voters, industry leaders, elected officials and state agencies throughout California support SpeedWeed in our lawsuit with the city. SpeedWeed is not the problem. We hope Mr. Feuer will recognize this and accept our offer to help the City bring its cannabis laws in line with the true will of the voters. Proposition D will eventually be amended, repealed or replaced. But why wait? If the City and SpeedWeed work together, Los Angeles can lead the state instead of continuing to lag behind.

- Speed Weed CEO AJ Gentile