The city of Lake Forest has filed lawsuits against two medical marijuana dispensaries that recently opened shop there, according to an item posted yesterday by ex-Weekly staffer and current Patch editor Spencer Kornhaber, on his brand new website for Lake Forest.
Kornhaber contacted both of the clubs cited in the lawsuit, Pharmer's Choice Collective and Lake Forest Discount Caregivers; they said they weren't aware of the lawsuit and had no comment. They might be too busy packing up and fleeing for the closest foreign border. Either way, the fact that they're being sued is hardly a surprise given that last year, city officials sued 14 clubs operating in the city, charging them with violating the city's municipal code.
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In April of this year, Mission Viejo attorney Matthew Pappas filed a federal lawsuit hoping to block the city from enforcing a ban on cannabis clubs, but a judge tossed the case out of court. If that wasn't warning enough to anyone considering opening a new dispensary in Lake Forest, just consider the case of Mark Moen of the now-defunct dispensary Agenda 215. Moen apparently first came to the
attention of prosecutors thanks to his ads in the Weekly offering “free
marijuana” to first time customers. He now faces 40 years in prison.
Award-winning investigative journalist Nick Schou is Editor of OC Weekly. He is the author of Kill the Messenger: How the CIA’s Crack Cocaine Controversy Destroyed Journalist Gary Webb (Nation Books 2006), which provided the basis for the 2014 Focus Features release starring Jeremy Renner and the L.A. Times-bestseller Orange Sunshine: The Brotherhood of Eternal Love’s Quest to bring Peace, Love and Acid to the World, (Thomas Dunne 2009). He is also the author of The Weed Runners (2013) and Spooked: How the CIA Manipulates the Media and Hoodwinks Hollywood (2016).