L.A. County charges medical marijuana distributor with 24 felonies

More than four months ago, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley warned that state law does not allow dispensaries to sell medical marijuana and zeroed in on Organica, a popular Venice-area outlet, as one possible target.

On Monday, Cooley delivered on that promise.
Jeff Joseph, Organica's operator, was charged with 24 felonies, including selling, transporting and possessing marijuana, and a court commissioner set bail at $520,000, more than five times the amount his lawyer requested. Joseph pleaded not guilty.

Calling the bail "outrageous," attorney Eric Shevin said the prosecution was "politically driven" in response to community pressure to shut down hundreds of dispensaries that have spread throughout Los Angeles. "So they use a very high-profile individual, unfortunately in this case, Mr. Joseph, to basically stand up for everybody," he said.

Joseph Esposito, who heads the district attorney's major narcotics division, said Organica's operator was not singled out. "There have been dozens of cases that the office has filed," he said. "We're going to evaluate every case differently."

Joseph's case, which was intensely investigated by police and federal agents, has the potential to test whether state law permits dispensaries to sell marijuana.