“In that regard, I am deeply concerned that in the nine years since we passed SB 420, certain
people have evidently been advocating a marked misinterpretation of the language resulting from
our Task Force and enacted into law via my SB 420 – with regard to whether “making a profit”
is somehow not permitted for medical cannabis providers under state law.
It was certainly true that one side wanted to outlaw any profit-making, while the other side did
not and would not. So right there and then – in order not to lose our coherence as a working
team hoping for a broadly supported result and to hold our coalition together ~ we took the
openly deliberated, fully appreciated compromise way out: We catered to neither side on this
issue. Instead the Task Force crafted the language that appears in Health and Safety Code
section 1 1362.765(a) as follows: “. . . nor shall anything in this section authorize any individual
or group to cultivate or distribute marijuana for profit.”
It was so carefully crafted that neither side could claim victory. In effect that issue was entirely
left to whatever otherwise is the status of that issue in California law.
Although certain members of our Task Force did advocate for a prohibition on profit-making,
that position was firmly rejected by the Task Force hi favor of the above compromise language.
The language we fashioned means nothing more — nor less — than what it explicitly says.
Nothing in that section prohibits profit. Nothing in that section explicitly authorizes profit,
either. But I must point out that nobody is required to obtain an “authorization” from the
Legislature to make a profit in California.”

Former State Senator Says Los Angeles Medical Marijuana Should Be For-Profit
February 13, 2012

Posted In: California Marijuana Dispensaries , Los Angeles Marijuana Dispensaries , Medical Marijuana in California
By Cannabis Law Group on February 13, 2012 2:41 PM | Permalink

A former state senator who was instrumental in writing the 2003 SB 420 that defined how Los Angeles medical marijuana would be cultivated and dispensed now says it was never meant to be a non-profit venture.

Former State Sen. John Vasconcellos recently wrote a letter stating that lawmakers never intended for the medical marijuana industry to be stuck in a place where they couldn’t make money. The debate over medical marijuana is one in which many different interest groups have become involved, and among the major points by those opposed to the movement is that the industry shouldn’t be for-profit.
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As pointed out in the letter, however, the legislative intent was not that medical marijuana dispensaries and collectives be restricted in this way. Los Angeles medical marijuana attorneys don’t think it makes sense to create an industry and then not allow businesses to make a profit.