The Los Angeles city council voted 14-0 to ban medical marijuana dispensaries in the city. This ban is scheduled to take effect in 30 days. All 762 dispensaries registered in the city will be sent letters ordering them to shut down immediately or face legal action from the city. Previously the city had to prove dispensaries were violating nuisance or land-use laws before they could force them to shut down.
Although the ban eliminates storefronts, which allegedly outnumber Starbuckscoffee shops in Los Angeles two to one, according to Councilman Paul Krekorian, it does, however, still allow patients and care-givers to grow medical marijuana. It also allows hospices and home health agencies to provide medical weed.
The issue was clouded when the council also voted to instruct city staff to draw up a separate ordinance that would allow dozens of dispensaries to stay open—granting immunity to shops existing prior to an ‘07 moratorium.
Anyhow this one’s far from over. There’s an upcoming ruling by the CA Supreme Court that should result in some clarity on whether cities can regulate and ban dispensaries in the state, but that’s pro’lly not going to happen for another year. In the meantime WTF?
