Medical marijuana advocates in Los Angeles appear to have overreached themselves, angering the City Council by establishing more than a thousand medical marijuana dispensaries in commercial and residential neighborhoods around the city.
According to a report by Jennifer Steinhauer in the New York Times, a board member for the neighborhood council in Studio City called the 13 dispensaries in her 3.5 square miles-neighborhood “unbelievable.”
The City Council struck back hard on Tuesday, passing a city ordinance that would “shutter the majority of the nearly 1,000 medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles and make the use of marijuana in the remaining outlets illegal,” according to the New York Times article. Claiming that Los Angeles now had more marijuana dispensaries than Starbucks outlets, Councilman Ed Reyes, chairman of the planning and land-use management committee, called the situation “out of control.”
Two years ago, Los Angeles imposed a moratorium on the establishment of new dispensaries, pending further study. But medical marijuana advocates flouted the temporary ban with impunity. According to the article, “The measure, which passed on a 9-to-3 vote, imposes strict rules on the location of the dispensaries — essentially moving them to more densely industrial zones — and restricts their hours. The ordinance, which city officials acknowledge would be difficult to enforce, will limit the number of dispensaries to 70….”
According to the Los Angeles Times : “In a 9-3 vote, the Los Angeles City Council today gave its final approval to an ordinance that will shut down hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries and impose strict rules on the location and operation of the dispensaries that are allowed. The ordinance, which the council first began discussing more than 4 1/2 years ago, will cap the number of dispensaries at 70 but make an exception to allow all those that registered with the city in 2007 and have remained open. City officials believe that number is around 150.”
Photo Credit: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2010085782_lapot18.html
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