slimvictor
Bluelight Crew
Los Angeles Marijuana Sellers Limited
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/us/27pot.html
LOS ANGELES — The City Council approved an ordinance on Tuesday 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.
The vote is a major setback for backers of medical marijuana and a victory for community groups that have long complained about the proliferation of the dispensaries near residential neighborhoods, schools and parks. Los Angeles has more of the outlets than any other city in the dozen or so states that allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes.
“These are out of control,” Councilman Ed Reyes, chairman of the Council’s planning and land-use management committee, who oversaw the writing of the ordinance, said in an interview at City Hall. “Our city has more of these than Starbuckses.”
California voters approved the use of marijuana for medical purposes in 1996, and cities have since struggled with how best to regulate its distribution. Under the law, individuals and cooperatives were permitted to cultivate marijuana for medical use. Dispensaries selling marijuana, often for profit, quickly popped up around the state.
While many cities moved to restrict the number and locations of the legal outposts, Los Angeles imposed a moratorium about two years ago while the City Council studied the issue. But hundreds of dispensaries continued to operate, flouting the ban.
The ordinance requires the signature of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, as well as a Council vote on dispensary fees, to cover the city’s cost of monitoring.
Late Tuesday, a mayoral spokeswoman, Sarah Hamilton, said that although the measure “isn’t perfect,” Mr. Villaraigosa would sign it “because it puts the safety of our communities first.”
“It’s time to focus our attention on other pressing issues facing our city,” Ms. Hamilton said.
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, but its language suggests that even fewer will be permitted if there is not ample space under the new parameters to accommodate them.
It limits hours of operation to 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., imposes several regulatory requirements and limits each patient to one dispensary.
The issue had seemed destined for more years of consideration by the Council until the newly elected city attorney, Carmen Trutanich, began to push last year for regulation.
“We have been consistent in the message,” said Jane Usher, special assistant city attorney for Mr. Trutanich, who has been inserting himself aggressively on various high-profile fronts. “That is, that with a local ordinance, we would be able to regulate and enforce this in a way that we were not able to do previously.”
In a crowded, vaguely patchouli-oil scented Council chamber, advocates for medical marijuana peppered Council members with threats of lawsuits and election challenges. Others, far fewer in number, raised concerns about the growth of the dispensaries. Calling the 13 dispensaries in 3.5 square miles in Studio City “unbelievable,” Lisa Sarkin, a board member of the neighborhood council there, angrily asked, “How and when will the ordinance be enforced?”
While the use and sale of medical marijuana have enjoyed general support throughout the city and among lawmakers, the proliferation of dispensaries in recent years has tried the patience of even the most liberal groups.
“I’ve seen enough people come into my committee, and you can see they are hurting,” Mr. Reyes said. “So this is very difficult. But it takes eight votes to pass a law, and in this case you have a new city attorney as well as term limits and a good number of us are looking at our future with this vote. I have to be blunt.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/us/27pot.html
LOS ANGELES — The City Council approved an ordinance on Tuesday 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.
The vote is a major setback for backers of medical marijuana and a victory for community groups that have long complained about the proliferation of the dispensaries near residential neighborhoods, schools and parks. Los Angeles has more of the outlets than any other city in the dozen or so states that allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes.
“These are out of control,” Councilman Ed Reyes, chairman of the Council’s planning and land-use management committee, who oversaw the writing of the ordinance, said in an interview at City Hall. “Our city has more of these than Starbuckses.”
California voters approved the use of marijuana for medical purposes in 1996, and cities have since struggled with how best to regulate its distribution. Under the law, individuals and cooperatives were permitted to cultivate marijuana for medical use. Dispensaries selling marijuana, often for profit, quickly popped up around the state.
While many cities moved to restrict the number and locations of the legal outposts, Los Angeles imposed a moratorium about two years ago while the City Council studied the issue. But hundreds of dispensaries continued to operate, flouting the ban.
The ordinance requires the signature of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, as well as a Council vote on dispensary fees, to cover the city’s cost of monitoring.
Late Tuesday, a mayoral spokeswoman, Sarah Hamilton, said that although the measure “isn’t perfect,” Mr. Villaraigosa would sign it “because it puts the safety of our communities first.”
“It’s time to focus our attention on other pressing issues facing our city,” Ms. Hamilton said.
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, but its language suggests that even fewer will be permitted if there is not ample space under the new parameters to accommodate them.
It limits hours of operation to 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., imposes several regulatory requirements and limits each patient to one dispensary.
The issue had seemed destined for more years of consideration by the Council until the newly elected city attorney, Carmen Trutanich, began to push last year for regulation.
“We have been consistent in the message,” said Jane Usher, special assistant city attorney for Mr. Trutanich, who has been inserting himself aggressively on various high-profile fronts. “That is, that with a local ordinance, we would be able to regulate and enforce this in a way that we were not able to do previously.”
In a crowded, vaguely patchouli-oil scented Council chamber, advocates for medical marijuana peppered Council members with threats of lawsuits and election challenges. Others, far fewer in number, raised concerns about the growth of the dispensaries. Calling the 13 dispensaries in 3.5 square miles in Studio City “unbelievable,” Lisa Sarkin, a board member of the neighborhood council there, angrily asked, “How and when will the ordinance be enforced?”
While the use and sale of medical marijuana have enjoyed general support throughout the city and among lawmakers, the proliferation of dispensaries in recent years has tried the patience of even the most liberal groups.
“I’ve seen enough people come into my committee, and you can see they are hurting,” Mr. Reyes said. “So this is very difficult. But it takes eight votes to pass a law, and in this case you have a new city attorney as well as term limits and a good number of us are looking at our future with this vote. I have to be blunt.”
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