Community | July 24, 2012 | 47 comments

L.A. City Council votes 14-0 to ban medical marijuana shops

source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/07/la-council-votes-on-pot-shops.html

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crabbyoldguy

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/07/la-council-votes-on-pot...

In the latest attempt to regulate what many say is an out-of-control proliferation of medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles, the City Counted voted 14-0 Tuesday to ban pot shops.

Under the ban, each of the 762 dispensaries that have registered with the city will be sent a letter ordering them to shut down immediately. Those that don’t comply may face legal action from the city.

Medical marijuana activists who had packed the council chambers jeered when the vote came down. More than a dozen Los Angeles Police Department officers were called in to quell them.

Under the ban, medical patients and their caregivers will be able to grow and share the drug in small groups of three people or less.

But the activists say most patients don’t have the time or skills to cultivate marijuana. One dispensary owner told the council that it would cost patients a minimum of $5,000 to grow marijuana at home.

In a seemingly contradictory move, the council also voted to instruct city staff to draw up an ordinance that would allow a group of about 170 dispensaries that registered with the city several years ago to remain open.
Councilman Jose Huizar, who voted against that motion, said it might give the public “false hope” that the ban wound not be enforced.

He said the ban would be enforced, especially against problem dispensaries that have drawn complaints from neighbors. “Relief is on its way,” he said.

But he acknowledged that the city may not have the resources to shut down every dispensary in the city.

Councilman Paul Koretz, who initially voted against the ban, and who supported the motion to allow the oldest dispensaries to stay open, said he hoped the city would come up with a more compassionate law in the future. “We have shut off almost every way that a normal person can get access to marijuana,” he said. “It will be a ban until otherwise noted,” he said.


http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/07/la-council-votes-on-pot-shops.html
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    Community,   News and Politics,   Politics,   Green,   4 more
  2. tags:
    Medical Marijuana,  failed war on drugs,  Ending drug prohibition
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47 comments // L.A. City Council votes 14-0 to ban medical marijuana shops

  • corndog67
    • -3
      corndog67  

    • Knock off the "medical" bullshit. If you want to get loaded, get loaded. Keep it away from teens, or in 20 years, they'll be standing in the same place where they first started smoking weed.

      But I bet 99% of the people that have the "recommendation", are just getting stoned. No real issues that it deals with. Fucking admit it, and maybe they'll let you buy it over the counter. But keep up with the bullshit stories, and you'll end up buying it from someone that is passing the money onto a cartel or some gang bullshit.

    • 10 months ago
  • dissillusion
    • +3
      dissillusion  

    • George Washington grew hemp.... He even grew smoking blends, he separated male and female plants it's in his diary...

      So all you UN-American fucks that have problems with a plant...... gfy...

      Would rather have us all on pills or drinking ourselves to death? Trusting a corrupt pharmaceutical industry?

      A paid off "Dr. Drew" pushing his favorite antidepressant because he still can get an erection when he takes it? He got 3 quarters of a million pushing that shit, look it up...

      God, the Earth, Nature, however you want to look at it made cannabis, and no one has the right to take it from ANY adult, or cage them over it.... To do so would be UN-American and cause for revocation of American citizenship...

    • 10 months ago
  • theknopfknows
    • +1
      theknopfknows  

    • YES of coarse,they elite want more drinkers or medication=profits before people,prisons for profit, RE-EDUCATION CAMPS,fusion centers, ETC.
      History says that in 3000 years or more of Pot smokers, not one has smoked themselves to death. Millions drank to their grave,medicated to death, do I have to say more. Money public is the addicted so corporations make money on the weak the addicted the jailed the medicated and the drinkers. Shame PROFITS FIRT EVERY TIME.

    • 10 months ago
  • Saladin
    • +1
      Saladin  
    • theknopfknows:

      That's not what it is, it was popular public outcry from ninnies and conservatives who were upset that the weed wasn't being used for medical purposes.

      Politics isn't always complicated or full of conspiracies. I've heard losers complain about this "problem" with the dispensaries for years now.

    • 10 months ago
  • WagonMaster
  • FoosMaster
    • +2
      FoosMaster  
    • WagonMaster:

      The "Tax the Shit out of it" mantra will just allow the gangs and cartels to continue to profit from it because people will buy what is "affordable". A "Moderate and Fair" tax is fine but the most important part of legalization is to destroy the power of gangs and cartels who profit soo much from the illegal sales. This is where capitalism and a 'Fair' tax system would solve Many issues.

    • 10 months ago
  • Saladin
    • +1
      Saladin  

    • For those who don't live in LA, this should be put into some context.

      Depending on where you're at, these "Medical" dispensaries are fucking *everywhere*.

      And so it's laughably easy to get a medical card you can literally go down to Venice Beach and get a legal card for $40 in a ten minute appointment.

      Basically, in an attempt to legalize medicinal marijuana, marijuana was practically fully legalized.

      It's a shame to see the stores go but some of them really did pull in bad crowds. Sort of like shady liquor stores.

    • 10 months ago
  • JessMag
    • +9
      JessMag  

    • I feel especially bad for the people who own and operate these shops. Dispensaries are local businesses. They often hire disabled people and sell baked goods made by disabled people. I think this will lead to more money for the drug cartels and less money for people trying to run an honest business.

    • 10 months ago
  • rerushg
    • +1
      rerushg  
    • JessMag:

      I think at this point there's a lot of knee jerk reaction going on here. The dispensaries were great, I suppose, but the OK to home-grow throws an entirely different possibility out there. People are extremely resourceful. Let them figure it out. Maybe there are opportunities for teaching the skills, consulting, tending. (Ha! The "Pool & Pot Guy")
      ANYTHING is better than going the legalize, commercialize, tax, and regulate route. That just winds up being US cartels, and little quadcopter drones will be looking for pot plants on your patio.

    • 10 months ago
  • Truthitswhatsfordinner
  • rerushg
    • 0
      rerushg  
    • Truthitswhatsfordinner:

      Oaksterdam is a separate issue. The tax revenue loss was the decision of the council 14-0 so apparently they can deal with that. In the end the point is to get medical cannabis to those who need it, right? If it was getting to others, that's another story.
      I'm simply saying that the path is there to home-grown. Don't commiserate about it. Figure it out. Open-source it. Make that work and you could be on the way to avoiding the commercialize/tax & regulate mindset. People are lining up to accept that just so it will be legal.
      If pot becomes legal after 40+ years of use it can only be because it is not harmful. So if anyone can grow it, why commercialize it?
      Pot should be legal to grow, illegal to sell. We'll work out the details ourselves.

    • 10 months ago
  • Truthitswhatsfordinner
  • FoosMaster
    • +2
      FoosMaster  
    • rerushg:

      Not everyone can grow, some just have a "brown thumb". Also, Many people live in rentals and would not be allowed to grow. Being able to grow your own IS a great idea but not the total solution and can only account for a small amount of what is wanted so dispensaries Are Needed.

    • 10 months ago
  • rerushg
    • +3
      rerushg  
    • Truthitswhatsfordinner:

      Ha! Neil Young's "After The Goldrush" title seems fitting for the post meltdown era.
      If this is interesting to you you might want to look into the idea currently called "slow living". Wikipedia has a page on it. You'll get the idea pretty quickly.
      Thanks Truth. You post good stuff.

    • 10 months ago
  • rerushg
    • +3
      rerushg  
    • FoosMaster:

      I'm sure what you say is true. What I'm suggesting is that the council left a huge loophole that gives you a ground-level opportunity that should be at least looked at closely. When groups and communities start working together on real situations things tend to get worked out for most everyone. There are special cases that would need to be addressed but they tend to get worked out too.
      People are resourceful. They figure it out.

    • 10 months ago
  • FoosMaster
    • +2
      FoosMaster  
    • rerushg:

      Yes it is a good thing and they know that they could not win a legal challenge against that part of the law so they left that alone. But, in L.A. there are a Large amount of people that would not be able to grow their own because they rent and would not be allowed so a commercial solution is Needed. We need to keep up the fight for full legalization and win this one battle at a time and Never stop until we have complete repeal of prohibition. ;-)

    • 10 months ago
  • FoosMaster
    • +2
      FoosMaster  

    • You would be lucky to find one-in-Twenty people that actually knows how to grow good buds much less one-in-three. This is only going to send people back to the Gangs and Cartels for their relief.
      If a lack of regulations is the problem then PASS SOME REGULATIONS! Denying people a medically necessary And LEGAL drug because the politicians can’t get anything done on regulations is just STUPID!
      END PROHIBITION COMPLETELY!
      If the Liberals will get off their historically lazy asses and vote this next election we may start to see some improvement.
      VOTE!!!

    • 10 months ago
  • Truthitswhatsfordinner
  • FoosMaster
  • mrpuma2u
  • Truthitswhatsfordinner
  • FoosMaster
    • +1
      FoosMaster  
    • Truthitswhatsfordinner:

      We can't have all the policies we want right Now because those who profit from prohibition have Too much influence but we can take one step at a time to eventually get to where we want to be. Just keep moving forward no matter how many times you get set back. ;-)

    • 10 months ago
  • Truthitswhatsfordinner
  • FoosMaster
  • rerushg
    • +1
      rerushg  

    • "Under the ban, medical patients and their caregivers will be able to grow and share the drug in small groups of three people or less."

      Legal to grow your own and share? It doesn't get much better than that, folks.
      What am I missing here?

    • 10 months ago
  • gump
  • Truthitswhatsfordinner
  • rerushg
  • Truthitswhatsfordinner
  • rerushg
    • +2
      rerushg  
    • Truthitswhatsfordinner:

      I took no disrespect. I just didn't quite understand where you were coming from.
      I've pretty well explained this above. I just think that if people's needs can be taken care of at or near ground level the overall experience for everyone involved is improved beyond the buying and selling experience.

    • 10 months ago
  • mrpuma2u
    • +2
      mrpuma2u  

    • Nice going LA council, keep that multi-million dollar business in the hands of the bloods & crips! They will deliver their kick back money at the previously agreed upon location. Don't be late.

    • 10 months ago
  • im1mjrpain
  • EmperorThan
    • +3
      EmperorThan  

    • "Under the ban, medical patients and their caregivers will be able to grow and share the drug in small groups of three people or less."

      So.... just make a pot shop out of your home and have a sign at the door that says "ONLY THREE PEOPLE INSIDE AT A TIME".

      ...and give EmperorThan a percentage of your money for the great idea.

    • 10 months ago
  • trut
  • mrpuma2u
  • GavinTheMother
  • gump
  • lazloman
    • 0
      lazloman  

    • Whatever, folks will just go back underground. Its not ike you can't get it. Finding a connection might be a bit daunting, but weed is easy to get anyplace in this country.

    • 10 months ago
  • cabinettags
    • +10
      cabinettags  

    • The problem here isn't the LA city council. The problem is the prohibition from DC.

      An interesting observation.

      1. The sport of choice for the urban poor is BASKETBALL..
      2. The sport of choice for maintenance level employees is BOWLING.
      3. The sport of choice for front-line workers is FOOTBALL.
      4. The sport of choice for supervisors is BASEBALL.
      5. The sport of choice for middle management is TENNIS.
      6. The sport of choice for corporate executives and officers is GOLF.

      Conclusion: The higher you go in the corporate structure, the smaller your balls become.

      There must be a boat load of people in Washington playing marbles

    • 10 months ago
  • Paratus
  • im1mjrpain
  • GavinTheMother
  • rerushg
  • Truthitswhatsfordinner
  • crabbyoldguy
    • 0
      crabbyoldguy  
    • Truthitswhatsfordinner:

      imo they are trying to setup a control structure/regulatory agency after the fact and it's going to be a little messy at first. A lot of communities in Colorado have done the same thing, shutting the centers down thru ordinance waiting for the state to implement structure.

    • 10 months ago
  • TheForeteller
  • crabbyoldguy
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