LA Shuts Down Hundreds of Pot Dispensaries
On a 9-3 vote, the Los Angeles City Council approved an ordinance on Tuesday that will shut down hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries in the city. The statute caps the number of licensed dispensaries to 70, down from the 1,000 operating under a 1996 California law that decriminalized cannabis for medical use.
According to Reuters, the bulk of those opened last year after U.S. President Barack Obama reversed a Bush administration policy and ended federal raids on dispensaries in states where medical marijuana had been legalized.
Furthermore, the measure requires all marijuana dispensaries to be at least 1,000 feet from schools, public parks, libraries or churches. It also bars dispensaries from being located next door to, across the street, or across an alley from residential properties.
Reuters reported that the new ordinance now limits hours of operations to between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m., imposes stringent security measures, and requires marijuana dispensaries to operate as nonprofit collectives, with each patient limited to having cannabis prescriptions filled from just one dispensary.
It will now be more difficult to go to pot in LA.
