*See bottom of post for update
]
See also:
OC Pot Dealer Cheers Fed Crackdown On Medical Marijuana
Long Beach Marijuana Dispensary Ban Is Illegal, Court Rules
Feds Sue Owners of 3 Anaheim Buildings With Pot Clinics, Warn Others They May Be Next
Seeking to control pot clubs in LA, the city originally enacted a
moratorium against new dispensaries in 2007, but two months ago enacted a
new ordinance banning the sale of marijuana while allowing groups of
three or fewer people to collectively grow and share cannabis.
It's unclear how city officials plan to proceed. The LA Times is reporting that their options include repealing the ban or allowing voters to decide what to do by either calling for a special election or placing the measure on the March 5, 2013 ballot. One thing that isn't likely is seeing all the clubs operating in LA–there are hundreds of them–shutting down anytime soon, although were that to happen, folks can always head on down to OC to get their meds before our crackdown wraps up.
Update, Oct 2:30 p.m.: During a closed-session meeting today, the L.A. City Council voted 11-2 to repeal its ban on marijuana collectives, rather than allowing voters to decide on whether to legalize dispensaries. But whether this vote will keep the pot clubs open depends on how determined the DEA is when it comes to raiding them and threatening their landlords, so the matter is far from resolved. Nevertheless, medical marijuana activists are celebrating.
Award-winning investigative journalist Nick Schou is Editor of OC Weekly. He is the author of Kill the Messenger: How the CIA’s Crack Cocaine Controversy Destroyed Journalist Gary Webb (Nation Books 2006), which provided the basis for the 2014 Focus Features release starring Jeremy Renner and the L.A. Times-bestseller Orange Sunshine: The Brotherhood of Eternal Love’s Quest to bring Peace, Love and Acid to the World, (Thomas Dunne 2009). He is also the author of The Weed Runners (2013) and Spooked: How the CIA Manipulates the Media and Hoodwinks Hollywood (2016).