Yesterday LA city council voted unanimously to ban all medical marijuana dispensaries in LA County save for a select few.
A ban that they do not have the appropriate means to enforce. A ban
that will only create more lawsuits and cost both the city and patients
more grief. Once the mayor signs this into law, all dispensaries in LA
county will have 30 days to close.
This useless/senseless ban will
overwhelmingly hurt the communities where they generate potential for
massive tax dollars and local jobs.
Also note the way most mainstream media outlets relate to these medical marijuana dispensaries as "pot shops", it speaks to the level of stigma that still surrounds the provision of marijuana as medicine. You have to admit, no one's ever called a CVS pharmacy a speed shop, or heroin bar because it's just society's 'Cheech & Chong'-ed characterization of marijuana use that has created this demonization of marijuana as a hallucinogenic drug. But somehow pills that are derived from the same ingredients as heroin and speed, we have no qualms about.
http://www.americansforsafeaccess.org/StopTheBanLA
UPDATE: Ban goes into effect on or around September 1st.
http://www.thcbiz.com/news/industry/1230-it-s-official-l-a-mayor-antonio-villaraigosa-signs-law-banning-medical-marijuana-dispensaries.html