LA to Shut Down 80 Percent of City’s Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

The New York Times reported that the L.A. City Council approved an ordinance on Tuesday that would shut down 80 percent of the city's medical marijuana dispensaries because of problems they've had with their dispensaries.

The ordinance would shut down 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 measure is 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. The ordinance is slated to be signed into law by L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

“These are out of control,” said Councilman Ed Reyes, chairman of the Council’s planning and land-use management committee, who oversaw the writing of the ordinance, in an interview with the New York Times. “Our city has more of these than Starbuckses.”

To learn more about the medical marijuana debate, view CADCA’s Online Toolkit on Marijuana.