Los Angeles City Council repeals ban on pot shops

Source: Raw Story

The Los Angeles City Council repealed a ban on medical marijuana dispensaries on Tuesday night.

That ban, passed in July, was put on hold by citizen activists who raised a ballot initiative to rebuke the city’s move, gaining access to the citywide ballot for a special election in March. Appearing wary of spending money to hold the election on an issue they knew would fail, the council repealed the ban themselves in an 11-2 vote on Tuesday.

One of the key moments in the debate came when LA City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, himself a medical marijuana patient who’s suffering from a rare type of cancer, revealed that his doctors said recently that he doesn’t have long to live. “If I can’t get marijuana, and this is medically prescribed, what do I do?” he asked. “And what do all the people who have health issues ?”


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Tuesday’s vote means there will no longer be a citywide ordinance regulating the sales of medical marijuana. The measure has to be voted upon once more because Tuesday’s ballots were not unanimous. The council also passed a resolution calling for state lawmakers to clarify how cities may regulate marijuana sales.

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/10/03/los-angeles-city-council-repeals-ban-on-pot-shops/