Pubdate: Wed, 03 Oct 2012 Source: Wall Street Journal (US) Copyright: 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Contact: http://www.wsj.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/487 Author: Erica Phillips LOS ANGELES REVERSES POT-SHOP BAN LOS ANGELES-The City Council voted to repeal its own recent ban on storefront medical-marijuana dispensaries, an about-face that left as many as 1,000 pot shops all but unregulated as officials try to get a handle on a massive legal gray area. Faced with a rapidly growing number of storefront "collectives" distributing the drug for ostensibly medicinal uses-and ensuing complaints from neighbors-the council this past July unanimously modified the municipal code to effectively outlaw such dispensaries. But medical-marijuana activists quickly forced a referendum seeking to overturn the ordinance by collecting signatures from 50,000 residents opposed to the ban. It was up to the council Tuesday to decide whether to allow the issue on a citywide ballot early next year or to repeal it and start over. By an 11-2 vote, the council rescinded the ban, keeping it off the ballot. It isn't the first time the city's attempts to regulate the storefront shops have fallen apart. Stephen Downing, a retired Los Angeles Police Department deputy chief and current board member of pro-legalization group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, said the City Council "created a legislative mess" and should look to other cities that have successfully implemented regulations. "They dilly-dallied for years and years," Mr. Downing said. "Then when they're suddenly faced with a proliferation of shops, they overreacted and tried to throw them all out." Reached for comment, Councilman Tom LaBonge broke into the opening lines of a 1969 hit song by Merle Haggard. "We don't smoke marijuana in Muskogee...," sang Mr. LaBonge, who voted to repeal. "We have to strengthen our guidelines," he added. "We're not Muskogee." A 1996 voter-backed initiative allows people with a doctor's recommendation to grow and use marijuana for medical reasons in California, but the law doesn't mention dispensaries. In 2007, when fewer than 200 dispensaries were operating in Los Angeles, city officials passed a moratorium to block shops from opening. But hundreds were able to exploit an exemption for dispensaries that could show they faced "hardship," and the stores have proliferated in the years since. In recent weeks, federal prosecutors have stepped up efforts to crack down on dispensary sales of marijuana, which remains illegal under U.S. law. Last week, federal authorities in Los Angeles said they had taken action against 71 shops in the city. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom