Pubdate: Thu, 04 Oct 2012
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2012 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v12/n493/a08.html
Author: Gary R. Levine

L.A.'S POT SHOPS

Re: "L.A. Repeals Its Ban on Pot Stores," Oct 3

L.A. City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, my former colleague at Cal State 
Dominguez Hills, persuaded the City Council to repeal its ill-advised 
ban on medical marijuana dispensaries, leaving the city without any 
rules for regulating these enterprises.

Medical marijuana is not going away, and so far the council has not 
come up with a solution to the problem. Perhaps the council should 
call for a policymaking group composed of representatives from City 
Hall, the dispensaries (including patients), communities and the White House.

Why the White House? The president's recent action on illegal 
immigration made clear that law enforcement is often a matter of 
priorities. We probably don't need 1,000 dispensaries, even in a city 
as large as Los Angeles. But if we can show the White House that L.A. 
is capable of regulating the substance as medicine, perhaps the 
government will take a more permissive attitude toward dispensaries.

Gary R. Levine

West Hills
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom