Eying L.A. Free-for-All, Other Calif. Cities Look to Limit Medical-Marijuana Programs

Communities across California are moving to control medical-marijuana clinics, fearing a repeat of the unchecked proliferation of dispensaries in the city of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times reported Nov. 10.

As L.A. officials have belatedly begun to rein in programs providing marijuana to medical users, other cities and counties have put moratoriums on new clinic openings; 120 have banned them outright. Only about 30 cities in California allow clinics to be established.

Advocates believe that such policies violate the state’s medical marijuana law. “At this point, we’re not winning a battle we should be winning,” said Joe Elford of Americans for Safe Access. “There’s been this kind of backlash of let’s give ourselves this great enforcement tool of just banning dispensaries.”

Los Angeles also has a moratorium on the books, but that hasn’t stopped more than 1,000 dispensaries from operating in the city. “We actually tell cities around the state to look at the failure in Los Angeles,” said Paul Chabot of the Coalition for a Drug Free California.  “That’s why the cities are moving fast and furious across the state to adopt bans.”