End Of Most Pot Shops Could Start Wednesday

​

The Los Angeles City Council is set to vote on a law that would eliminate most of the 540 or so operating marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles. After two years of grappling with the issue the council will likely limit the number of pot shops, capping them at 137.

The proposed ordinance would allow 137 marijuana retailers opened before a 2007 moratorium to remain on the scene, with new regulations (including a rules that would limit such stores from being 500 1,000 feet from schools, churches and other dispensaries) whittling the number down to a city goal of 70.

The establishments would also likely face rules that restrict them to nonprofit status, with annual city audits to prove it. Pot would have to be grown on-site. And buyers would have to be members of one "collective" and could not join others.

LA Weekly conducted an investigation that found the city has been mostly hands-off when it comes to regulating the pot business (at least until now). The Weekly conducted a survey of the pot dispensaries in Los Angeles and found only 540 appeared to actually be operating, as opposed to the 800 or more that were registered. Find a PDF database of the survey here.