Could L.A.'s Pot-Shop Law Be Softened Up?
In what reads like a follow-up on LA Weekly's own report about how many L.A. pot shops are remaining in business despite the city's tough new law outlawing most dispensaries, the Wall Street Journal quoted Councilman Ed Reyes as saying a change in the ordinance is possible. And it sounds like by "change" he meant a softening up:
"This document is like a living organism that continues to evolve," Reyes, an author of the ordinance, told the paper. "I never saw this as a cure-all."
This is an eye opener, as the council took more than three years to draft a permanent ordinance dealing with medical marijuana dispensaries in the city. During that time the number of dispensaries in L.A. mushroomed from less than 200 to more than 500, leading late-night comics to quip that there were more pot shops in town than Starbucks outlets.
So, is Reyes saying that three-plus years wasn't enough time to get it right? After studying ordinances in places such as West Hollywood and getting tons of feedback from fed-up neighbors and dispensary lobbyists, it's still not right?
Now that the rubber meets the road and many dispensaries are resisting the city's call to shut down, Reyes is indicating that a change might be in order. Maybe we exhaled too soon.
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