Proponents and opponents of medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles finally have a concrete decision – sort of – to limit the number allowed in the City of Angels to 70.

State Law Passes in 2004 – But L.A. Issues No Guidelines

When the state of California passed a law in 2004 that allowed for medical marijuana cooperatives, the city of Los Angeles failed to set forth guidelines as to how such cooperatives should operate. In 2005, when the L. A. City Council first took up the issue, there were a mere four such dispensaries operating in the city. It wasn’t too much of a problem, and the issue of guidelines languished. In the ensuing years, however, this lack of guidelines led to rampant growth of medical marijuana dispensaries in the city.

As of December 2009, when the L.A. City Council decided to postpone a vote on the much-anticipated medical marijuana ordinance until the New Year, there were an estimated 1,000 such dispensaries in operation. Medical marijuana in L.A., it seems, was one of the city’s fastest-growing industries.

Chaos and Citizen Complaints

In the absence of specific guidelines, the medical marijuana shops flourished, opening at an increasing rate. Both city officials and residents complained that many of these were simply illegal cash businesses with little or no connection with medical care.

Citizens registered strong opposition to dispensaries that opened in residential areas, near schools and public-gathering areas, saying that they brought an unsavory element to neighborhoods that should be safe, and indicating such operations also lowered property values.

Amid the chaos, the city decided to crack down on the proliferating medical marijuana dispensaries, finally agreeing to take up the issue of operating guidelines. The City issued a moratorium on new dispensaries in 2007. At the time, there were 186 dispensaries. But dispensaries continued to open despite the moratorium, taking advantage of a loophole known as a hardship exemption, which allowed them to open while awaiting approval.

Specifics of Newly-Enacted Guidelines

Some 4-1/2 years after the L.A. City Council first started to discuss the issue the long-awaited medical marijuana ordinance was voted on and took effect in January 2010. Interestingly, the vote took place without debate – at least in the City Council. The new measure imposes some of the most stringent rules in the state.

Medical marijuana advocates are already gearing up to challenge the ruling in court. In early March 2010, Americans for Safe Access, this country’s main medical marijuana advocacy nonprofit, filed a lawsuit with the Venice Beach Care Center and the PureLife Alternative Wellness Center to sue the City of Los Angeles. The suit claims the ordinance, which is due to go into effect the end of March, is so restrictive that even law-abiding businesses will have to shut down. Both centers have been in operation since 2006, before the city’s moratorium on new dispensaries.

Indeed, stricter guidelines for access are part of the ordinance by design. While seeking to curtail and limit the number of allowed medical marijuana dispensaries and where they can be located, city officials also sought to provide safe and legal access to the drug for those in medical need of it.

Of the 180 dispensaries established before the 2007 moratorium, about 137 are believed to still be open. Those businesses will be allowed to remain in operation, but may be required to move to comply with the new restrictions of where medical marijuana dispensaries may be located.

Such restrictions include a ban on any dispensary being located within 1,000 feet of a school, park, or similar facility.

Capping the number of permitted medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles to 70 would, in effect, mean one dispensary for every 50,000 people. In the city of Oakland, by comparison, the only other large California city to impose a cap, there are four dispensaries that serve 100,000 people each. Caps, and numbers of residents they serve, in smaller cities include Berkeley (one for each 34,000); Palm Springs (one for each 24,000); West Hollywood (one for every 9,000), and Sebastopol (one for every 3,500).

Geographically speaking, to put the new ruling into context, in the Wilshire area west of downtown, there would be 6 clinics. In Venice, which previously had 17, only one would be allowed.

The new ordinance specifies that no collective can operate for profit, cash and in-kind contributions, as well as “reasonable compensation” would be allowed.

In mid-March, the City Council recommended a number of fees that dispensaries would have to pay in order to be allowed to operate. In addition to standard charges for inspections and research, special fees have been proposed totally about $1,200 for a manager registering an existing dispensary.

Cracking Down May Be Hard to Do

While the Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley has said he will target pot establishments that operate for profit and sell to people who don’t qualify for medical marijuana, the actual cracking down on the 1,000+ dispensaries currently in operation may prove unwieldy.

It’s one thing to mandate a cap. It’s another for cash-strapped Los Angeles to actually enforce it. Telling the dispensaries to close down may very well be met by either deaf ears or resistance in the form of injunctions filed to stop the city from enforcing the ordinance.

The ordinance also follows a recent California Supreme Court decision that struck down a law seeking to impose limits on the amount of allowable medical marijuana a patient can possess. And it comes months before a possible California ballot measure seeing to legalize marijuana. The Tax and Regulate Initiative would legalize possession of up to one ounce of marijuana for anyone aged 21 or over, allow residents cultivate marijuana gardens not exceeding 25 square feet, and authorize city and county governments to determine whether to permit and tax marijuana sales within their boundaries.

Further complicating the matter is the fact that medical marijuana is legal in 14 states, but marijuana remains illegal under federal law.

Future of Pot Dispensaries Remains Hazy in L.A.

For now, at least, the future of medical marijuana dispensaries in the City of Los Angeles remains hazy at best. There will undoubtedly be months of legal back-and-forth actions on behalf of this or that dispensary, backed by powerful nonprofit advocacy groups. There will likely be some dickering over how and when to enforce the new law, and to fine-tune efforts to step up compliance.

How soon and how many of the existing storefronts selling medical marijuana will be closed – or allowed to continue to operate – is anyone’s guess. One thing that is certain is that the issue in California is not going away anytime soon. After all, a Field Poll conducted in 2009 showed that 56 percent of California residents favor legalization and taxation of marijuana sales in the state – as a means of getting the financially-strapped state back on its feet. But opponents of legalization are just as vehement – free-wheeling access to marijuana will fuel increased substance abuse, especially among the young. It appears there is no middle ground on this issue. One can only hope that, when the smoke clears, intelligence and common sense will prevail.