The Los Angeles City Council voted to repeal the ban on pot dispensaries in the city by a vote of 11-2. This comes only days after the Federal Government raided a number of local dispensaries in the Los Angeles area in an effort to crack down on what they refer to as illegal pot distribution.
Thanks to the repeal of the ban on pot shops in Los Angeles, the city now has no laws on the books regulating the sale of marijuana at the over 1000 local dispensaries.
The City Council is hoping that the Federal Government steps in and takes care of the percieved marijuana distribution problem on their own, and frees up the LAPD to investigate other crimes.
The ban itself would have eliminated storefront marijuana dispensaries, but would still have allowed medical patients and their caregivers to grow and use the stuff for medicinal purposes.
While the head-butting rages on between the State and Federal Governments over the legality of medicinal marijuana, the State has done little to protect the dispensaries from agents of the Federal Government shutting them down or threatening to do so.
Given the current political and economic climate, people are much more worried about the state of the country and whether or not things are going to get better. When, and if, things calm down a bit, the issue of medicinal marijuana could begin anew the debate between State rights and the power of the Federal Government.
Only time will tell how the ban lifted for Marijuana Dispensaries in Los Angeles will all shake out, but for now, it looks like you can chalk up a victory for the dispensaries and their clients.