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By Kevin Walker, Contributing Writer
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three-month-old ban on dispensaries selling medical marijuana in the City of Los Angeles was repealed in an 11-2 vote Oct.2 by the Los Angeles City Council. Councilman Joe Buscaino’s vote was one of the minority. The council’s move will keep a referendum on the now defunct ban off the March 5 ballot when Angeleno’s head to the polls to vote on, among other things, who will replace Antonio Villaraigosa as the city’s next mayor. On Sept. 17, City Clerk June Lagmay verified that petitioners had received 110 percent of the requisite 27,425 signatures needed to force a referendum on the ban which was enacted by the Los Angeles City Council this past July.
“They all caved,” said Bruce Margolin, director of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws or NORML about initial vote to ban dispensaries. “Even [Bill] Rosendahl and [Paul] Koretz... It’s just crazy, you know?” Both Rosendahl District 11, and Koretz District 5 had opposed a dispensary ban when District 14 Councilman Jose Huizar proposed it in 2011. Koretz remained consistent at the July 24 meeting, casting the sole “no” vote, while Rosendahl, who has been struggling with illness, was absent. Vote Vote Pass/ to p. 7
October 5 - 18. 2012
Illustration: Mathew Highland
“My job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
California’s Medical Marijuana Wars
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