potheadiquette

Source: latimesblogs.latimes.com --- Tuesday, March 09, 2010Los Angeles has its much-contested pot dispensary ordinance. Now it’s Long Beach’s turn. On Tuesday night, L.A. County’s second-largest city is likely to vote on its own sweeping Medical Marijuana regulations, which would cap the number of dispensaries at 18 -- two for each council district -- and require them to register and be licensed by the city. Home to as many as 80 dispensaries, according to city estimates, Long Beach is the latest in a wave of cities across California that have tried to clamp down on Medical Marijuana distributors. Under the ordinance, which is being considered for the first time in its entirety after months of debate, only Medical Marijuana dispensaries could grow the plant and would have to disclose their cultivation sites. It also would require buffer zones of 500 feet to 1,500 feet around schools and bar dispensaries from operating within 1,000 feet of each other. In practical terms, the law would drastically reduce the number of dispensaries, which are currently unregulated, and limit them to major boulevards or industrial areas, City Atty. Bob Shannon said. The ordinance would take effect 90 days after it passes. In January, the Los Angeles City Council passed some of the state’s toughest restrictions to curb the hundreds of dispensaries that have spread throughout the city. Medical Marijuana advocates sued the city last week, saying the regulations were so limiting they would require the vast majority ...