To the consternation of many medical marijuana users, Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday gave final approval to a law that would essentially shut down nearly 475 medical marijuana dispensaries in the city while allowing another 137 or so to remain open. The city council aims at achieving the target of having only 70 open medical marijuana dispensaries, while all others will be forced to close.

The ordinance has a number of other strict requirements. To begin with, it requires a 1,000 foot buffer between the stores and schools, churches and rehab centers; it limits hours of operation to 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; operators can only have one dispensary in the city and have to have a clean, 10-year criminal record; and the shops cannot operate on a for-profit basis — money exchanged must be go “toward the collective’s actual expenses for the growth, cultivation and provision of medical marijuana,” and annual audits will keep watch.
Additionally, dispensaries cannot be “on a lot abutting, across the street or alley from, or having a common corner with a residentially zoned lot or a lot improved with residential use.”

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