The Marijuana Wars: Pro vs. Con
I've been covering the controversial debate over medical marijuana laws in California for the past few months. It all came to a head in Los Angeles this past Tuesday though, as the City Council passed an ordinance 2 ½ years in the making. The new law, which could take several weeks to be put into play, would ban consumption at dispensaries, requires them to close at 8 p.m. and outlaws the use of the familiar neon cannabis leaf signs. The ordinance also caps the number of dispensaries at 70. The one exception would be those registered in 2007 and are still in business. This means that L.A. could make the leap down to around 150 dispensaries from its estimated 1000. That's a big leap that has both sides continuing to fight for and against the cannabis cause.
I recently paid a visit to Oaksterdam, California and spoke to the president and founder of Oaksterdam University, America's first cannabis college. Richard Lee also happens to be at the forefront of the fight to not only legitimize medical marijuana, but to completely legalize the use of marijuana across the country:
I also recently sat down with someone on the other side of the coin. Paul Chabot is a Republican candidate for California State Assembly, and he is campaigning against the legalization of cannabis. He is also the founder of the Coalition for a Drug Free California: