Resistance to L.A.'s Pot Store Shutdown

A couple of weeks after over 500 medical pot dispensaries were ordered to shut down in Los Angeles, some of them are hanging in there, trying to move to a delivery model, or denying the city had any legal authority to shut them down to begin with. Links and more details over at my California news and politics blog "City of Angles." The full backstory of L.A.'s attempts to hobble a helpful and harmless industry is contained in my May Reason magazine cover story.

Comments

[Suki]

Saran Palin has a great solution to this.

[Hockey Guy]

Don't bogart these joints my friend.

Back off L.A.

[db]

This is absolutely the worst abuse of the "their" / "they're" / there homophone I have ever witnessed.

[db]

and, it got edited before I posted. good catch, guys, if a bit late.

[db]

and, it got edited before I posted. good catch, guys, if a bit late.

[Junny Momo]

Wow, thats pretty messed up dude. Luckily pot is cheap so who cares.

http://www.Anonymous-VPN.de.tc

[tomhynes]

I like the delivery idea. It is like outlawing pizza restaurants but allowing pizza delivery. Or outlawing Blockbuster but allowing Netflix.

[Eric Holder]

it knows there are scofflaws out there, and vows they will all eventually be brought down.

Oh, It knows all right.

[Krojar]

I stubbed my toe and now I can't get some bud to blaze? WTF man! Buncha fascists! Stab those fuckers in the eyes after you get your boots on their necks!

[Ken Shultz]

It'll be really interesting if California's ballot initiative legalizes the stuff, and this really turns into just a zoning issue.

Another union jumped on board with the recreational legalization initiative today...

http://www.eastbayexpress.com/.....-own-brain

I'm not a fan of unions, as some of you may remember, but if there's anybody who could get around zoning issues as an impediment to medical marijuana, it would be the unions. When city councils are dealing with a union, problems between them just seem to evaporate. If only we could get the medical marijuana people to unionize, that would probably seal the deal...

Oh wait, that's already happening!

http://articles.latimes.com/20.....t-20100528

[wylie]

Yeah, when you want something done, trust in Unions. Well, if that "something" is "affecting legislation", not, you know, actual Productive Work.

[Ken Shultz]

Yeah, it's a weird thing. It's not a very libertarian observation, I guess.

But I think there's something to the suggestion that when our politicians finally decriminalize the recreational use of marijuana, it won't be because they're taking a bold stand for what's right.

It'll be because they're cowards.

And politicians are cowards. That's what we'd expect from politicians in a democracy, isn't it? Pure cowardice. Some coward who will do whatever 51% of the people want him to do, whether he wants it or not. ...and when you start getting union people on board--city and state politicians are scared to death of unions.

Some surveys are showing 49% of the people in California in favor of decriminalizing anyway, and it's a state that's so broken, they're releasing convicted, violent criminals for lack of the funds to hold them. It looks like the stars are lining up so that only a bold, principled, unyielding politician could stand up against decriminalization, and voters hate politicians like that.

[Tara Davis]

All true libertarians firmly believe in the rights of workers to organize and collectively bargain.

It's just that we also believe in the rights of scabs to take jobs which the unions feel entitled to, and the rights of companies to hire whomever they please.

[The Libertarian Guy]

As long as companies have the right to hire NON-union workers, and said union workers have the right to decide where/when/or say hell no to how their dues are spent on political activities... ahh, but such is not.

[Hate Potion Number Nine]

Yeah, I mean they should just hang around and bitch about things like true lovers of freedom rather than banding together, pooling their resources and working towards their objective.

[Ken Shultz]

We should try to remember the demographics we're dealing with. A lot of them are still coming to terms with the culture war of the 60s.

You still hear people calling each other things like "latte swilling liberals" and people who sympathize with traditionally liberal causes still revile conservatives for being conservative.

I have to admit, I'm usually the first to want go against anything some union is for myself, so even I'm not immune. I can hold my nose and do the right thing anyway, but a lot of people can't, and I just think when you see Sarah Palin, who's vying for the libertarian minded conservatives amongst the Tea Party, and unions jumping on board the issue within a few days of each other, that might be indicative that this issues is about to transcend the culture war.

'cause smokin' out used to be about hippies, and LSD makes people hate the war against communism...

It's hard to get people together on something that used to pretty define the front line of the culture war. But it looks like it's happening.

[fresno dan]

I say passive resistance dude - light up, and lie languidly about dude. The sight of thousands upon thousands of disheveled overweight guys lolling about saying "dude" no matter what the verbiage directed at them will soon bring the "man" down, dude. Power to the people, dude! They don't have enough jail space for them all, nor enough stem free toking material, which they must supply as it is all taken for medicinal purposes.
dude.

[The Libertarian Guy]

It's still amazing how liberals are all for states rights when it comes to legalizing pot, but not for, say... opting out of universal health care.

[Ken Shultz]

Consistency is for philosophers, students and lawyers and judges.

If you're trying to get something done or trying to stop something, why should anyone else care about consistency?

Embrace uncertainty. Life's a marginal analysis.

[The Libertarian Guy]

Sorry, I just hate an unsolvable mystery.