POT DISPENSARIES BREATHING A LOT EASIER

The operators of local medical marijuana dispensaries were breathing
easier today after U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that
federal authorities will stop raiding dispensaries in states where
medical marijuana is legal.

Los Angeles officials also said the federal policy change will allow
them to better regulate dispensaries in the city.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Holder said, "What the president
said during the campaign ... is now American policy" in regards to
stopping raids by the Drug Enforcement Administration on pot dispensaries.

Proposition 215, approved by California voters in 1996, made it legal
to sell marijuana to people who have a doctor's prescription, and
since then hundreds of dispensaries have sprung up throughout the state.

But marijuana is still illegal under federal law, and DEA agents have
raided many of the dispensaries throughout Southern California.

In September 2007, Los Angeles enacted an ordinance that prohibits
new medical marijuana dispensaries from opening in the city. The law
was intended to give police and planning officials time to draft
permanent regulations for such facilities.

Representatives from the City Attorney's Office and Building and
Safety are scheduled to meet next week to determine the best way to
shut down clinics that have opened since the moratorium went into effect.

"I like what the federal government is doing," said Councilman Dennis
Zine, who has led the city's efforts to regulate the dispensaries. "I
hope that the DEA responds appropriately ... this will give us the
ability to regulate those locations without the federal government
interceding in our territory and wreaking havoc.

Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who supports medical marijuana, called the
the federal policy change a victory for patients who use the herb.

"It takes away that incredible fear factor, disruption factor and
violation of people's rights," Rosendahl said. "For those who are
medicinal marijuana users, it finally respects medical marijuana as a
health issue and something that a doctor feels makes it a medicinal herb."

Americans for Safe Access, a California-based group that promotes
legal access to marijuana for therapeutic use and research, called
Holder's comments "the latest sign of a sea change" in federal policy
toward states with medical cannabis laws.

"There has been a lot of collateral damage in the federal campaign
against medical marijuana patients," said Steph Sherer, executive
director of Americans for Safe Access.

"We need to stop the prosecutions, bring the prisoners home and begin
working to eliminate the conflict between state and federal medical
marijuana laws."

As recently as earlier this month, federal agents raided several
medical marijuana dispensaries throughout Los Angeles, seizing cash
and pot but not making any arrests.