Compelled by the growing crackdown at the federal level and regulatory chaos on the local level, Los Angeles is on the verge of banning medicinal pot altogether. Hillel Aron surveys the scene in the second largest American city:
That it would come to this, in a city as seemingly liberal as Los Angeles, is nothing short of astonishing. …
To stay within the letter of the law in L.A., such as it is, weed dispensary owners and their employees today are trained by lawyers and consultants on how to operate and how to speak. Customers are patients. Doctors don't prescribe marijuana, they recommend it. Pot is medicine, or meds, or sometimes flowers. Owners might be called consultants, while employees often are volunteers who aren't paid a salary.
Of her bosses at California Caregivers Alliance, dispensary volunteer Stephanie Tirado says, "They can make a donation to us if they see fit." Some dispensaries pay salaries, but at the Silver Lake dispensary Tirado is paid with irregular cash amounts and free pot/medicine.
The Dish 