When smoke gets in your eyes
Medical marijuana clinics
Pitting itself against the U.S. government, the Los Angeles City Council approved plans Wednesday to limit new medical-marijuana dispensaries, regulate existing ones and urge a moratorium on recent clinic raids by federal agents.
Despite warnings that it is treading on legally treacherous ground, the council voted 10-2 to adopt the plan amid concerns that hundreds of illegal clinics have sprouted up since 1996, when California voters approved Proposition 215 allowing the use of medicinal marijuana. Daily News
Smoking in parks
Smokers, beware.
After prohibiting smoking near playgrounds, picnic areas, sports fields and beaches, the city of Los Angeles has banned puffing tobacco in the city's 390 parks. Kerry Cavanaugh and Sue Doyle in the Daily News.
In a unanimous vote Wednesday, the City Council approved a "curb-to-curb" ban on smoking in city-owned parks that slaps violators with fines up to $250.