Pubdate: Mon, 16 Dec 2013 Source: Long Beach Press-Telegram (CA) Copyright: 2013 Los Angeles Newspaper Group Contact: http://www.presstelegram.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/244 HOW SHOULD LB REGULATION MARIJUANA The Long Beach City Council has been poised to lift the ban on medical marijuana facilities in the city, but ran into a snag last week. The council hoped to allow for no more than two medical marijuana dispensaries in each of the city's nine council district and limit them to industrial areas. Turns out it doesn't work out on a map. Some districts don't even have industrial areas. Back to the drawing board for them. But for us, we thought it would be a good time to ask you how the city should regulate medical marijuana dispensaries. Do you think the city should cap the number of facilities at 18 or relegate them just to industrial areas? What do you want to see in the regulation? And what are your greatest concerns? Are you worried about safety in the neighborhood? Maybe you don't want storefront sales at all and would like to keep the ban intact, even though the council looks like it is doing it as a pre-emptive step to avert a challenge at the ballot box. Right now residents can form collectives and grow pot for personal medical reasons or for close friends and relatives that have a marijuana prescription. But storefronts and delivery services are banned. Still, that doesn't stop these places from popping up. And while law enforcement officials have traditionally opposed unregulated dispensaries because of crime, there increasingly seems to be an acceptance from voters. Last week, a Field Poll found growing support for pot legalization with a majority of California voters favoring it. And though California began the weed-friendly movement more than a decade ago allowing for the medical use of marijuana, Washington and Colorado were the first to legalize recreational use last year. Now Uruguay , in a revolutionary social experiment, has legalized the pot business, framing it as a health issue while combating drug traffickers and a brutal drug trade. Where does Long Beach fit in this international debate? How should our council regulate pot? We want to hear your proposals. Be creative, please. Post your responses in the comments section below the online version of this editorial, or email your thoughts to Letters can also be submitted to the Press-Telegram, 300 Oceangate, Long Beach, CA 90844. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom