City Hall's Yawning Loophole For Pot Dispensaries Spawns A Woodstock Economy

The skinny, redheaded teenager looks skittish as he approaches a 21-year-old homeless youth we will call Ricky. The pale boy is looking for weed, and passes Ricky $14. This illegal scene unfolds at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Western Avenue at the entrance to a busy subway station, and under the watchful eyes of a motley crew of homeless youth.

Right across the street is Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti's Hollywood field office. If he and his staff were to peer out, they could easily see what a failed enterprise the city's mangled regulation of medical marijuana has been.

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