As a part of its marijuana legalization initiative passed in 2012, I-502, Washington state is required to issue periodic reports on how its ‘experiment’ with cannabis is going.

LOS ANGELES — The city will stop issuing new business tax certificates to medical marijuana dispensaries under an ordinance approved today by the Los Angeles City Council.

Despite the 2013 voter approval of Proposition D, which banned most medical marijuana businesses in Los Angeles, city finance officials have continued to issue tax certificates and collect taxes from them, illegal or not.

Some medical pot shops in the city are still allowed to operate due to exceptions in Proposition D, but finance officials said they are unequipped to determine whether a medical marijuana dispensary is in compliance and must leave the potentially complex legal question to be sorted out by city attorneys.

Nearly two dozen states have legalized marijuana for medical use; four states, as well as Washington, D.C., now allow the sale of recreational cannabis to adults – and many more states are considering doing the same. Nevada already has a measure that would legalize pot on its November ballot, California is in the process of crafting its own initiative, and Vermont's governor may allow legislators to make the move without even taking a vote to the people.

Study of teenage twins finds little evidence that using marijuana lowers IQ.

Roughly half of Americans use marijuana at some point in their lives, and many start as teenagers. Although some studies suggest the drug could harm the maturing adolescent brain, the true risk is controversial. Now, in the first study of its kind, scientists have analyzed long-term marijuana use in teens, comparing IQ changes in twin siblings who either used or abstained from marijuana for 10 years. After taking environmental factors into account, the scientists found no measurable link between marijuana use and lower IQ.

In October, when Gov. Jerry Brown signed three bills establishing a statewide system to regulate medicinal cannabis, he called it a long-overdue framework that would “make sure patients have access to medical marijuana, while ensuring a robust tracking system.” He should have added: “Everywhere in the state, except Los Angeles,” because it turns out California's strict licensing regime won't apply to the state's largest city. What's more, under the terms of the new state law, if L.A. doesn't change its existing rules, all medicinal pot shops in the city's boundaries will be illegal in 2018.

The City Council should not let marijuana businesses set city policy.

Legalizing marijuana means going green, in more ways than one.

Colorado hauled in $76.2 million from taxes on marijuana sales and license fees in 2014. That windfall leaped nearly 71 percent – to about $130 million – in 2015.

Washington state pulled in $41.4 million in taxes and fees in its first 16 months of legal pot sales and is on track to reap at least $60 million in new tax dollars in the fiscal year that ends in June.

Chuck Lorre is ready to add another show to his already impressive résumé.

The creator of The Big Bang Theory, Mom, Mike & Molly and Two and a Half Men is shopping a pot comedy, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

Co-written by Lorre and David Javerbaum (The Daily Show) the spec script has been sent out to broadcast networks and is set at a legal marijuana dispensary in Colorado. The ensemble revolves around a group of potheads.

Since there is practically no enforcement of narcotics laws at the federal or state level, the burden for public health and safety now falls almost entirely on local law enforcement and private citizens.

Roger Morgan

More than 83 percent of cities and counties in California now ban cultivation and/or dispensaries, in response to the abuses of California’s “medical marijuana” program. Community leaders are also concerned about the dangers today’s highly potent marijuana pose, especially to our youth.

Following are a few factors to consider:

A plan to prohibit medical marijuana cultivation and delivery within Santa Barbara County’s unincorporated areas could move forward Tuesday if the Board of Supervisors follows a staff recommendation to do so.

“Several California cities and counties have reported negative impacts from marijuana cultivation, processing, and distribution activities, including illegal sales and distribution of marijuana, trespassing and theft,” said Supervising Planner Allen Bell, in a county staff report. “In addition, marijuana plants can produce strong odors that may be offensive to some people.”

The staff recommendations follow a new state law known as the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act, enacted by the Legislature in September and signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown.

DANVILLE -- Following the lead of other area cities, the Danville Town Council this week voted to prohibit the cultivation, processing or delivery of medical marijuana, though some council members said they would like to revisit the delivery question later on.

Tuesday's unanimous council vote in Danville follows those in Livermore, San Ramon, Brentwood, Oakley, Antioch and Alameda, among other places, to pass local ordinances before March 1 either prohibiting or regulating marijuana cultivation, processing or sale. As called for in state Assembly Bill 266, cities that don't enact their own ordinances by then will come under state regulation.