Judge rules L.A.'s ban on new medical marijuana dispensaries is invalid

Los Angeles' ban on new medical marijuana dispensaries is invalid, a Superior Court judge said Monday in a decision that undermines the city's 4-month-old drive to shut down hundreds of the stores.

The judge issued an injunction banning enforcement of the moratorium against Green Oasis, a dispensary in Playa Vista that had challenged the ban. But city officials acknowledged the ruling would effectively block current efforts to enforce the ban against other dispensaries.

The decision came on the day the Obama administration issued guidelines that limit federal prosecution of medical marijuana users and dispensaries. A Justice Department memo makes official a policy change that the president adopted earlier this year -- one that inadvertently contributed to the city's dizzying dispensary boom.

Those actions cheered supporters of medical marijuana, but Los Angeles officials insisted they were committed to closing down and prosecuting dispensaries. The city attorney and the district attorney maintain that most are selling marijuana for profit in violation of state law.