SEAL BEACH SAYS NO TO MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

Vote by Council Monday Night Makes City the Latest in O.C. to Ban the
Facilities.

SEAL BEACH - This seaside city has become the latest in Orange County
to prohibit the establishment of medical marijuana facilities within
city borders.

Council members voted Monday night in favor of a new ordinance that
will ensure medical marijuana dispensaries are kept out.

The city's code did not permit the facilities to operate in the city;
however it did not explicitly ban them either, officials said.

Some Orange County cities with moratoriums or permanent bans on pot
dispensaries include Buena Park, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Mission
Viejo, Santa Ana, Tustin, Huntington Beach and Placentia. Laguna
Woods recently became the first local city to pass an ordinance
allowing medical marijuana dispensaries.

Although state law allows marijuana use for medical reasons, federal
law prohibits it. It is unclear which law cities are entitled to follow.

Litigation is ongoing across California to resolve the state-federal
conflict, officials said.