LA gives initial OK for reboot of marijuana marketplace Los Angeles moved Wednesday to reboot its legal marijuana marketFILE - In this April 16, 2020, file photo, budtenders wearing protective masks prepare orders for customers to pick up at the Higher Path cannabis dispensary in the Sherman Oaks section of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File) The Associated PressLOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles moved Wednesday to reboot its once-promising legal marijuana market, giving initial approval to changes large and small to expand licensing and get more assistance to operators who endured the consequences of the nation’s war on drugs. Broad legal sales kicked off in California in 2018, and at that time Los Angeles was expected to quickly establish itself as a world-leading cannabis economy. Instead, robust illegal sales continue to outpace the up-and-down legal market, while businesses complain that hefty taxes and a cumbersome bureaucracy have slowed, rather than encouraged, growth. But the plan has also been criticized within the industry, with some saying the legal market remains flawed and could get worse.

Source: ABC News June 24, 2020 22:30 UTC