On July 24, 2012, the Los Angeles City Council voted 14-0 to ban storefront medical marijuana dispensaries, then repealed the ban on October 2, 2012, after advocates gathered more than 49,000 signatures to force a referendum. The fight ended at the ballot box on May 21, 2013, when voters approved Proposition D, which capped the city at roughly 135 older dispensaries and set the rules Los Angeles lived under until legal recreational sales arrived in 2018.
What Happened
By 2012 Los Angeles had become the medical marijuana storefront capital of the country. Estimates ran from fewer than 500 to more than 1,000 shops, and 762 were registered with the city, according to the Los Angeles Times as cited by NORML. The city had tried to cap them since a 2007 moratorium and a 2010 ordinance, but those rules were tied up in lawsuits. After a Superior Court judge blocked parts of the 2010 ordinance in December 2010, the council rewrote it in early 2011, and the litigation continued.
On July 24, 2012, the council unanimously approved a “gentle ban” written by Councilman Jose Huizar. It barred storefront dispensaries but allowed patients to grow in collectives of three or fewer, with an exception for licensed caregivers, and it was meant to hold until the California Supreme Court clarified whether cities could ban dispensaries, the AP reported. Every registered shop was to get a letter ordering it to close.
Our original September 2012 report described council members urging the LAPD to work with federal drug agents to close shops. Federal pressure was real: on September 25, 2012, the DEA raided three storefronts in Eagle Rock and downtown Los Angeles, federal prosecutors filed actions against three more and sent warning letters to dozens of others, NBC Los Angeles reported. That was part of the 2011-2012 California crackdown by the state’s four U.S. attorneys, which also targeted Oakland‘s Harborside Health Center.
The Repeal
A coalition of medical marijuana advocates called the Committee to Protect Patients and Neighborhoods collected more than 49,000 signatures, and the city clerk certified the referendum in September. That froze the ban. Rather than put it on the ballot, the council voted 11-2 on October 2, 2012, to repeal it, with Huizar and Joe Buscaino voting no. “If we allow this to go on the ballot, it will be a Ringling Brothers circus,” Council President Herb Wesson said, according to NBC Los Angeles. The AP noted the city had once ordered shops closed before, only to see the effort collapse amid lawsuits and conflicting appellate rulings.
Proposition D (2013)
The council then sent the question to voters. Three competing measures were on the May 21, 2013, city ballot. Proposition D, placed on the ballot by the council, limited storefronts to those that had registered under the 2007 moratorium, about 135 shops, ordering the rest to close, and raised the city’s tax on marijuana businesses. It passed with 62.6 percent, according to Reason. Measure E, a cap without the tax increase, drew about 35 percent, and Measure F, which would have allowed more shops with stricter oversight, drew about 41 percent, CBS Los Angeles reported.
What Happened Next
Enforcement of Proposition D against newer shops was slow and uneven, and unpermitted storefronts kept operating for years. Prop D’s grandfathered shops became the first in line when Los Angeles voters approved Measure M in March 2017, which replaced Prop D with a licensing system ahead of California’s adult-use market under Proposition 64. Licensed recreational sales in the city began in January 2018.
Where It Stands in 2026
Los Angeles now licenses cannabis retailers under state and city rules, while unlicensed shops remain an enforcement problem. Current state possession and purchase rules are in our California marijuana laws guide, and the federal enforcement policy that followed the 2012 crackdowns is covered in The Ogden and Cole Memos.
Los Angeles Proposition D Medical Marijuana FAQ
What was Los Angeles Proposition D?
A May 2013 city measure that capped medical marijuana storefronts at about 135 shops that had operated since the 2007 moratorium, ordered newer shops to close and raised the city’s marijuana business tax.
Did Los Angeles ban dispensaries in 2012?
The council voted 14-0 for a ban on July 24, 2012, but a referendum petition froze it, and the council repealed it 11-2 on October 2, 2012.
How many votes did Proposition D get?
About 62.6 percent. Competing Measures E and F failed.
What replaced Proposition D?
Measure M, approved by Los Angeles voters in March 2017, created the city’s cannabis licensing system.
Originally reported by The Weed Street Journal; rewritten and updated in October 2026 with what happened next.
