New San Diego mayor stops medical marijuana crackdown

Less than two months into his first term, the new Democratic mayor of San Diego is coming out big for medical marijuana.

In a series of announcements last week, Mayor Bob Filner sent memos to the city’s zoning and code compliance officers calling for an end to all code enforcement actions against medical marijuana dispensaries in the city.

According to The Los Angeles Times, he’s also preparing to direct the city council to take up the issue of formal zoning rules that incorporate medical marijuana.

Dispensaries in San Diego have been struggling to obtain land use ordinances, which have not been formally adopted for businesses that profit off a drug that is technically illegal under federal law. A prior attempt to create zoning rules for medical marijuana was dropped in 2011 after the industry opposed it.