Locals seek to control pot dispensaries

GREELEY, Colo., Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Local officials in U.S. states where medical marijuana is legal say they are scrambling to determine to how to regulate their pot purveyors.

With the announcement by the U.S. Justice Department that federal prosecutors would no longer go after people who use marijuana for medical purposes in states where it is legal, local government leaders are searching for ways to police the business themselves at a time of dwindling revenue and resources, The New York Times reported Monday.

State legislators, for instance, are considering a medical marijuana law in New Hampshire, but there are concerns that the state health department couldn't be counted on to administer the system, while California's explosion of medical marijuana suppliers is prompting Los Angeles civic leaders to consider requiring that such dispensaries operate as non-profit organizations, the Times said.

"The federal government says they're not going to control it, so the only other option we have is to control it ourselves," Carrol Martin, a Greeley, Colo., City Council member, told the newspaper. Her city reportedly has been seeking to ban marijuana dispensaries since the day after the federal announcement.