He backs a proposal called Proposition D, one of three competing measures on the local election ballot in May. He said it would reduce Los Angeles dispensaries to 135, closing hundreds of others and imposing needed regulations on an industry that has helped him.
"I feel strong. I feel I have got a long life ahead of me, and I want to thank medicinal marijuana for making it happen," said Rosendahl.
Polls show that 70 percent of Californians support medical marijuana. A narrow majority supports full legalization, which is now in place in Washington State and Colorado, but not in California. It is all illegal under federal law.
Today's marijuana is potent, with more of the psychoactive agent THC, said psychologist Steve Freng, who works in Seattle with treatment programs for the federal government.
"Marijuana these days is not the marijuana that was out there when I was in high school and college. That was essentially Mexican ditch weed that, if you were lucky, was a 3 to 5 percent THC type of marijuana," he said.
Some of today's marijuana is 15 to 20 percent THC, and as with alcohol, there are problems with abuse and underage users.
Federal authorities continue to crack down on some dispensaries. Four were raided recently in Los Angeles. Marijuana fetches higher prices in states where it is illegal, and critics say the lack of regulation in Los Angeles has led to illegal shipments to other states from some dispensaries.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25