Mapping L.A.'s Endangered Pot Shops

California's tumultuous love affair with marijuana has hit soap opera proportions in Los Angeles. The city's business-minded "Care Providers" latched on to loosened drug laws in the state in recent years and have launched what seemed to many a citywide blanket of medical marijuana dispensaries. In some neighborhoods, such as Venice, locals could hardly walk more than a few blocks without passing one of these green-signed drug stores.

The proliferation of dispensaries eventually became an official concern as some counts estimated more than 1,000 such businesses had suddenly opened in the city. In July, the city council voted unanimously to ban storefront medical marijuana dispensaries. That ban was set to fall into place this week, but a last-minute signature gathering effort fielded a list of 50,000 residents opposed to the idea calling for a referendum. The city has postponed the ban while it verifies the signatures.