457 Marijuana Shops File Tax Renewals in L.A.

Authorities in Los Angeles report that 457 marijuana dispensaries have filed tax renewals with the city this year. That is more than three times the 135 pot shops legally allowed to operate under 2013’s Proposition D ballot initiative, and represents a minority of the 1,100 medical marijuana collectives thought to exist in the city, according to the Los Angeles Times. Many active dispensaries may not have filed to pay their taxes.

Marijuana is only legal in California for medicinal reasons, though the state’s Democratic Party added full legalization to the party platform last month, over the objections of Gov. Jerry Brown. In some parts of the city, there are more marijuana dispensaries than the otherwise ubiquitous Starbucks coffee shops. Despite the flourishing of the marijuana industry, the city remains last nationally in job growth, after bankrupt Detroit.