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Los Angeles continues crack down on illegal pot shops

A man walks past a medicinal marijuana dispensary in Los Angeles,CA on November 2, 2010. Californians will vote today on whether to make their famously laid-back US state the world's first to legalize all marijuana consumption, cultivation and trade. Growing and selling marijuana for medicinal purposes has been legal here since 1996, but a hard-fought referendum held the same day as congressional and gubernatorial races would take it a step further. Proposition 19 -- one of a series of referendums held on November 2 -- would allow people aged 21 and over to possess up to one ounce (28 grams) of marijuana and grow up to 25 square feet (2.32 square meter) of pot plants.           AFP PHOTO/Mark RALSTON (Photo credit should read MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)
A man walks past a medicinal marijuana dispensary in Los Angeles,CA on November 2, 2010.
(
MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images
)

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Los Angeles continues crack down on illegal pot shops

We're now more than eight months into California's legalization of recreational marijuana. But there are still illegal pot shops all over Los Angeles.

On Friday morning, city attorney Mike Feuer announced that LAPD has helped his office bring forward criminal cases against more than 500 people allegedly involved with illegal pot businesses.

The crackdown comes as licensed shop owners say they're struggling to compete with the city's many illegal shops, which are selling much cheaper product by avoiding taxes and regulations. 

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