In a unanimous decision on Monday, the California Supreme Court has elected to allow local governments to decide whether or not they will ban medical marijuana dispensaries under their jurisdiction.

The 7-0 ruling made it decisively clear that above anything else, cities and counties should decide for themselves whether they want to be part of an otherwise booming pot industry in the state.

"Nothing in the (1996 law) expressly or impliedly limits the inherent authority of a local jurisdiction, by its own ordinances, to regulate the use of its land, including the authority to provide that facilities for the distribution of medical marijuana will not be permitted to operate within its borders," Justice Marvin Baxter wrote during his decision.

That may mean that quite a few local governments will opt to ban the sale of marijuana. While California is often viewed as very liberal in nature, in fact there are many parts of the state that have no desire to be a part of the medical marijuana community.

"Only cities as liberal as Los Angeles will attempt to regulate," said Los Angeles Special Assistant City Atty. Jane Usher. "Unless you are a city that enjoys being in the litigation business, I think bans will become the order of the day."

Those who support the legalization and regulation of weed were saddened by the latest development in what has been an ongoing fight for acceptance. They claim that the California Supreme Court's ruling does not protect the people who need the service the most.

"It's a very big hardship for a patients who live where they don't have a dispensary," O'Keefe said. "It's more dangerous to send seriously ill patients to drug dealers to obtain the marijuana they need to treat their illnesses."

Cannabis advocates are not giving up hope just yet, however. The Marijuana Policy Project has stated that it will work to pass a state law that will legalize the use of marijuana for both medical and recreational purposes. So far two states, Colorado and Washington, have already passed such legislation.