The group of Los Angeles medical marijuana dispensaries is seeking a deadline extension as it was unable to collect valid signatures by Monday. It has challenged the city pot ordinance that would cap the number of stores at 70, but will exempt those that got registered with the city in 2007.

Though the coalition of the collectives gathered about 30,000 signatures but only about 14,200 were valid, shared Dan Halbert, operator of Rainforest Collective in Mar Vista and the Principal Organizer. They need minimum 27,425 valid signatures for the referendum to qualify.

As much as eight boxes of petitions were wheeled into the city's election division office by Halbet and his lawyer Nathan V. Hoffman. The authorities will count the signatures and see whether they are valid or not.

A letter requesting a 10-day extension was given to Arleen P. Taylor, Chief of the Elections Division was by Halbert and his lawyer. Taylor has politely conveyed it to Halbert that she would give a reply in writing and the City Charter has no provision that would permit them to give an extension.

Halbert said, "It's supposed to be a peoples referendum, but it's not. The average person would not be able to do it without big funding".