California’s new medical marijuana laws were supposed to provide more structure and clarity for the state’s loosely regulated, billion-dollar industry, but in the past few weeks, dozens of municipalities have ignored that intention by moving quickly to ban delivery and other activities codified by the legislation.

Advocates and legislators hope the bans are only a minor setback in the effort to show federal regulators and voters that California — the first state to legalize medical marijuana two decades ago — can provide order to a medical weed sector that has been haphazardly regulated.

The potential political side benefit for weed advocates: Having a well-regulated medical marijuana system in place could help voters feel more confident that California will be able to manage a system of recreational marijuana for adult use, which is expected to be on the November ballot.

“This is a small hiccup along the long road toward a great success,” said Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Alameda, one of the principal authors of the bipartisan legislation.

Others aren’t so confident. [Read more at the San Francisco Chronicle]