Following weeks of emotional and detailed debate over where to allow new stores, San Francisco supervisors approved regulations for the sale of recreational marijuana when it becomes legal in California in January.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday for a 600-foot buffer zone between stores and schools, although vocal members of the city's Chinese immigrant community had lobbied for a much larger barrier.

The board also rejected provisions that would have allowed neighborhoods to limit the number of pot shops or ban them outright. Pot advocates considered those provisions unfriendly.

Cannabis supporters cheered when supervisors finally voted late Tuesday. They had rallied earlier in the day to encourage supervisors to hurry up and establish rules so businesses could start preparing.