Would this California town have become so pro-cannabis if not for a councilwoman's pot industry ties?

LOS ANGELES - Few local politicians have championed marijuana as loudly as Aide Castro.

She says the drug was crucial to treating a thyroid condition. And as a Lynwood city councilwoman, she was the driving force behind the city's decision more than two years ago to become one of the first in Los Angeles County to embrace the newly legalized industry.

But while she was helping approve the city's cannabis regulations, Castro was also quietly making money from the industry, a Los Angeles Times investigation found.

Castro didn't report any of her dealings in the marijuana business on state-required financial forms until earlier this year, when she disclosed that she is a partner in two marijuana cultivation ventures. She reported that her ownership stakes are worth millions of dollars. Both the businesses are located outside the city, but one of her partners is embroiled in a legal dispute in part over ownership of a marijuana manufacturing license in Lynwood.

In February,