In January of 2010, Los Angeles City Council members voted to implement an ordinance that would prohibit marijuana dispensaries from setting up in locations within 1000 feet of schools an parks. Though the reasoning for the regulation is lacking in factual support, it will nonetheless affect the hundreds of dispensaries that appeared during the 2007 "Green Rush." As the map clearly shows, all of the demarcated dispensaries in the Los Angeles City area will have to relocate due to the new stipulations. Even with a personal opposition to marijuana use, the ordinance is an unjust regulation imposed upon a business that carries an assumed negative stigma.
The marijuana ordinance's numerous rules will discourage a new source of economic activity in Los Angeles. The mandate will not only force out the majority of current dispensaries, but will force a cap at 70 dispensaries within the city's limits. These operational dispensaries are further subjugated to a financial stranglehold in which they are not allowed to profit from marijuana sales, and are forced to close at or before 8pm to eliminate the criminal activities of the "late night pot scene." Allowing marijuana dispensaries to technically be legalized under California state law, but then forcing them into a narrow box by which they can operate is significantly reducing the valuable tax money the state and city can use for more beneficial aims.
While council members make it appear the the dispensaries are linked to increases in neighborhood crime, the data to corroborate that assumption is minimal. While these pot shops may be a blight to those that live near the location, it is really up to police to patrol these areas for the rare instance of criminals under the influence. While there should be careful patrol of the relationship between dispensaries and possible school aged buyers, the ordinance is unfair to the dispensary purveyors following California state law, and is a dismal choice for the state economically as well.
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