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If you've got 11 minutes this lunch hour, this investigative report on city hall politics and marijuana dispensaries is excellent.
"Almost every city has gotten its act together and put regulations in place for marijuana dispensaries except Los Angeles," said Paul Lerner, a Melrose area neighborhood activist who voted for Prop 215, but doesn't like the proliferation of dispensaries on every street corner. "In Los Angeles we have the highest paid city council members in the country. What are they doing? Why can't they get their act together and put some basic reasonable sound regulations in place?"
And that's the overriding theme. In San Francisco, it's $8,400 a year to have a marijuana dispensary permit. In Los Angeles, it's zero. And besides that, if you open one up illegally, there's little to none enforcement.
"I understand the viewpoint that these places aren't licensed by the city, but at the same time, can you blame them? The city's not shutting them down" questioned dispensary owner Daniel Sosa.
Below, retired Orange County Superior Court Judge James Gray lays down his logic on why the drug needs to be legalized:
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger seems willing to be explore...
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I have to agree with the main point everyone seemed to make on this program. Mainly that this is something L.A. City Council should have delt with back when prop 215 passed back in 1996.
But then state level legislators should have delt with it too.
It seems they've all been playing some sort of politcal "hot potato" game with this issue or acting like it would go away if they ignored it.
"Almost every city has gotten its act together and put regulations in place for marijuana dispensaries except Los Angeles," said Paul Lerner, a Melrose area neighborhood activist who voted for Prop 215, but doesn't like the proliferation of dispensaries on every street corner. "In Los Angeles we have the highest paid city council members in the country. What are they doing? Why can't they get their act together and put some basic reasonable sound regulations in place?""
This is exactly why I voted AGAINST Prop 215. It was a poorly written proposition, with inadequate regulation.
Then you should go back read it again GTH.
Prop 215 specifically asks that legislators do their jobs and write proper regulations for patients and dispensaries. The legislature has had 13 years to do so and still has not.
So who is really at fault here?
The only problem I see with this (an industry thriving in a recession) is the failure to impose the permit fee as referenced above. Loosing out on potential income that the city desperately needs it just irresponsible on the part of city law makers.
ITA Hindinwood. It reminds me of the City Council's approach to the billboard fees. Compared to how much the bb co's are raking in for adv space they're nothing.
It's hard to believe they would pass up the kind of money they could demand from both all the while crying broke and threatening lay offs, and service cuts.
I forget exactly, but the video mentions that Oakland gets $20K-$30K for a MMJ dispensary permit, and some of dispensaries I've gone to are not even collecting sales tax.
Shouldn't they at least be required to have a sales tax permit?
Sadly, the hed on this piece is totally misleading.
Dave, you are one of the most consistent negative commenters on LAist. I appreciate your participation and please keep at it, but I wish you would go a little further in your critiques. The headline was vetted through the most picky of picky people I know and was given a stamp of approval. Were you taking it literally? Thanks!
"Were you taking it literally?" LOL.
Haha oh come on now, I'm not negative, just snarky! It would have been much more sensational if it had been literal!
If you would like I'll just stop commenting altogether.
Alright, sounds good. Keep on snarking, Dave!
GODDAMMIT LERNER, YOU BETTER NOT SCREW THIS UP FOR ME
this is a good piece. but i would also suggest checking out another piece from the same episode.
http://kcet.org/socal/2009/05/commentary-by-jill-stewart.html
The 15 Los Angeles council members earn $178,789 a year - about $80,000 more than their counterparts in more expensive San Francisco and New York. And way more than the Miami City Council whose part-time pay is just $6,000 a year. At nearly $180,000 a year our council members - public servants as they are called - earn 400% more than the average Angeleno. In no other city could we find as big a disparity.
Shhh, I was going to use that soon ;)
It's great, isn't it?
hee hee. i couldn't help it. :)
The dispensaries protect our communities from illegal drug dealers. If it weren't for them legally supplying marijuana there'd be more drug dealers in our communities and more violence on our streets.
Let the market determine how many dispensaries is sufficient. As long as they only sell to adults then their presence in our society is nothing but good.