Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich is concerned unincorporated Los Angeles County may become a mecca for marijuana dispensaries that have been ousted from the city of Los Angeles.
As cities around the county pass ordinances to ban such dispensaries, unincorporated areas may become attractive locations for the marijuana shops to take root, he said.
To prevent the issue from becoming a problem, the Board of Supervisors will consider passing an ordinance banning dispensaries in the county's unincorporated areas at a meeting next week.
Last month, the city of Los Angeles ordered hundreds of dispensaries to shut down or face civil fines, or even possible criminal charges. Santa Clarita passed an ordinance in 2007 banning dispensaries in the city.
Officials representing Antonvich, who proposed the ban Tuesday, said dispensaries attract crime and pose other dangers to surrounding communities.
"Some concerns expressed to our office are that (dispensaries) decrease property values, attract crime and potentially sell to minors," said Paul Novak, Antonovich's planning deputy. "Some patrons who come to medical marijuana dispensaries use the product and then drive intoxicated."
An employee of a medical marijuana dispensary in Northridge was shot in the mouth and hospitalized in critical condition earlier this week.
Two other dispensary employees were shot and killed in Los Angeles during June.
In the Santa Clarita Valley, a dispensary opened without proper permits along The Old Road in Castaic several years ago, but the county shut it down after about a month, Novak said.
In Antonovich's Fifth District, which covers north Los Angeles County, eight to 10 illegal dispensaries have been shut down.
But bans on dispensaries may become useless in about four months; marijuana could be legalized Nov. 2.
Proposition 19, a state ballot measure, would give people 21 years and older the right to smoke and cultivate marijuana. It would also allow local governments to tax the commercial sale of the drug, which its proponents say would be a multimillion-dollar boon for the state, according to the California Secretary of State.
The measure would ban marijuana smoking in public or near schools.
California voters appear evenly split on legalization of the drug.
About 49 percent of Californians think marijuana should be legal, while 48 percent think it should remain illegal, according to a Public Policy Institute poll released in May.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: The-Signal.com
Author: Jonathan Randles
Copyright: 2010 The-Signal.com
* Thanks to MedicalNeed for submitting this article
As cities around the county pass ordinances to ban such dispensaries, unincorporated areas may become attractive locations for the marijuana shops to take root, he said.
To prevent the issue from becoming a problem, the Board of Supervisors will consider passing an ordinance banning dispensaries in the county's unincorporated areas at a meeting next week.
Last month, the city of Los Angeles ordered hundreds of dispensaries to shut down or face civil fines, or even possible criminal charges. Santa Clarita passed an ordinance in 2007 banning dispensaries in the city.
Officials representing Antonvich, who proposed the ban Tuesday, said dispensaries attract crime and pose other dangers to surrounding communities.
"Some concerns expressed to our office are that (dispensaries) decrease property values, attract crime and potentially sell to minors," said Paul Novak, Antonovich's planning deputy. "Some patrons who come to medical marijuana dispensaries use the product and then drive intoxicated."
An employee of a medical marijuana dispensary in Northridge was shot in the mouth and hospitalized in critical condition earlier this week.
Two other dispensary employees were shot and killed in Los Angeles during June.
In the Santa Clarita Valley, a dispensary opened without proper permits along The Old Road in Castaic several years ago, but the county shut it down after about a month, Novak said.
In Antonovich's Fifth District, which covers north Los Angeles County, eight to 10 illegal dispensaries have been shut down.
But bans on dispensaries may become useless in about four months; marijuana could be legalized Nov. 2.
Proposition 19, a state ballot measure, would give people 21 years and older the right to smoke and cultivate marijuana. It would also allow local governments to tax the commercial sale of the drug, which its proponents say would be a multimillion-dollar boon for the state, according to the California Secretary of State.
The measure would ban marijuana smoking in public or near schools.
California voters appear evenly split on legalization of the drug.
About 49 percent of Californians think marijuana should be legal, while 48 percent think it should remain illegal, according to a Public Policy Institute poll released in May.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: The-Signal.com
Author: Jonathan Randles
Copyright: 2010 The-Signal.com
* Thanks to MedicalNeed for submitting this article
