I agree with the recent LA City Council decision that requires medical marijuana dispensaries to be at least 1,000 feet from places where children congregate. As a recent LA Times article mentions, there is growing concern over the rapid and uncontrolled expansion of the dispensaries that is angering neighborhoods. This ruling is especially as the growing initiatives to legalize marijuana, such as the recent attempt to pass Proposition 19, indicate the need to help develop the ordinances, laws and support structures to effectively and safely regulate the growing use of marijuana.
Not only is there a growing need for regulation, but as the GIS analysis in Figure 1 demonstrates, the LA City Council regulation is indeed feasible. An initial examination of the embedded image in Figure 1 demonstrates there is potentially significant overlap of the 1000 foot boundary for schools, parks and libraries. However, as Figure 1 zooms into the blown up image of the most dispensary dense area, the figure shows that while several dispensaries do overlap in the 1000 foot zone, there are many existing dispensaries that are within the new legal area, and furthermore there is ample areas that would be safe to build new dispensaries or relocate existing ones. Of the 175 dispensaries in Los Angeles Area GIS analysis shows that 46, or 26.3%, fall within the restricted, or buffer, zones.
This does present some challenges that are necessary to consider. This preliminary analysis requires over a quarter of existing dispensaries to change location, which is not only expensive, but also creates potentially unnecessary further competition with a reduced area available for operation. Additionally, for dispensaries that are mobile, or dispensaries that have delivery service, these new restrictions could make operating in Los Angeles much less profitable, especially in an already challenging economic period.
However, as a California Watch article reported last year, the move for mobile dispensaries and delivery service is in part a tactic to evade existing bans and regulations. If this is the case, then the LA City Council decision is important because it is an attempt to properly enforce existing stipulations and again bring regulation to a growing and limitedly regulation medical field. Also, as the as the embedded map shows, there is a very large number of schools, public areas, and libraries in Los Angeles and as the population grows more and more of these services will be needed. Having an ordinance such as the proposed one will allow for a consistent and expected growth of both services to the population, rather than potentially more haphazard regulation in the future.
Additionally, as the LA City Council and LAPD argue in the LA Times Article, this regulation can help restrict illegal access to marijuana. Though this may be an unrealistic goal, the regulation will at least allow for easier monitoring of facilities, as certain areas will be off limits and possibly dispensaries will become more aggregated. The GIS data already demonstrates this phenomenon as almost all of the dispensaries in Venice and Santa Monica are within a few blocks of each other. If a trend like this proceeded to occur, it would make monitoring and regulation easier for agencies and the public.
Overall, the implementation of the 1000 foot buffer zone for dispensaries is a necessary step in regulating an ever more popular substance, and as GIS analysis demonstrates, though initially costly for a minority of businesses, plenty of space exists for current and new dispensaries to continue to grow. With intelligent implementation and planning, the growth of this industry and continue successfully in a better regulated environment, that keeps local cities content and in a safer environment for youth and children.
Sources:
http://cityclerk.lacity.org/cps/pdf/preliminaryResults08-25-10.pdf
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