A City With a Greater Dilemma in Legal Cannabis Shops

[HempHappy]

A security guard in Los Angeles was given an assignment that seemed a little more exciting than usual. He had been employed by a private security company since 2015, and this time, the firm for whom he worked contracted him to guard cannabis dispensaries.

In 2019, he was protecting about one thousand or more cannabis stores in Los Angeles. These were part of the growing cannabis industry which had come to the forefront, and had been less of an underground business since 1996. This was when California became the first state to legalize medical cannabis. The security guard said that he did not smoke cannabis, but felt that his new assignment felt like it was part of the future. He had grown up in a time when other people of color in Los Angeles would go to jail for possessing minute quantities of cannabis. Now, customers just walked into the shops he was guarding. They often had green crosses and posters of the late reggae musician, Bob Marley. The shops also played music while customers browsed the cannabis buds on display in jars, before making their purchases.

Then, one day, police dressed in camouflage came into the shop with their guns drawn. The security guard and the store employees were arrested. The police said that the dispensary was unlawful. The security guard was furious and also confused as to why this happened. He had no idea that the city still considered the business illegal. He had gotten to know and wave to the local cops in the one and one half years that he had worked at the shop. He was a licensed security guard, with a licensed firearm that he used on the job. Even with his own licensure, he was not aware that the cannabis dispensary where he was contracted did not have its license, as well.

This experience is an example of a gray area in cannabis possession. For years, California residents could legally possess medical cannabis, yet the stores were not allowed to sell it. The entire operation of how they had obtained the cannabis was also considered illegal. Currently, the city and the state are licensing the cannabis shops, but Los Angeles is still struggling with legal confusion and selective enforcement of its cannabis laws. Businesses appear to be legitamate, and operate for years, without an actual license to operate. The problem exists that the shops which operate illegally are in neighborhoods where racial inequality might exist, because the employees can be arrested, while the owners of the shops are protected. The police and prosecutors are attempting to crack down on unlicensed dispensaries, but they might simultaneously be reinforcing social inequities that the legislation is trying to fix.

Certain brick and mortar shops are operating illegally, but after the Farm Bill of 2018, the city could better impose rules on cannabis. Yet, a clear distinction for the public between legal and illegal businesses had become very difficult. Many employees who have been arrested in the past two years for working in illegal stores were not even aware that they were breaking the law.

Los Angeles is an extreme example of a large city in which this dilemma has existed for years. A similar situation could occur more widely across the US. Joe Biden stated during his primary and general election campaign that he wants to decriminalize cannabis nationwide. This is partly to reduce the harm done to certain populations who have been subject to disproportionately greater numbers of arrests.

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