For Los Angeles voters, the question is not whether or not to regulate marijuana, but how. On March 7, L. A. County voters will have two measures on the ballot to choose from – technically.
Measures M and N, which come months after Proposition 64 legalized recreational marijuana statewide last November, involve how to regulate marijuana sales and who gets to do it. But one option, Measure N, has virtually no support-not even from its original creators.
“It’s the right thing to do for the city,” said Zahur S. Lalji, Director of Best Service Ever Pre-Interim Control Ordinance Medical Marijuana in Los Angeles. He supports Measure M’s proposal to decide marijuana dispensary locations, saying it’s important to decide “per capita how many [dispensaries] should be available for [people’s] medical needs.”
Measure M, proposed by the L.A. City Council, would regulate marijuana-related practices such as where and how it is advertised, the number and proximity of pot dispensaries in relation to residential areas, commercial areas and places where children are frequently found, as well as how officers can enforce laws against driving under the substance’s influence.
“Kids … shouldn’t be exposed to [marijuana advertising],” said Terry Cheon, a management major at Cal State Long Beach.
According to official support statements, Measure M would establish fines and penalties for the unauthorized sale of weed, help police officers prevent marijuana-related crime and create a consistent framework for legal cannabis businesses.
Measure M was a response to Measure N, a similar measure written by the United Cannabis Business Alliance Trade Association which initially proposed regulation of marijuana businesses by members of the industry itself. However, after pressure from other local marijuana industry groups, proponents of Measure N changed their stance and began urging voters to support Measure M instead.
According to the 2017 Los Angeles Voter Information Pamphlet, “Even the original backers of Initiative Ordinance N now agree that Proposition M will make Los Angeles a safer and more secure city and urge you to vote yes on M and no on N.”
The once-proponents of Measure N admitted that the measure would have created a monopoly on marijuana licenses, led to pot shops opening near schools, parks and other youth centers, allowed advertising near children and teenagers and established minimal penalties for violating any city marijuana regulations.
“Initiative Ordinance N was written without consulting law enforcement officials, local neighborhood councils, homeowners associations, educators or child welfare officials about what they think is best for the city and its residents,” said in the official argument in opposition to Measure N. “Initiative Ordinance N was written without any input from residents, law enforcement and businesses in the city.”
The argument was signed by eight people, including Charlie Beck, the Chief of the L.A. Police, Minnie Hadley-Hempstead, the president of L.A. NAACP and Yamileth Bolanos, a medical marijuana advocate.
Measure M, on the other hand, would hold public hearings with stakeholders such as police and school officials, neighborhood councils and cannabis industry members in attendance before enacting regulations. The council will have until Sept. 30 to submit new guidelines for approval.
The passage of Measure M would repeal and and replace Proposition D, Los Angeles’ current law regulating the sale of medical cannabis, which gave the 135 medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles protection from prosecution back when it was illegal on the federal level.
According to The Cannifornian, a California cannabis news website, L.A.’s marijuana market is the largest in the United States and “estimated to rival the entire state of Colorado’s billion-dollar industry.” It includes more than 1,000 stores, delivery services and edible bakeries.
The financial impact of Measure M remains to be seen, according to Miguel A. Santana, L.A. administrative officer. A decrease in the medical cannabis tax and the money needed to implement and enforce new regulations could “be offset by revenues from taxes, permits, fees and fines related to recreational and commercial cannabis activities,” Santana said on Ballotpedia.
Any revenue from new marijuana regulations will go to the city’s General Fund and used to fund public services such as police and fire stations, parks and libraries, according to the measure.
Noah Suzara, a mechanical engineering major at CSULB said that even with the legalization of marijuana, he thinks some people might still choose to buy marijuana illegally because it’s less expensive, even if legal marijuana is usually safer.
“You don’t need to market marijuana,” Suzara said. “The people who smoke marijuana will smoke it and the people who don’t smoke marijuana won’t smoke it.”
Still, he does support city regulation of marijuana sales use.
“If you’re gonna do it, do it responsibly,” Suzara said.