By Matt Garland, RLn Contributor
Proposition 64 made it legal for individuals at least 21 years old to possess and grow cannabis for personal use as of Nov. 9, 2016. The law also allows cities to regulate or prohibit marijuana businesses altogether within their city limits.
That’s what the City of Compton did, banning commercial marijuana activities within its borders. Voters preserved that status in a January special election, emphatically rejecting two proposals — one by the city council, one by a citizens group — that would have allowed regulated (read: taxed) sales.
With national support for marijuana legalization polling close to 90 percent for medical use and 60 percent for adult use, the lopsided results of Compton’s special election explain why so many politicians and bureaucrats are so wary of leading on the issue. Instead, they opt for a wait-and-see approach, a lack of action that can sound like a policy, is more a calculation. They are more comfortable watching legalization play out elsewhere than taking political risks and enacting smart and sensible regulations.
As a result, Compton is actually among a slight majority of California municipalities that have chosen to ban commercial marijuana activities. In Los Angeles County, around 65 of 88 currently ban cannabis businesses. It’s probably not how most people imagined life in a world of legal marijuana.
A citizen majority agrees that the war on drugs is a failure. Marijuana commerce and profits need to be shifted from the illicit market to a regulated marketplace and treated like any other business. Marijuana consumers deserve safe access. Marijuana entrepreneurs deserve a pathway to licensing and legitimate businesses. Our communities deserve living wage job opportunities.
The details of regulating are overwhelming. This is not an exercise in creating a new industry, starting slow and creating regulations alongside growth as needed. The cannabis industry already exists in California.
It is estimated that there are currently around 70,000 growers operating in our state who produce around 15 million pounds of marijuana. Most distributors, vendors, brokers, processors and manufacturers have gone almost entirely unregulated until January 2018.
Every other industry in our nation operates under a regulatory framework that has evolved slowly since the dawn of the industrial revolution. Our legislators are trying to impose almost 200 years of comprehensive regulations on an existing industry all at once.
Of course it’s easier for local governments to ban commercial cannabis. But what about the children? What about social and economic justice? What happens to community safety?
The unintended consequence of banning marijuana commerce in our local communities is that all of this economic activity does not go away. It just goes underground. Street dealers do not check ID, pay taxes, employ fair labor practices, offer safe products or resolve their business disputes in courtrooms. Rogue operators are not motivated by community stewardship. They have no stake in building lasting and positive relationships with our communities.
Prohibition is one of the biggest public policy failures of modern history. Nearly 100 years of prohibition in our country and not a single drug- free high school in America today. Prisons are full of drug offenders. Families, communities and entire countries in Central America have been decimated by the war on drugs.
The few municipalities that elected to regulate and license the industry are displaying good leadership, but it’s not enough. The few compliant locations available to operate a licensed cannabis business are being snapped up by wealthy investors who can afford the green rush.
As of Feb. 7, only 0.78 percent of the growers in our state have acquired licensing. The majority of these growers are single family farms that spend their income in the local economy. The most common issue with obtaining licensing is the cost of compliance and strict local zoning restrictions.
The California cannabis industry is projected to be worth $7 billion by 2020, but local bans are undermining the intentions of legalization. Marijuana businesses are being licensed in exclusive pockets of our state. This is mostly done by wealthy investors who likely do not spend their incomes in the local grocery store. The people who have grown this industry in the grey market are being forced to concede their businesses or operate illegally.
The promises of legalization are being ignored by our local bans. Safe consumer access, youth exposure safeguards, drug education reforms, community stewardship, local job and ownership opportunities are among the casualties of a wait-and-see approach to local cannabis regulations. Our communities deserve leadership that will deliver on the promises of a post prohibition society.
Matt Garland is an advocate of legalized cannabis.