Monthly Archives: October 2014

By Deborah Tharp

Is the Santa Ana City Council doomed to repeat the mistakes of Los Angeles’ Measure D? Two years ago, Los Angeles’ City Council drafted Measure D, which trounced two competing citizens’ initiatives to regulate the medical marijuana market in Los Angeles. Many assume that Measure D was an extremely restrictive knee jerk reaction to what the council felt would be an overly permissive medical ordinance. Those who closely examined all three ordinances discovered that Measure D would create an unenforceable coercive monopoly, as opposed to the seemingly less restrictive but more empowering citizen created alternatives. The voters assumed that the City would be able to enforce its incredibly restrictive ordinance and have become increasingly disappointed as they realize that absolutely nothing has changed in LA. Hindsight is 20/20.

What happened?

LA’s ordinance did not allow for the operation of enough collectives in the city to meet the needs of the patient population. As a result, the market supported the continuing operation of non-Measure D compliant facilities. Those who qualified for a collective in LA and continued to try to cooperate with Measure D’s restrictions have found themselves burdened with costs and difficulties that destroy their ability to serve patients while those collectives who skirt the requirements simply operate outside the law without paying any of the associated costs.
Nothing changed with the exception that those who were willing to comply were damaged beyond repair and a few larger collectives who could pay to participate in a coercive monopoly failed to see the fruits of their scandalous behavior and have began to beg for enforcement from a city that does not have the funds to shut down 900 supposedly illegal collectives.
As above, so below. Continue reading→