It is unfortunate that many cannabis collectives (dispensaries) are being told to close their doors or be subject to $2500.00/day fines and criminal prosecution.   Many of them are probably taking care of some legitimate patients.  On the other hand a good percentage are catering to the recreational user.  This is where the industry has shot itself in the foot.

Let me make two points:

Cities should have created ordinances up front to set strict guidelines for where dispensaries could operate.  Because they didn’t anyone who wanted to start one did.  With the economy in the tank and landlords experiencing increasing vacancies it created a perfect storm for them to flourish literally everywhere.   However I do think the cities need to have the ability to still create a legitimate ordinance.   They should be able to limit the amount of dispensaries that are operating within the city just like they do bars and nightclubs.   It really is for the better of the community overall.    But they should have a fair system for saying who goes and who can stay.   Probably using the “those who came first and are within are ordinance regulations can stay” method is probably the fairest.

I don’t think the argument that patients are not going to have access to medicine holds any water.  They will still have 170 to go to in the city.  That is more than enough.

The second point I want to make is this.  There are many dispensaries that could care less if the people they are serving are recreational users or patients.  I have had patients tell me that they have purchased ounces at a time on multiple days in one week.  Obviously they are not using it for personal use and are selling it illegally.     ALSO, THERE ARE DOCTORS OUT THERE WHO COULD  CARE LESS IF THEIR PATIENTS ARE RECREATIONAL USERS OR PATIENTS!  SHAME ON THEM AS WELL.

The industry as a whole needs to police itself better if it wants to earn the respect of the community, law enforcement and politicians. It needs to start with the doctors.   Having people cat calling random people off the boardwalk in Venice saying “get your marijuana card, the doctor is in” makes a joke out of proposition 215.   Greed is driving this industry right now for many people instead of compassion.   That is the truth.

So let’s all stop feeling sorry for ourselves and step up the integrity of our business practices.  In my gut I know that will make the difference in the end.

However, there are certainly way too many recreational users who are using the medical channel to use marijuana recreationally.  This is the reason for the proliferation of these