Pubdate: Wed, 15 Jul 2015
Source: Orange County Register, The (CA)
Copyright: 2015 The Orange County Register
Contact:  http://www.ocregister.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/321

POT RAIDS THE RAGE

We have noted that government at times seems to make a mantra of the 
saying, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again," and Santa 
Ana's raids against medical marijuana dispensaries are coming to 
exemplify such adherence to the notion.

Last week came news that law enforcement had again visited Sky High 
Collective, the same marijuana dispensary where edited video from a 
May 26 raid showed officers dismantling surveillance equipment, 
playing darts, making derogatory remarks about an amputee bystander 
and, purportedly, helping themselves to some edible marijuana products.

The investigation into that episode continues, with three officers 
involved in the raid placed on administrative leave "while the 
department investigates whether their actions violated policy," the 
Register reported.

Santa Ana officials clearly haven't learned the correct lesson.

Now that a judge has reversed a temporary halt to the implementation 
of Measure BB, the city has no excuse as to why the pace of 
legalizing dispensaries hasn't kept up with the speed of closing down 
illegal operators.

Further, the need to raid the same dispensary for a second time, less 
than two months apart, shows that current enforcement efforts appear 
to be having little effect on the proliferation of illegally 
operating medical marijuana collectives in the city. But that is most 
likely to remain the case as only a single establishment has yet been 
allowed to legally open.

As we learned from Prohibition, making something illegal doesn't end 
demand for it. Be it alcohol or marijuana, until legally permissible 
options are made available to users, as voters intended in approving 
Measure BB, users will find other ways to obtain them, and the city 
will continue to waste resources on raids.

But it couldn't be a more pointless proposition. Continuing to raid 
medical marijuana dispensaries, especially considering that the city 
may very well "legalize" some of them in a matter of weeks or months, 
is nothing more than a raid on city coffers.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom