Fewer Than Half Of L.A. County's 1,481 Cannabis Shops Are Legal, Illicit Operators Reopen Within Weeks Of Being Closed Down

California has been dealing with illegal cannabis operators for decades. In just three months, California's Unified Cannabis Enforcement Taskforce (UCETF) seized more than $53.62 million in illegal marijuana.

A recent report revealed that illegal growers are booming, destroying the environment. All this has put the legal California cannabis market ‘on the verge of collapse.' The State Department of Tax and Fee Administration just posted first-quarter sales and tax figures revealing the lowest quarter for marijuana sales since the second quarter of 2020.

One county seems to have the most difficulties in dealing with the illicit cannabis market. A recent Pew Research Center study notes that L.A. County accounts for a tenth of all operating dispensaries in the Golden State, with 1,481 dispensaries. According to the data from the California State Department of Cannabis Control for the year ending 2022, there were only 384 dispensaries with the license, writes the Los Angeles Times.

In May, law enforcement raided a used car dealership turned illegal dispensary in Whittier. The outlet reported that the illicit businesses were open again in several weeks.  

California’s second-most populous county and fifth-most populous in the U.S. San Diego, on the other hand, has had more success dealing with illegal operations. According to L.A. Times, San Diego County authorities "have all but stamped out the black market storefronts." Why can't the most populous county in the United States, L.A. County, do the same?

Legal Dispensary Owners Proactive

According to Lt. Jay Moss of the Sheriff's Department's major narcotics unit that's because San Diego officials don't give up easily when faced with "webs of limited liability companies and fictitious names.

"The ultimate goal is to identify who the business owner is who's responsible for running it as opposed to the workers in the building," Moss said. "But that can be very difficult."

In 2021, San Diego County allocated almost $3 million to fight against illegal dispensaries. L.A. County on the other hand chose a different approach and instead of additional support staff they relied on paying for sheriff's department overtime. San Diego County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Nick Backouris told the outlet that legal dispensary owners have been proactive, sometimes even filing lawsuits that add challenges to their illegal competitors.

While San Diego County hasn't entirely eliminated illegal cannabis operations, with delivery services allegedly taking over many illicit businesses and smoke shops offering products that mimic cannabis or secretly contain THC, brick-and-mortar bootleggers seem to be gone.

Continue reading on L.A. Times.

See Also: California’s Cartel Cannabis Flourishes In National Parks: Weed Grown On Public Lands Accounts For One-Quarter Of US Black Market

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