From the way government lawyers are going after medical cannabis these days, you’d never know California was on financial life support.
Take this Riverside Press-Enterprise story today coming out of Claremont, once considered the most progressive city in Southern California’s Inland Valley:
“A moratorium against medical marijuana clinics by the city of Claremont has been upheld by a state appellate court in a decision that may affect such postponements statewide.
“The Los Angeles-based 2nd District Court of Appeal upheld a judge’s permanent injunction against the establishment of a medical marijuana clinic in Claremont while the city put all such dispensaries on hold to study the legal challenges framing permits for the clinics.
“The justices in their opinion noted the injunction was limited to the length of the moratorium, and did not bar the applicant from operating a medical marijuana dispensary under future zoning regulations. “
Bravo, Claremont City Hall! You just successfully prevented one of the state’s few remaining growth industries from operating in your borders. That’s real courage when you consider the Claremont City Council last month cut $2.5 million from its budget through layoffs, pay cuts and reduced services to try to close a $2.6 million deficit. Tax revenue? Who needs it?
Then, of course, there’s this little gem out of Anaheim, as reported in today’s Orange County Register:
“Several medical marijuana patients attended a state appeals court hearing today that could determine the legality of city ordinances that have banned medical marijuana dispensaries.
“The 4th District Court of Appeal heard arguments in the case of Qualified Patients Association – a group of such patients – vs. the City of Anaheim, which approved an ordinance in July 2007 that forbids the outlets and makes operators subject to criminal prosecution. The patients group wants the appeals court to resurrect their lawsuit, which was dismissed by a lower court judge.”
Good for you, too, Anaheim. Having to make all those city staff and services cuts back in January must have really girded up your loins to turn your back on all those tax dollars the cannabis clubs could be putting in your coffers. Too bad about that $5 million budget hole just creaming the Anaheim City School District, though.
Anaheim and Claremont aren’t alone, of course, in showing such remarkable fortitude in the face of the worst economic crisis in the state’s history. The city of San Bernardino (budget shortfall: $9 million) just banned collectives from its midst, following in the footsteps of San Bernardino County (budget shortfall: $52.6 million), which still prohibits cannabis clubs despite having lost its federal challenge to the Medical Marijuana Program.
Then, of course, there’s cajones-of-steel San Diego County (shortfall: $100 million) which not only still bans cannabis clubs after losing its federal challenge to SB 420, but actually shut down 14 of them earlier in the month in a series of high-profile raids. Now that’s courage – especially when you consider how very much aware the San Diego County D.A.’s Office was about the dispensaries’ earning potential.
“An initial review of the records at one dispensary reveals that more than $700,000 in income was generated in the past six months through the selling of marijuana and marijuana-laced products,” the D.A.’s office crowed in its press release about the raids.
Wow. Just one dispensary earned $700,000 in just six months. Think about that. If all 14 of the now-shuttered clubs had that kind of money-making potential, that means San Diego County just turned up its nose to $19.6 million a year in taxable revenue.
But really who needs solvency if it means opening your doors to a behavior 40 million Americans engage in, 56 percent of surveyed Californian voters are Ok with and two state laws say is legal? For that matter, who needed the 1,000 county workers San Bernardino recently downsized, or the 770 county workers San Diego is expected to shed because it can’t pay for them?
Who needs anything, when you’ve got the drug warriors firmly in control of our tax dollars?
