The Kibitzer

Standing Up for KK

“Our nation’s drug policies are the single most devastating, dysfunctional social policy since slavery.” -Norm Stamper, retired Seattle police chief, and member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.

In 2009 the Planning Commission voted to prohibit medical marijuana dispensaries in Laguna, despite the fact that in 1996 Laguna had one of the highest votes for the legalization of medical marijuana (The Compassionate Care Act) in the state. So last year a local businessman collected enough signatures from the community to demand a vote on repealing the prohibition on dispensaries. He’s a young entrepreneur who moved here a few years ago, fell in love with the community, and felt surely the town wanted this.

On Tuesday the state will vote to legalize recreational marijuana (Prop. 64), and you will vote on Measure KK, allowing for up to two dispensaries in Laguna. We’ve heard its bad for Laguna because it will increase traffic and crime, that it’s an unregulated money grab by a greedy out-of-towner, and that patients should just settle for delivery. Let’s all take a deep breath and consider the facts.

When pot goes legal on Tuesday, it will be a watershed event that births a new industry that will generate billions of dollars in tax revenue for California. It will be carefully regulated by government agencies, every plant marked, tested and labeled for potency and dosage, and it strikes a dagger in the indefatigable criminal black market. Usage among kids has decreased when it’s out of the closet and prohibitions have been lifted. So rather than a burden on resources, our law enforcement will be freed up to focus on serious crimes. Much like what happened when liquor was made legal in 1929. That’s why Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) is a 150,000-member organization that believes that legalization is a public safety solution.

So let’s talk traffic. That’s really the sub-text in all of this: we don’t want “those people.” But do we honestly believe we will be the only ones in the business for long when other cities realize how much tax revenue is at stake? Local governments can tax as much as 30% on recreational sales. And $1.2 billion in projected state tax revenue will be divvied up to the cities that sold it. The first year! This could be a far less contentious way to raise city funds than increasing taxes on our overnight visitors.

Having two dispensaries carefully located in the arterials of town will have no negligible impacts on downtown traffic. And once there is the inevitable critical mass of dispensaries throughout the county, who would want to hassle with Laguna for such a task-driven purpose. And the ones who do go will be mostly in and out, unlike the drunks who loiter at our more than 80 drinking establishments. Plus many locals will decide to grow their own now that it will be legal to cultivate up to six plants.

The opponents argue that delivery is all our local patients need. It’s not. Delivery is still very much a black market enterprise, with many unlicensed services. Who wants these creeps in their homes coming from who knows where and often peddling actual illegal drugs as well? Police have said before this is not a safe option.

Now our infirmed and elderly can come out from under the social stigma and seek relief from experts. A dispensary allows patients to discover and learn the strains that are right for them, with careful consultation on potency and ingestion. It’s the same reason why brick and mortar wine and bookstores still exist, despite the fact you can have both delivered.

Finally, the opponents complain that there is no oversight by the city. That’s true, because City Council abdicated that right when they decided not to offer voters a competing measure that was completely vetted by the police. Why? Because they were personally against dispensaries, and a paid consultant told them two initiatives may confuse voters and they may choose the wrong one.

Is this representative government, where laws are supposedly made on behalf of the whole community, instead of the personal interest of a few? About 4,000 Laguna signatures were gathered in support of a dispensary. And every subsequent poll has the town split 50/50 on the issue.

Nonetheless, KK does offer plenty of safeguards. It requires that all dispensaries abide by state law and the Laguna Beach Municipal Code, meaning they have to abide by the same regulations as any other Laguna business. Dispensaries cannot be located less than 1,000 feet from any K-12 school, cannot sell after 10 p.m., must be well lit, cannot have any outdoor product displays, and cannot abut or be across the street from a residential lot.

If you vote in support of KK on Tuesday, it won’t end the world as we know it. You’ll be moving this town forward by repealing this pernicious prohibition, providing safe access to our residents, and relieving our police the burden of ineffective law enforcement so they can truly make our community safer. If you vote against, it is unlikely this issue can ever be visited again. And that would be another dagger in a community that prides itself in a progressive culture of tolerance and compassion.

Bill Fried hosts “Laguna Talks” on Thursday nights at 8 p.m. on KX 93.5, and can be reached at [email protected].