L.A. County authorities are having trouble permanently shutting down illegal dispensaries, the Los Angeles Times said. 

A Pew Research Center study found that L.A. County accounts for a tenth of all dispensaries thought to be in operation nationwide, with 1,500. 

However, California State Department of Cannabis Control data for the year ending 2022 shows there were only 384 dispensaries in the county with licenses. 

Law enforcement officials in L.A. County and across the state have made hundreds of arrests and seized thousands of pounds in illegal cannabis and other illicit drugs this year, including one seizure at a San Bernardino County location in April which yielded more than 50 pounds of illegal drugs.

The L.A. Times described one recent raid at a former used car dealership turned illegal dispensary in Whittier that took place on May 10; as a result of the raid, one employee was arrested and charged for being in possession of psilocybin mushrooms and the rest were let go with a warning. 

The location was back open within weeks, the Times said. 

In this March 15, 2018 file photo, an undercover Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy loads two evidence bags into a van after raiding an illegal marijuana dispensary in Compton, one of many California cities where recreational marijuana use remains illegal. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
In this March 15, 2018 file photo, an undercover Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy loads two evidence bags into a van after raiding an illegal marijuana dispensary in Compton, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Further south in San Diego County, the story is quite different, according to the Times; San Diego County authorities have “all but stamped out” the black market pot shops which rake in millions in untaxed sales. 

The reason for their success, the L.A. Times says, is due to officials there pressing through “webs of limited liability companies and fictitious names” that may operate illegal dispensaries. The county earmarked nearly $3 million to crackdown on illegal dispensaries in 2021, rather than relying on paying for sheriff’s department overtime as they do in L.A. County. 

In San Diego County, scientists from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife inspect the property for improper water discharge, and if unpaid taxes can’t be paid on the spot, tax-related felony charges are filed. 

Code inspectors who find violations can have the building’s water and electric services cut off, and sometimes the building itself is seized, the L.A. Times said. 

In addition, San Diego County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Nick Backouris told the Times that legal dispensary owners have also been proactive, even filing lawsuits against their illegal competitors. 

Meanwhile, back up north, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officials claim that the most that is done against illegal dispensaries is the District Attorney charging an employee or two and occasionally the business for selling narcotics or other violations, the L.A. Times said. 

Marijuana found in an illegal marijuana dispensary raided by the LAPD in Wilmington in May, 2019.(Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Marijuana found in an illegal marijuana dispensary raided by the LAPD in Wilmington in May, 2019. (Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

That, according to L.A. County Sheriff’s Department Narcotics Bureau Lt. Richard White, is simply not enough, and the lack of organization and questions as to who can do the enforcement makes it virtually impossible to stop the outlaw pot shops from coming right back. 

“It’s definitely profitable enough for them to either relocate or reopen,” he told the L.A. Times shortly after the May 10 raid in Whittier. “Why wouldn’t these businesses continue to skirt the rules?” 

“You have a large shadow organization running these dispensaries, and it’s very profitable,” Lt. White added. “And on our side, there’s a limit to our manpower and funding to tackle this problem.”