Since 2014, officials in Upland, California have shuttered 24 medical marijuana dispensaries, collecting $250,000 through judgements, settlements, and court costs, according to a Daily Bulletin report. Dispensaries are illegal in Upland, banned wholly by the City Council.
Interim City Manager Martin Thouvenell called the businesses “a public nuisance,” indicating that he is considering implementing a system of daily fines that would compound every day that the dispensary is open.
“Police and everybody else in the city is diligently pursuing these businesses and trying to eliminate them as fast as we can,” he said in the report. “It’s very difficult, and I think what we’re doing is kind of setting the standards for other cities.”
In Upland, the number of dispensaries fluctuates between eight and 12 that are constantly “under official investigation,” according to Police Chief Brian Johnson. He said that the processes in shutting down the businesses are “cumbersome.”
“The city has to follow the rules of the law and get a court order,” he said. “For criminal cases, there are certain protocols that we set up and agreed to with the county District Attorney’s Office. We have to meet those thresholds of what they want done in terms of presenting a criminal case for filing.”
According to the report, there are no current plans for officials to change course as Californians prepare to vote on Proposition 64, which would legalize cannabis for recreational use, in November.