GIS QUIZ WEEK 5

I am against the city ordinance that requires that marijuana dispensaries need to be outside of the 1000 feet buffer range from children congregation areas. The main public areas that are considered as high children concentration in this map would have to be schools and recreation areas. Although this habit is illegal, the people that can access the marijuana legally will be at a disadvantage. It would be hard for new marijuana dispensaries to set up shop or even the established shops that did fall within the 1000 foot buffer since some have to stop business since there are so many schools and recreation areas in the surrounding location of West Hollywood. Areas between the streets of Sunset Boulevard, Santa Monica Boulevard, and Melrose Avenue will be affected because some existing medical marijuana dispensary shops are located within the buffer. (Shown with the red dots). The map shows that the options for relocation have been limited. West Hollywood is set as an example with 4 popular shops that fall within or very close to the city ordinate buffer and maybe affected negatively. To show that this ordinance may also affect other areas of L.A. city, the inclusion of a medical marijuana dispensary on Pico Boulevard was also included to show that
Also it would be hard for established, or new marijuana dispensary shop to relocate because the land and property values of west L.A. may be higher than their previous location and other businesses may already exist in the zones where it is deemed suitable or “outside of the 1000 foot buffer”. The Los Angeles Times article states “the ordinance caps the number of dispensaries at 70, but allows exceptions for those that registered under the moratorium and are still in business. All other dispensaries will have to close”. The businesses that will have to close and put their business on hiatus while they relocate will suffer. The small allotted cap of 70 dispensaries allowed to stay in their location does not account for all the other shops in the large city of Los Angele and the effects on the livelihoods of owners of other shops.
Some shops want to stay in their location and “are making plans to challenge the city's ordinance in court. Dispensaries will have to comply with numerous restrictions.” Even with the dispensary shops close to the area of children congregation areas (schools and recreation areas); they will not have access to this because you need a marijuana license to purchase the product. The people with medical need will be forced to travel farther just to get their prescription. For individuals that have immense pain, such as clients that suffer from the glaucoma disease, they will have to endure more pain as they travel farther for the marijuana medicine.
This city ordinance should not be in place because it does not help to resolve any situation. Also, our state is in a financial crisis, so if there was easy accessibility for the marijuana license holders, it may prove to be beneficial for the economy due to more taxation on the medical product. Children still have legs and the 1000 feet distance buffer will not deter certain children from these illegal habits. It should be rid of so that these dispensaries can located wherever they wish and so that they can also be a helpful factor of the economic sector of Los Angeles.