Mid-Term - Lab 5

By mapping the location of the marijuana dispensaries that are eligible and ineligible to remain in business, as well as mapping the locations of schools, parks and libraries, I have come to the conclusion that this ordinance should not be passed. The evidence I point to in this conclusion is the discrepancy between the locations of schools parks and libraries, and the allowance of some businesses to remain open. In the map of Marijuana Dispensaries in the City of Los Angeles, there are several instances of marijuana dispensaries being allowed to remain open while within a 1000 foot buffer of a school, library or park, while some marijuana dispensaries are being closed, though they are not within this buffer zone. This could possibly become a court issue or case of perceived discrimination or bias among the city council, possibly resulting in multiple lawsuits.

If the city council wishes to limit the amount of marijuana dispensaries within city limits, I advise a few more tactics or regulations. First enforce the 1000 foot buffer, but in a more fair way as to eliminate the possibility of court cases against the city for discrimination or bias, but also enforce drug-free zones, and close down dispensaries built during the marijuana dispensary moratorium when new dispensaries were not allowed to open within city limits. Also, another tactic may be to threaten the use of federal law, as marijuana is legal under California law, not United States law. Overall the ordinance has the right intentions and foundation, but needs to be reworked in order to benefit the citizens of the city of Los Angeles more effectively.

Data for Libraries was found at http://www.lapl.org/branches/

Data on dispensaries was found at http://cityclerk.lacity.org/cps/pdf/preliminaryResults08-25-10.pdf

Data for shapefiles was found at http://gis.ats.ucla.edu//Mapshare/Default.cfm