The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a proposal Tuesday to “delist” illegal marijuana dispensaries, calling for their removal from Google, Yelp and other online platforms.
Introduced by Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, the measure directs several county agencies to prepare written reports within three months about possible measures to stop unauthorized cannabis advertising – including Internet marketing – in unincorporated areas of the county.
Approved 5-0 as part of Tuesday’s consent agenda, the measure also directs five state leaders to write and sign a letter calling on several popular websites to “voluntarily stop advertising illegal marijuana dispensaries in the state.”
The goal is to encourage the operators of Yelp, Google, and other platforms to differentiate between licensed and unlicensed cannabis establishments, allowing consumers to make informed decisions about where to shop.
Internet giants such as Alphabet, the parent company of Google, and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, have voluntarily removed ads and other content in the past due to reports of political disinformation and other serious violations of their terms of use. But recent developments in New York show that it is not always easy to force such platforms to remove content.
In February, Gov. Kathy Hochul pleaded with Google and Yelp to delist illegal marijuana sites as the state begins to see the takedown of its fledgling marijuana industry, as the Associated Press reported at the time. Early results were not promising, as many illegal establishments remained in the fields while some of New York’s emerging legal establishments were repeatedly delisted.
Alphabet, Meta and Yelp did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Illegal dispensaries are undermining their legal counterparts in communities across California by bypassing testing and licensing requirements, not paying taxes, and evading the law, allowing them to sell products at inflated prices. It can be difficult for customers to tell if stores are going up.
“Unfortunately, distinguishing between licensed and unlicensed dispensaries is now more difficult than ever,” the measure said. “When searching for a marijuana dispensary, search platforms and GPS platforms such as Google and Apple Maps do not distinguish between licensed and unlicensed businesses, but instead provide results that contain, in many cases, unlicensed dispensaries, thereby endorsing problematic establishments.”
The proposal cites a February report by the Pew Research Center that found there are nearly 1,500 medical marijuana dispensaries in LA County; as of 2022, only 384 of them had proper licenses.
Other areas have done a better job of keeping illegal dispensaries at bay. San Diego County has made fighting illegal businesses a priority and has successfully cracked them down, The Times reported in June. Meanwhile, LA County’s dispensary enforcement team makes only two to four raids a month, according to a member of the team. Many reopen during bus weeks.
In Michigan, as The Times reported last month, the pot industry is booming and illegal dispensaries are rare after enforcement efforts have shut down many unlicensed dealers in recent years.
Several members of the public submitted comments before Tuesday’s hearing, including Daria Brooks, who wrote that “all advertising campaigns should be removed from social media for illegal marijuana shops operating in unincorporated areas. … Social media advertising brings more crime, traffic problems and unwanted vagrants to our neighborhoods.”
Times staff writer Rebecca Ellis contributed to this report.
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