Many communities block medical pot

Associated Press

More and more states are saying yes to medical marijuana. But local governments are increasingly using their laws to just say no, not in our backyard.

In California, with the nation’s most permissive medical marijuana laws, 185 cities and counties have banned pot dispensaries entirely. In New Jersey, perhaps the most restrictive of the 17 states that have legalized marijuana for sick people, some groups planning to sell cannabis are struggling to find local governments willing to let them in.

Dispensaries have also been banned in parts of Colorado and have run into opposition in some towns in Maine.

Local politicians have argued that pot is still illegal under federal law, that marijuana dispensaries bring crime, and that such businesses are just fronts for drug-dealing, supplying weed to people who aren’t really sick.

Cities and towns are prohibiting dispensaries outright or applying zoning ordinances so strict that they amount to the same thing. The ordinances typically set minimum distances between such businesses and schools, homes, parks and houses of worship.

The township manager of Maple Shade, N.J., where the zoning board last year turned down an application for a dispensary at the vacant site of a former furniture store, said his town was just following zoning law. But Gary LaVenia said it is easy to see why people would be nervous about legal pot-dealing in their communities.

Medical marijuana advocates say the resistance is going to hurt people in desperate need of relief.

States such as California and Colorado have seen an explosion in the number of pot dispensaries, along with criticism that the rules are so lax that practically anyone can buy weed. Also, there have been cases of violence involving people trying to steal pot from dispensaries.