California cracks down on illegal pot shops

LOS ANGELES (AP) — California is planning to intensify its enforcement against the state's thriving illegal marijuana market, including launching an ad campaign today that urges consumers to seek out licensed shops with safe products.

The state has been under pressure by the legal industry to do more to stop the illicit pot economy, which in Los Angeles and other cities often operates in plain sight. According to some estimates, up to 80 percent of sales in the state remain under the table, snatching profits from legal storefronts.

"We are going to start having a more aggressive enforcement stance to come after the illegal market," Lori Ajax, the state's top cannabis regulator, said at an industry forum.

The state announced it was kicking off a public information campaign – Get #weedwise – that encourages consumers to verify their purchases are tested and legal.

Ads will be hitting social media sites and billboards promoting a state website where shoppers can quickly check if a shop is licensed – CApotcheck.com.

The campaign makes a simple argument: You don't know what you're getting if you buy illegal products.

One ad says, "What's in your weed shouldn't be a mystery. Shop licensed cannabis retailers only."

The campaign "will directly impact consumer safety by clarifying that only cannabis purchased from licensed retailers has met the state's safety standards," Ajax said in an earlier statement.

The ads are also intended to telegraph a warning to illicit shops and underground growers: Get licensed to operate in the legal market, or shut down.

The need for tougher enforcement came up repeatedly at the forum, which was organized by the United Cannabis Business Association, a trade group.

State Assemblyman Tom Lackey, a Republican from Palmdale, called the problem the "biggest failure right now in the system."

"Regulations are merely suggestions without an enforcement arm," he said, adding that the state and local governments are failing to work together.

Nicole Elliott, senior adviser on cannabis to Gov. Gavin Newsom, said state funds for enforcement would nearly double in the fiscal year that begins July 1, to $113 million.