Medical Marijuana Dispensary Analysis

Unincorporated areas have mixed zoning allowed for commercial and residential buildings to coexist. This now becomes a problem because according to Crystal Thomas and Bridget Freisthler, authors of “Examining the Locations of Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in Los Angeles,” medical marijuana dispensaries are mainly operating in locations that are commercially zoned, with easy access to highways. Thomas and Freisthler emphasize that, “an analysis of the location of dispensaries throughout 39 California cities indicate that dispensaries are located in block groups with higher rates of poverty, co-located next to alcohol outlets, and in areas just outside of city boundaries.” This puts impressionable youth, that may already be at risk at an even