No dispensaries allowed near McDonald’s?!?

South Whittier (MyFOXLA)- A medical marijuana dispensary in unincorporated South Whittier was ordered today to close for operating in violation of county rules.

The Starlight 420 Center had been selling marijuana at 15640 Leffingwell Road for more than six months, according to county Supervisor Don Knabe.

The county sought to close the dispensary because of multiple code violations, including proximity to children’s play areas.

The dispensary allegedly opened without obtaining or applying for a business license or conditional use permit and was operating 285 feet from a McDonald’s playground and 595 feet from a child care center, according to Knabe.

The county’s zoning ordinance for marijuana dispensaries was adopted in 2006 and prohibits dispensaries from operating within 1,000 feet of facilities for children.

Try to find a place in Los Angeles more than 1000' away from a McDonald's

OK, I am a proponent of regulated marijuana and that means I have to expect dispensaries to obey the rules.  If they didn’t file for the proper license or permit and those licenses and permits are reasonably routine to obtain, then they deserve to be closed down.

However, you know what I think of these “1000 foot limits” that mandate dispensaries must be located far from schools, playgrounds, libraries, rehabs, residences, etc.  In an urban setting, it can be unreasonably difficult to find a business location that isn’t 1000 feet from any of these places, so the zoning restrictions act as a de facto ban on dispensaries.

But if we’re going to start considering McDonald’s Play Areas as “playgrounds” for the purposes of zoning out dispensaries, then the dispensaries don’t stand a chance!

Location of 13,000+ McDonald's restaurants in America

The farthest you can get from a McDonald’s in the continental United States is 145 miles (Glad Valley, South Dakota).  The concentration in Southern California puts you within walking distance of McDonald’s about anywhere in the LA metro area.

If McDonald’s Play Areas are now going to be considered “facilities for children”, how long before any fast food restaurant with a kids’ meal is considered such a facility?  Certainly any Chuck E. Cheese pizza place has to qualify.  How about movie theaters that show PG films?  Corporate offices with a day care facility?  Sports stadiums that have diaper changing tables in the restrooms?  I guess what I’m wondering is what separates a “facility for children” from a “facility that accommodates children”?

Also, what exactly is the danger to the children of the marijuana dispensary being located down the block from the McDonald’s?  Here’s a Google Map street view I just pulled up of the exact location:

The adult alcohol nightclub is closer to McDonald's than the adult marijuana dispensary

First of all the whole strip mall and McDonald’s are located on a very busy five-lane road.  The dispensary is in the strip mall with fifty feet of parking lot between the business and the sidewalk.  Within the very same strip mall – and much closer to the McDonald’s – is a cocktail lounge called “Animal Crackers“.

So somehow buying and selling of marijuana by adults who aren’t using it onsite is a danger to the children walking down a busy Los Angeles boulevard to play at a McDonald’s.  But buying and selling of alcohol by adults who are getting intoxicated onsite isn’t a threat to the children whatsoever.  Even if the alcohol is being consumed at a place that is open seven days a week from six in the morning til close (I called) and is named after a popular children’s cookie.