The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a motion to “deplatform” illegal marijuana dispensaries, calling for their removal from Google, Yelp and other online platforms.
Introduced by Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, the measure calls on several county agencies to prepare written reports within three months on potential steps to end unauthorized cannabis advertising — including online marketing — in unincorporated areas of the county.
Approved 5-0 as part of Tuesday’s consent agenda, the measure also directs five county leaders to write and sign a letter calling on several popular websites “to voluntarily cease advertising illegal cannabis dispensaries in the county.”
The goal is to encourage operators of Yelp, Google and other platforms to differentiate between licensed and unlicensed cannabis dispensaries, allowing consumers to make informed decisions about where to purchase.
Web giants like Alphabet, Google’s parent company, and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, have voluntarily removed ads and other content in the past in response to reports of political misinformation and other serious violations of their terms of service. But the recent events in New York demonstrate that compelling these platforms to remove content isn’t always easy.
In February, Gov. Kathy Hochul asked Google and Yelp to delist illegitimate marijuana dispensaries as the state began to see its nascent recreational marijuana industry grow, as the Associated Press reported at the time. Early results weren’t promising, as many illicit dispensaries remained on the sites while some of New York’s fledgling legal dispensaries were repeatedly delisted.
Alphabet, Meta and Yelp did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Illegal dispensaries are undercutting their legitimate counterparts in California communities by skirting testing and licensing requirements, not paying taxes, and avoiding regulation, allowing them to sell products at bargain prices. It can be difficult for customers to tell if the stores are legit.
“Unfortunately, it is now more difficult than ever to distinguish between licensed and unlicensed dispensaries,” the measure states. “When searching for a cannabis dispensary, search engines and GPS platforms like Google and Apple Maps do not distinguish between licensed and unlicensed businesses, but instead return results that more often than not contain unlicensed dispensaries, thereby legitimizing problematic establishments.”
The motion cites a February report from the Pew Research Center that found there were nearly 1,500 cannabis dispensaries in Los Angeles County; as of 2022, only 384 of them were properly licensed.
Other places have done a better job of policing illegal dispensaries. San Diego County has made cracking down on illegal businesses a priority and has effectively eliminated them, the Times reported in June. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles County police force tasked with enforcing dispensaries only conducts two to four a month, according to a team member. Many reopen within weeks of the arrests.
In Michigan, as the Times reported last month, the cannabis industry is booming and illegal dispensaries are relatively rare after targeted enforcement efforts shut down many unlicensed retailers in recent years.
Several members of the public provided comments ahead of Tuesday’s hearing, including Daria Brooks, who wrote that “all advertising campaigns should be removed from social media for illegal cannabis stores operating in unincorporated areas. … Advertising on social platforms leads to more crime, traffic problems and unwanted loiterers in our neighborhoods.”
Times staff writer Rebecca Ellis contributed to this report.
