An employee at a medical cannabis collective in Northridge was shot in the face and critically wounded on Saturday – the third violent armed robbery in Los Angeles in less than one week. It is unlikely that the robberies are related, but the sudden outburst of violence has turned up the heat in the debate about medical cannabis state wide. Some elected officials are already using these tragedies as a rationale for rolling back safe access at the state and local level.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca suggested the killings may be linked to drug cartels last week. At a Senate committee hearing on Tuesday, California Assemblymember Joan Buchanan (D-Alamo) used newspaper clippings of last week’s shootings to win support for a bill that will mandate a 600-foot buffer zone between collectives and schools statewide (AB 2650). And now, Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich is calling for a ban on collectives in unincorporated areas of the county. This would overturn the counties 2006 ordinance regulating the facilities.

The political fallout from the violence in Los Angeles will be significant for local efforts to regulate safe access this year, and may also be a factor in statewide legislation next year. The controversy will also be a part of the debate about Proposition 19, which will allow local jurisdictions to tax and regulate non-medical cannabis. Advocates will have to overcome normal emotional reactions to violence like this, as well as cynical efforts to use these tragedies for political ends, to be sure we do not lose important political ground.

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