San Diego marijuana delivery crackdown results in 34 arrests

Over the past calendar year, San Diego police have shuttered at least 11 illegal cannabis delivery operations within the city, arrested 34 suspects, issued 15 search warrants and confiscated 230 pounds of marijuana and $60,000 in cash.

The only effective way to deal with the problem, many industry advocates say, is to provide such businesses with a way into the legal market. In other words, issue more business licenses to more companies.

And yet, underground delivery businesses continue to flourish, not just in San Diego but across California.

According to San Diego TV station NBC 7, only licensed marijuana storefronts in the city are allowed to perform deliveries, but that hasn’t kept “dozens” of illegal delivery operations from advertising online.

“If you want the black market to go away, give them a path for legalization,” one former San Diego shop owner told NBC 7.

“If we have the same opportunities to be licensed and be regulated, all those issues would kind of disappear the way they have with the legal dispensaries.”