California pot dealers complain about the lack of police protection

 Robert E. Ford:

When drug dealers complain about the lack of law enforcement protection, the boomerang has come full circle and hit us in the back of the head.

Gangs of smash-and-grab thieves have targeted cannabis shops in the San Francisco Bay Area while firing 175 shots and stealing about $5 million's worth of products.  Alphonso "Tucky" Blunt, owner of a legal cannabis shop, criticized poor police protection and the bureaucratic details of business in Oakland: "I was safer, and had more money, [selling] on the street, illegally."  Such is the economic reality of the Bay area.

The thieves resell the stolen pot on the streets.  City supervisor Rafael Mandeman said, "Sadly, the illegal market is flourishing by undercutting the prices of legal businesses, which is bad for our economy as illegal businesses pay no taxes."  For politicians, the sad part is the "no taxes" part.  For the owners, it is the loss of their business. 

What the city fathers did not foresee when they reduced economic crimes under $950 from a felony to a misdemeanor and advocated defunding the police, eliminating bail, and reducing jail overcrowding was the loss of their revenue.  But it's been worse than that: in October, the pharmacy chain Walgreens announced plans to close five of its stores in San Francisco, citing theft and retail crime as the main motivator behind its decision.  And that was only the beginning.  Some small businesses are following suit, like this Palo Alto clothing store.  "I felt for us it was not only the safest thing but the smartest thing to just pull back our inventory and close the doors," said Danny Ryan, who owns Kickz Inc. on Stevens Creek Blvd.  "Our retail store will be closed indefinitely until further notice."

...

California's disastrous laws are killing businesses of all stripes and the Democrats who control the state do not have a plan to protect the innocent.  They have imposed the opposite of the broken window policing that save New York under Guliani and crime is flourishing. 

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