The prospect of vans loaded with pot delivering to homes in the upscale San Jose, Ca., suburb of Morgan Hill makes Police Chief David Swing uneasy. Like most cities in the state, Morgan Hill has banned pot shops. As California considers a proposal to allow marijuana businesses to send home-delivery vans into places where retail stores are prohibited, Swing and others in law enforcement say they are preparing for the worst, the Los Angeles Times reports. “This will make it easier and more lucrative to rob a delivery person than a liquor store,” said Swing, president of the California Police Chiefs Association. Noting that drivers would be allowed to carry up to $10,000 in cash, he says, “Robberies are the tip of the iceberg. They can lead to other crimes, including aggravated assaults and homicides.”
Law enforcement leaders and city officials statewide have lined up to oppose the delivery proposal under consideration by California Bureau of Cannabis Control chief Lori Ajax. They were among the thousands of people who packed three public hearings recently held by the bureau on new marijuana regulations. The League of California Cities, which represents the state’s 482 municipalities, has joined with the police chiefs in a campaign to kill the delivery proposal. The groups have set up a website, StopWanderingWeed.com, asking Californians to “protect our children and schools” by signing a petition to oppose the rule change. It features a cartoon showing schoolchildren reacting gleefully to the arrival of a delivery van with a marijuana leaf on its side. The United Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents many of the state’s cannabis industry employees, put up Facebook ads opposing the proposal. The group sees deliveries as a threat to legal pot shops.