Go figure, as they say and yes it’s all about the law.
San Gabriel Valley Tribune
In the past three years, El Monte’s effort to shut down illegal marijuana growers and dealers has brought in $1.2 million for the city, nearly the same amount the city generated from taxing legal cannabis businesses in the same time period.
Since 2020, El Monte has launched 62 lawsuits against property owners and tenants growing and selling cannabis out of homes and warehouses throughout the city, according to David Welch, an attorney hired by the city to handle the civil cases. The El Monte Police Department was conducting almost weekly raids on illegal cultivators at the time, but the decriminalization of marijuana in California made criminal charges an ineffective deterrent, Welch said.
“The city was inundated,” Welch said. “The idea behind civil enforcement is that we go after the object of the illegal activity, which is the money they intend to make. The penalties can be significant.”
Of the lawsuits, roughly half have been settled, records show. The defendants in each case, either through a stipulation or a judgment, also must agree that they will not operate in the city again.
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El Monte’s war on illegal cannabis almost as lucrative as revenue from legal activity
