Where you can legally buy recreational marijuana in Santa Ana on Jan. 1

Santa Ana dispensaries will be able to sell marijuana to adults 21 and older with just an ID starting at 7 a.m. on New Year’s Day after the state issued last-minute licenses to shops on Saturday, Dec. 30, according to the O.C. Register.

While the State of California will legalize recreational cannabis sales on Jan. 1, because the voters approved this when they voted for Prop. 64 in 2016, only a few cities, including San Diego and the Coachella Valley, have passed local ordinances allowing for legal marijuana sales. The City of Los Angeles is still weeks away from getting local permits approved. The City of West Hollywood won’t let its local pot shops start selling marijuana until Jan. 2.

However the City of Santa Ana moved quickly to issue permits just after Christmas, which will allow 17 medical marijuana shops in town to start selling recreational marijuana. The State of California’s Bureau of Cannabis Control will be working all weekend to approve the licenses for Santa Ana shops.

The state started handing out temporary licenses to businesses in mid-December. But in order to get a state license, shops must first get permits from their local jurisdictions.

Here are the Santa Ana marijuana shops that have been licensed and will be able to sell cannabis products starting on Monday, Jan. 1, 2018, at 7 a.m., without a doctor’s prescription or recommendation:

• ShowGrow at 1625 E St Gertrude Pl.
• People’s OC at 2721 S Grand Ave.
• 420 Central at 420 W Central Ave.
• OC3 at 3122 S Halladay St.
• Blum at 2911 Tech Center Dr.
• MedMen Orange County at 2141 S. Wright St.
• From the Earth at 3023 S. Orange Ave.
• Kannabis Works at 2106 S. Susan St.
• Evergreen at 1320. E. Edinger Ave.
• Connected (Hand N Hand) at 2400 Pullman St., Unit B
• The Joint at 1325 E. St. Andrew Place
• Strain Station OC at 730 E. Dyer Road
• New Generation at 3700 W. Segerstrom Ave.
• 10 Spot at 3242 S. Halladay St.
• SCSA (South Coast Safe Access) at 1900 E. Warner Ave.
• SuperClinik at 2525 S. Birch St.
• Bud and Bloom at 1327 E. Saint Gertrude Place

I am sure that the Santa Ana City Council majority will be showing up at these shops on Monday, particularly Sal Tinajero and Vince Sarmiento. They are betting that taxes derived from legal marijuana sales will save the City of Santa Ana from bankruptcy.

But will all of this marijuana have a negative impact on our city? What will tons of legal marijuana do? Will more of our residents begin smoking pot?

Police departments surely can’t wait to start issuing marijuana DUI tickets – which will surely be another way that the City of Santa Ana will make a ton of money.

Marijuana remains illegal on a federal level which means that all of these pot shops cannot put their marijuana money in banks. So expect to see lots of armed security guards at all of these dispensaries.

It is possible that our local fast food restaurants will thrive with marijuana munchies resulting in more sales of unhealthy junk food.

Art Pedroza Editor

Our Editor, Art Pedroza, worked at the O.C. Register and the OC Weekly and studied journalism at CSUF and UCI. He has lived in Santa Ana for over 30 years and has served on several city and county commissions. When he is not writing or editing Pedroza specializes in risk control and occupational safety. He also teaches part time at Cerritos College and CSUF. Pedroza has an MBA from Keller University.

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