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<\/a>The EMBR dispensary is part of a growing retail district along Center Street. (Photo by Adrian Childress\/Times of San Diego)<\/p>\n\u201cThere was a huge increase in traffic in an area that we hadn\u2019t normally seen a lot of traffic,\u201d said Lieutenant Travis Higgins, public information officer.\u00a0 \u201cIt was just a change in what officers see day in and day out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The change was not negative, just different, for the department, Higgins said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Center Street today is a bustling road. There\u2019s an event venue, axe throwing, two breweries, a winery and a coffee roastery nestled between industrial fabrication shops and waste disposal centers \u2013 a major change in a formerly industrial pass-through zone.<\/p>\n
Despite what critics say, Lt. Higgins says dispensaries do not make more calls for service than other businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere really hasn\u2019t been too much of an effect on public safety and the law enforcement realm,\u201d Higgins said. \u201cIn general, it\u2019s been a good relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n
And detectives use surveillance video from outside dispensaries<\/a> so often in investigations that McDermott installed two license plate readers during a remodel, one of which is pointed at the Interstate 8 on and off ramp for Spring Street.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t see crime around our dispensaries, because there are armed guards. There\u2019s surveillance,\u201d said Councilmember Lauren Cazares. \u201cThey\u2019re not drawing in danger to the communities.\u201d<\/p>\n But dispensaries are not limited to the industrial zone of Center Street.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Dispensaries are spread throughout La Mesa, with zoning rules that require dispensaries to be 1,000 feet from each other and any sensitive locations like schools and churches.\u00a0<\/p>\n Some are located right against the city\u2019s borders, making La Mesa a destination for outsiders. Customers come from the east, where many areas have yet to legalize cannabis, and the west, where La Mesa\u2019s low tax rate makes it an economical trip<\/a>.<\/p>\n As La Mesa became a cannabis destination for the region, McDermott felt more ostracized by his own neighbors.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIn the beginning, I took it personal,\u201d he said. \u201cNah, man, I\u2019m a tax-paying citizen. I\u2019m probably paying more taxes than any of the businesses here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n In April, Councilmember Cazares advanced a policy change so dispensaries <\/a>could use the word \u201ccannabis\u201d in signage, which she said brought clarity for users and non-users alike, particularly for dispensaries such as Cookies that could be mistaken for a bakery.\u00a0<\/p>\n While the recreational cannabis market has waned slightly throughout California<\/a>, Cazares says La Mesa\u2019s modest tax rate continues to lure businesses and visitors in.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou still see people coming into La Mesa because you\u2019re going to get better prices in La Mesa,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n On top of California\u2019s excise tax of 15%, La Mesa\u2019s 4% tax rate is the lowest in the county, which does impact the final cost put on consumers.\u00a0<\/p>\n