L.A. County calls on Yelp, Google to ‘deplatform’ illegal cannabis dispensaries

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a motion Tuesday to “deplatform” illegal cannabis dispensaries, seeking their removal from Google, Yelp and other online platforms.
Introduced by Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, the measure instructs multiple county agencies to prepare reports within three months on potential steps to stop unauthorized cannabis advertising — including online marketing — in the county’s unincorporated areas.
Approved 5 to 0 as part of Tuesday’s consent agenda, the measure also directs five county leaders to write and sign a letter calling on several popular websites “to voluntarily cease advertising illegal cannabis dispensaries in the County.”
The goal is to encourage the operators of Yelp, Google, and other platforms to differentiate between licensed and unlicensed cannabis dispensaries, enabling consumers to make informed decisions about where to shop.
Online giants such as Alphabet, the parent company of Google, as well as Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, have voluntarily removed ads and other content in the past in response to reports of political misinformation and other serious violations of their terms of use. But recent developments in New York demonstrate that it’s not always easy to compel such platforms to remove content.
In February, Gov. Kathy Hochul pleaded with Google and Yelp to delist illegitimate cannabis dispensaries as the state began to see the rollout of its nascent recreational cannabis industry, as the Associated Press reported at the time. Initial results were not promising, as many illicit dispensaries remained on the sites while some of New York’s fledgling legal dispensaries were repeatedly delisted.
Alphabet and Meta did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A Yelp spokesperson said the company does not allow cannabis dispensaries to purchase ads on its platform.
“Yelp believes consumers have a First Amendment right to read and share information about all businesses, even if unlicensed,” the spokesperson said via email. “Allowing users to contribute and see information (including complaints) about unlicensed businesses serves the public interest and provides a resource for regulators to determine whether any particular business has appropriate licenses.”
Illegal dispensaries undercut their legitimate counterparts in communities across California by skirting testing and licensing requirements, not paying taxes, and otherwise avoiding regulation, which allows them to sell products at bargain prices. It can be difficult for customers to tell whether stores are on the up and up.
“Unfortunately, distinguishing between licensed and unlicensed dispensaries is now more difficult than ever,” the measure states. “When searching for a cannabis dispensary, search engine and GPS platforms such as Google and Apple Maps do not distinguish between licensed and unlicensed businesses, but instead give results that contain, more often than not, unlicensed dispensaries, thus legitimizing problematic establishments.”
The motion cites a February report by the Pew Research Center that found there were nearly 1,500 cannabis dispensaries in L.A. County; as of 2022, only 384 of them were properly licensed.
Other places have done a better job keeping illegal dispensaries in check. San Diego County has made fighting the illegitimate businesses a priority and effectively eliminated them, The Times reported in June. Meanwhile, the L.A. County law enforcement team responsible for enforcing dispensary laws only raids two to four of them per month, according to a member of the team. Many reopen within weeks of the busts.
In Michigan, as The Times reported last month, the pot industry is booming and illegal dispensaries are a relative rarity after dedicated enforcement efforts led to the closure of many unlicensed retailers in recent years.
Several members of the public submitted comment before the Tuesday hearing, including Daria Brooks, who wrote that “all advertising campaigns should be removed from social media for illegal cannabis shops operating in unincorporated areas. … Advertising on social platforms brings more crime, traffic issues and unwanted loiterers into our neighborhoods.”
Times staff writer Rebecca Ellis contributed to this report.