Halfway through the summer, Humberto “Junior” Martinez went to visit a friend who owns a legal-marijuana store in LA’s San Fernando Valley. Martinez and the friend both got into the cannabis industry a decade ago, but over time, the vagaries of pot policy in Los Angeles left a wide gap in their fortunes.
“Hey Junior!” the shop owner said when he saw Martinez surveying the shelves of bud from his wheelchair, the result of a 2007 motorcycle accident. “What are you up to these days?”
“Just trying to get legal, man,” Martinez responded.
“Aw, well, don’t worry. You’ll work it out!”
Easy for him to say, Martinez thought. Both men had been running quasi-legal marijuana businesses, paying their taxes and playing nice with the city in the hopes that someday, the government would grant their dispensaries the same protections as any other legitimate store. But now, more than nine months after recreational marijuana sales were legalized in California, Martinez had been left behind, while his friend enjoyed the spoils of owning one of only 169 licensed pot shops in the city of LA.