The "for lease" sign at one former Fresno medical marijuana dispensary doesn't mean dispensaries have gone away inside city limits.
Since the city shut down the pot collectives, "open" signs have turned on at new dispensaries, but on Fresno County islands.
"The city handled the problem in their jurisdiction and now the problem has moved to ours," said Fresno County Undersheriff Scott Jones.
County islands like Tarpey Village, Mayfair and Old Fig are right along Fresno city boundaries, but they're under county supervision.
And a map from the website legalmarijuanadispensary.com shows they're popular places for new pot collectives, much to the dismay of neighbors.
"It brings a lot of lower life people around here," said Andrew Dean, who lives near Ashlan and Clovis, not far from the new Earth Source and the new Green Valley Collective. "I can smell it, so I don't want to be outside because I exercise a lot and I don't want to be around it."
We tried to speak to owners at both stores, but they didn't want to talk about the situation.
The Sheriff's Department is talking about it, though.
They're working on a county ordinance banning medical marijuana storefronts, and they say the dispensary owners are making themselves targets -- not for law enforcement, but for law breakers who want their plants.
"They're worth $2,000 to $3,000 a plant on the street," said Undersheriff Jones. "You're going to have 200 plants in there? Add it up. That's a quick money maker for a criminal."
Most county supervisors are in favor of some sort of pot dispensary ban, so it may be just a matter of time before the "open" signs are turned off for good.
