In a typical pot is bad, religion (Scientology) is good speech, Sheriff Baca, who is the co-chair of the No on 19 campaign, spouted off numerous claims. Among the claims made by Sheriff Baca, marijuana dispensaries are “hijacked by underground drug-dealing criminals” and that “it is no surprise that people are going to get killed … drugs and violence go together.” Sheriff Baca also claimed that as many as 97 percent of dispensaries operate as criminal enterprises, and that many buy their marijuana from Mexican drug cartels.
However, Los Angeles Police Chief, Charles Beck, has called bullshit on his claims. Beck said, “I have tried to verify that because that, of course, is the mantra, it doesn’t really bear out.”
The DEA also said that they could not substantiate Baca’s allegations.