SANTA ANA, Calif.—As cities in Orange County, California, continue to debate allowing retail cannabis, proponents argue that legal dispensaries will help drive out black market operations. But while that might be the case in some cities, the reality is much more complex. Elliot Lewis, founder and CEO of Catalyst Cannabis Co. in Santa Ana, said the tension between the two markets creates a conundrum with no clear solution. “I’m not one of these guys that’s like, it’s gonna go away in a couple of years. It’s gonna be a decade,” he told The Epoch Times. Lewis, who aims to triple his number of retail stores in Southern California in the near future, said the illicit market poses a long-term problem for licensed dispensaries. “I know guys that are never getting into the legal cannabis industry. Why would [they] do that? I mean, it’s a lot of red tape,” he said. …
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