When Long Beach’s City Council first approved opening medical marijuana dispensaries in 2010, Jeff Abrams was there.

He opened the One Love Beach Club dispensary on Broadway, certain that his dream of treating maladies with marijuana was coming true.

“The city was moving in a very positive direction,” Abrams said. “They had the carrot of a business license, and we got one.

“Then something called the Pack ruling came down,” Abrams said. The ruling, which eventually landed in the state Supreme Court, said that the way Long Beach had determined who got dispensary licenses violated the state constitution. The City Council passed another ordinance banning marijuana cooperatives or dispensaries until it could find a way to remedy the problem.

That process went on for more than five years. Despite task forces and committees, no set of regulations could convince the majority of the council to reopen the dispensaries.

“There was a lack of political will,” Abrams said. “We were watching the council twist in the wind, and there was a lot of NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) as well. Then the council changed, but still no movement.”

Ultimately, a coalition of dispensary operators put together a ballot initiative for the 2016 general election, and easily gathered enough signatures to put it on the ballot. A last-ditch attempt to offer an alternative failed, and the ballot issue passed with almost 60% of the vote.

Under the complex regulations created by the city to decide who would get one of the 32 maximum licenses (there were more than 200 applications), dispensary operators who had been in business under the original ordinance, and who could reopen in the same location, got preference. Abrams fit the bill, and started the licensing process.

Last week, One Love Beach Club reopened at 2767 E. Broadway, next to Gallagher’s Pub & Grill.

“When medical marijuana was in town before, there was no uptick in crime,” Abrams said. “Now we’ve got what we should have had five or six years ago. Regulations have been ‘fortified’ with a whole bunch of silly stuff, but we acquiesced in order to get open… You have no idea how much good we can do. The research is just catching up. In particular, we’re very interested in veterans. We’re going to have a lot of programs for veterans.”

Even while Abrams touts the virtues of marijuana as a medicine, he makes no secret that he’s ready to sell recreational marijuana as well. He said he already has a state license to sell recreational marijuana, and has a strong relationship with a supplier that already has required quality and pesticide testing in place.

Long Beach’s City Council put a six-month moratorium on selling recreational marijuana at the end of last year. That will give the city attorney and other staff time to put adequate regulations in place, the council said.

In the meantime, money is pouring out of Long Beach, Abrams said. There are stiff taxes on medical marijuana, and those taxes go up for recreational marijuana sales.

“When we opened, I’ll bet we had one medical patient for 10 people looking to buy for recreation,” Abrams said. “I have to tell them they have to go to Santa Ana, because that’s the closest legal place… Who does that hurt? The city.”

Abrams said he is a member of the Long Beach Collective Association, and has become a union shop under the UCFW local 324. That allows him access to the union’s credit union, resolving one of the thorniest issues for dispensaries — how to deal with payroll, paying for product and the rest when they must deal with cash. Because marijuana possession still is a federal crime, banks typically won’t do business with dispensaries.

And Abrams said he hires only Long Beach people — including his own family. Sons Jeremy and Zak help manage the dispensary, and Abrams’s wife Judy was behind the counter for the grand opening.

“This is just the beginning,” Abrams said. “I’ve been a marijuana advocate since the 1980s, and we’re finally finding a way.”

Hours at One Love Beach Club are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week (the maximum allowed under city ordinance). To get in, customers must have a valid medical marijuana card. For more information: 1love420.com or call (562) 343-5388.