Oakland may allow large-scale commerical cannabis grows

[stonedstoner]

have you guys heard about this shit? i don't know about this...sounds sketch to me.

City Councilmembers Larry Reid and Rebecca Kaplan are planning to propose new legislation possibly as soon as this month that they hope will help limit the public hazards often associated with large-scale illegal marijuana growing operations.

Their plan would work like this: Oakland would sanction a small number of commercial medical marijuana cultivators, regulate them carefully, collect taxes on the revenue and, Reid and Kaplan hope, help keep neighborhoods safer.

"There are a lot of fires that are started by people out there trying to put their own systems in place," Reid said. "Hopefully, issuing these three or four permits will help move it out of residential neighborhoods and into industrial neighborhoods where it's done right."

To supporters of the idea, issuing permits for commercial growing is a logical step after Oakland became the country's first city in 2009 to adopt a voter-approved special tax on medical cannabis dispensaries.

The proposal is limited in scope. The city would issue permits to no more than four cultivation operations, while expanding the number of legally operating dispensaries from four to six, the two council members said. The plan could go to the council's public safety committee as soon as June 22.

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