mrktwiz
Member
After seeing the number of medical marijuana dispensaries surge for more than a year as they weighed how to control them, San Jose leaders decided Wednesday that enough is enough.
Some City Council members now want to pare down the estimated 110 pot clubs to about 10.
Mayor Chuck Reed and three other council members called for a meeting on April 12 to decide how to ratchet back the number of medical marijuana collectives and restrict where they may operate. Taking that action would speed up an effort to develop regulations that were not expected to be completed until at least June.
"Personally, I'm ready to decide -- I'm ready to decide today," the exasperated mayor said at the agenda-setting Rules and Open Government Committee he heads. "This is hearing No. 8 for me on this."
Wednesday's move was a profound shift for San Jose, where the city's ambiguous intentions in the past year spawned what may be the largest concentration of medical marijuana dispensaries in the Bay Area. Other cities imposed limits or outright bans after the federal government's newfound tolerance for medical marijuana kindled a statewide "green rush."
When San Jose Councilman Pierluigi Oliverio first proposed permitting and taxing a limited number of medical marijuana dispensaries in the city in October 2009, there were only a couple known to be operating. The holdup of regulating them had much to do with a shifting legal landscape.
A statewide ballot measure in November, Proposition 19, threatened to legalize recreational pot smoking and upend the regulatory framework that has been evolving since California voters in 1996 approved the drug's medical use with a doctor's approval.
Prop. 19 failed at the polls. But at the same time, voters in San Jose and other cities approved new taxes for marijuana providers. San Jose began imposing its 7 percent marijuana business tax this month, even while acknowledging that all of the dispensaries are illegal because the city has yet to adopt provisions that allow any of them.
Members committed
Late last week, Vice Mayor Madison Nguyen and council members Rose Herrera, Pete Constant and Sam Liccardo signed a proposal that would limit the number of dispensaries to 10.
"I hear from residents who are very unhappy with the proliferation of these clubs," said Herrera, who sits on the rules committee.
Oliverio, also a committee member, prodded other council members, asking them why they weren't prepared to cap the number of dispensaries months ago.
Liccardo said that when the council last considered the matter in December, there were concerns that allowing a small number of dispensaries would give them legal ammunition to argue they had satisfied city zoning regulation -- a point the city "was not willing to concede."
Like the earlier hearings on the subject, Wednesday's committee meeting drew a capacity crowd of dispensary operators, marijuana activists and users, some in business suits and others in dreadlocks and flip-flops. They agreed there are too many dispensaries in San Jose, but panned the suggestion of limiting the number to just 10, arguing that smaller cities such as San Francisco and Sacramento allow about three times that number.
Still, many marijuana providers were encouraged to see city leaders at least finally moving toward adopting some sort of regulatory framework.
"It looks like they're finally getting their act together," said Pat Knoop, executive director of the Holistic Health Care dispensary, which has been operating since November 2009 and has about 3,000 members. "Now, we have to hope they don't screw it up."
Is Los Angeles a model?
How San Jose will impose order on the city's marijuana free-for-all remains to be seen. Knoop and others noted parallels to Los Angeles, where the city's move last June to limiting its 500 to 600 known dispensaries to as few as 70 remains a work in progress.
After a judge in December blocked parts of Los Angeles' ordinance, the city in January adopted a temporary ordinance aimed at allowing 100 medical marijuana dispensaries. Only those in operation on Nov. 14, 2007, need apply for a permit.
Los Angeles has had 228 applications from dispensaries, and the 100 that will be approved will be selected by a drawing, Assistant City Attorney Asha Greenberg said.
San Jose officials, in addition to deciding how many marijuana collectives to allow -- Oliverio and others suggested 20 to 30 -- must also figure out how they'll choose which ones get to stay.
But Reed tossed out an idea: Charge a fee to applicants and hold an online auction on eBay for permits.
There were gasps and chuckles among the crowd, with some whispering that Reed must be "smoking something." But the mayor made clear he was serious, noting precedents such as the federal government's auctioning of radio spectrums to broadcast stations.
Liccardo liked the idea.
"I'm a fan of eBay -- it's a homegrown company," Reed told the crowd, adding the city could use the application fee proceeds from the auction to "chase all the others out of town."
Some City Council members now want to pare down the estimated 110 pot clubs to about 10.
Mayor Chuck Reed and three other council members called for a meeting on April 12 to decide how to ratchet back the number of medical marijuana collectives and restrict where they may operate. Taking that action would speed up an effort to develop regulations that were not expected to be completed until at least June.
"Personally, I'm ready to decide -- I'm ready to decide today," the exasperated mayor said at the agenda-setting Rules and Open Government Committee he heads. "This is hearing No. 8 for me on this."
Wednesday's move was a profound shift for San Jose, where the city's ambiguous intentions in the past year spawned what may be the largest concentration of medical marijuana dispensaries in the Bay Area. Other cities imposed limits or outright bans after the federal government's newfound tolerance for medical marijuana kindled a statewide "green rush."
When San Jose Councilman Pierluigi Oliverio first proposed permitting and taxing a limited number of medical marijuana dispensaries in the city in October 2009, there were only a couple known to be operating. The holdup of regulating them had much to do with a shifting legal landscape.
A statewide ballot measure in November, Proposition 19, threatened to legalize recreational pot smoking and upend the regulatory framework that has been evolving since California voters in 1996 approved the drug's medical use with a doctor's approval.
Prop. 19 failed at the polls. But at the same time, voters in San Jose and other cities approved new taxes for marijuana providers. San Jose began imposing its 7 percent marijuana business tax this month, even while acknowledging that all of the dispensaries are illegal because the city has yet to adopt provisions that allow any of them.
Members committed
Late last week, Vice Mayor Madison Nguyen and council members Rose Herrera, Pete Constant and Sam Liccardo signed a proposal that would limit the number of dispensaries to 10.
"I hear from residents who are very unhappy with the proliferation of these clubs," said Herrera, who sits on the rules committee.
Oliverio, also a committee member, prodded other council members, asking them why they weren't prepared to cap the number of dispensaries months ago.
Liccardo said that when the council last considered the matter in December, there were concerns that allowing a small number of dispensaries would give them legal ammunition to argue they had satisfied city zoning regulation -- a point the city "was not willing to concede."
Like the earlier hearings on the subject, Wednesday's committee meeting drew a capacity crowd of dispensary operators, marijuana activists and users, some in business suits and others in dreadlocks and flip-flops. They agreed there are too many dispensaries in San Jose, but panned the suggestion of limiting the number to just 10, arguing that smaller cities such as San Francisco and Sacramento allow about three times that number.
Still, many marijuana providers were encouraged to see city leaders at least finally moving toward adopting some sort of regulatory framework.
"It looks like they're finally getting their act together," said Pat Knoop, executive director of the Holistic Health Care dispensary, which has been operating since November 2009 and has about 3,000 members. "Now, we have to hope they don't screw it up."
Is Los Angeles a model?
How San Jose will impose order on the city's marijuana free-for-all remains to be seen. Knoop and others noted parallels to Los Angeles, where the city's move last June to limiting its 500 to 600 known dispensaries to as few as 70 remains a work in progress.
After a judge in December blocked parts of Los Angeles' ordinance, the city in January adopted a temporary ordinance aimed at allowing 100 medical marijuana dispensaries. Only those in operation on Nov. 14, 2007, need apply for a permit.
Los Angeles has had 228 applications from dispensaries, and the 100 that will be approved will be selected by a drawing, Assistant City Attorney Asha Greenberg said.
San Jose officials, in addition to deciding how many marijuana collectives to allow -- Oliverio and others suggested 20 to 30 -- must also figure out how they'll choose which ones get to stay.
But Reed tossed out an idea: Charge a fee to applicants and hold an online auction on eBay for permits.
There were gasps and chuckles among the crowd, with some whispering that Reed must be "smoking something." But the mayor made clear he was serious, noting precedents such as the federal government's auctioning of radio spectrums to broadcast stations.
Liccardo liked the idea.
"I'm a fan of eBay -- it's a homegrown company," Reed told the crowd, adding the city could use the application fee proceeds from the auction to "chase all the others out of town."
