“They’re supposed to have no public access. “It’s clear there has not been a negative impact on the city by allowing these uses,” Young said. He said that’s primarily because such businesses have little or no contact with the public. of Cannabis Professionals, said 30 businesses already engaged in cultivation, manufacturing and testing with tacit city approval have generated no complaints. “Officials throughout Colorado flat-out told our team the revenue was just not worth these costs,” said Zimmerman, who is retiring in March.ĭallin Young, executive director of the Assn. She said the city’s legal marijuana dispensaries, which began operating less than three years ago, have generated 272 calls for service from police for burglaries, robberies, thefts, assaults and shootings. “I urge you not to allow any further marijuana facilities within our city.” “The negative consequences and secondary effects of the legal marijuana industry being allowed to operate on a larger scale in our city of San Diego are enormous,” she warned the council before their vote. Zimmerman said she doubted that revenue would be worth it. That tax, which could rise as high as 15% with council approval, would apply to pot farms and factories as well as dispensaries. San Diego voters approved a local tax on recreational marijuana in November that would start at 5% and rise to 8% in July 2019. “We were elected if nothing else to oversee public safety, and we’re just absolutely going down the wrong road.” “I think we should listen to our police chief,” Zapf said. “San Diego consumers are counting on us to provide them a safe product.”Ĭouncilwoman Lorie Zapf, who joined with colleagues Scott Sherman and Chris Cate to cast the “no” votes, said she shared the concerns expressed by Zimmerman. “If we don’t allow all parts of the supply chain in San Diego, we are merely enabling a large black market,” she said. “Would we tell Stone Brewery that we wanted them to manufacture everything in Riverside County and truck it down? Would we tell Ballast Point they can only grow their hops up in Humboldt?”Ĭouncilwoman Barbara Bry said creating a legalized local supply chain was crucial. “Having sound policy and regulations in place will allow the city to enforce its rules and assist the cannabis industry in regulating itself,” he said. The council also eliminated that rule.Ĭouncilman Chris Ward said the decision was obvious to him. Instead, the council set a citywide cap of 40 such businesses.Īnother proposal from staff that the marijuana industry opposed was a rule prohibiting such businesses from opening within 100 feet of each other or dispensaries. The council also eliminated a proposed cap of two cultivating, manufacturing and testing businesses per council district, which would have allowed a maximum of 18 in the city. The council majority said, however, that creating a local supply chain for the city’s dispensaries would boost the economy, create jobs and improve the quality and safety of local marijuana by eliminating the need to truck it in from elsewhere. The approval came despite strong objections from police Chief Shelley Zimmerman, who warned of significant threats to public safety that she said couldn’t be outweighed by new tax revenue from the highly profitable industry. The city has approved 17 such businesses, and 11 have begun operating. The council also voted earlier this year to allow legally approved medical marijuana dispensaries to expand their sales to recreational customers. In a 6-3 vote Monday, the City Council agreed to legalize local cultivation, manufacturing and testing of marijuana when new state laws take effect in January. San Diego will have a fully legal and regulated marijuana industry, including pot farms, factories making edibles and retail storefronts selling the drug to both medical and recreational customers.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |