Robert Celt
New Member
With just 16 sanctioned medical marijuana dispensaries left in San Jose, one councilman wants to explore allowing pot deliveries to patients' homes as a way to "undercut illicit operations."
"We do know, at least anecdotally, that deliveries are happening," said Councilman Ash Kalra, who wrote a memo calling city leaders to look into allowing the 16 pot shops to make home deliveries. "As the state looks at the issue, I'm saying let's join them in looking at distribution and delivery."
And while the City Council debates that controversial idea Tuesday, it also will look at creating a new division to manage the city's medical marijuana rules -- a move that will cost dispensaries an extra $50,000 a year and allow the police department to oversee them.
San Jose in 2014 became one of the first major cities to adopt ordinances regulating medical marijuana: Limiting pot shops to mostly industrial areas and outlining how they grow their weed and dispense it. To cover the costs of the $1.9 million program, the city charged dispensaries an annual fee of $95,000 in addition to taxing them 10 percent of their gross receipts. The fee was based on 20 pot shops making it through the city's registration process with revenue covering costs of about nine staffers to oversee the program.
Since only 16 dispensaries registered, city officials say they would charge each dispensary about $119,577 a year to cover costs. But creating a medical marijuana division would mean adding three to four new positions and annual costs would spike to $2.7 million. Dispensaries would pay $169,895 a year under the new model.
"This is almost a 100 percent increase to what dispensaries pay," said Sean Kali-rai, a lobbyist who represents four collectives in San Jose. "They're still paying off debt from moving and now we're talking about increasing costs."
Kali-rai said the city's costs should have decreased since fewer dispensaries are registered, which reduces City Hall's workload, and said the focus should now be on enforcement of the policy.
Assistant City Manager Dave Sykes doesn't disagree. He says the costs of regulating medical pot will go down "over time" but it requires a bigger investment now to get the program off the ground.
"The current funding for the program is understated, and we're not capturing the costs of what we need to manage the program now," Sykes said.
Sykes said his office recommends shifting oversight of the medical marijuana program to the San Jose Police Department, similar to the division of gaming control, which oversees the city's two card rooms.
Councilman Raul Peralez, a former police officer, also supports the idea. "Gaming Control is able to do undercover operations," he said. "We're certainly not going to send a city manager's employee to do that. Police understand the legal and illegal aspects of the dispensaries."
Meanwhile, Kalra wants city staff to explore the idea of medical marijuana deliveries, a practice already in effect in other major Bay Area cities like San Francisco and Oakland.
"It is my sense that if we ignore delivery altogether and ban it, we open ourselves up to illegal delivery from other jurisdictions," Kalra wrote in a memo.
Angelique Gaeta, an assistant to the city manager who oversees the medical pot program, says the prohibition dates back to 2011 and was put in place because "it's difficult to track" where medical marijuana comes from with delivery services.
The city is working with its 16 legal pot shops on allowing deliveries, Gaeta said, but isn't taking steps to open that market to all delivery companies without council direction.
"With regard to other folks, we have to explore what that would look like and protect our 16 collectives to a certain extent," Gaeta said.
The City Council on Tuesday also will discuss establishing fines for pot shops that violate new rules passed in December that include displaying an identification badge and limiting cultivation to one site.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: San Jose May Establish New Medical Pot Division And Explore Allowing Deliveries
Author: Ramona Giwargis
Contact: San Jose Mercury News
Photo Credit: Justin Sullivan
Website: San Jose Mercury News
"We do know, at least anecdotally, that deliveries are happening," said Councilman Ash Kalra, who wrote a memo calling city leaders to look into allowing the 16 pot shops to make home deliveries. "As the state looks at the issue, I'm saying let's join them in looking at distribution and delivery."
And while the City Council debates that controversial idea Tuesday, it also will look at creating a new division to manage the city's medical marijuana rules -- a move that will cost dispensaries an extra $50,000 a year and allow the police department to oversee them.
San Jose in 2014 became one of the first major cities to adopt ordinances regulating medical marijuana: Limiting pot shops to mostly industrial areas and outlining how they grow their weed and dispense it. To cover the costs of the $1.9 million program, the city charged dispensaries an annual fee of $95,000 in addition to taxing them 10 percent of their gross receipts. The fee was based on 20 pot shops making it through the city's registration process with revenue covering costs of about nine staffers to oversee the program.
Since only 16 dispensaries registered, city officials say they would charge each dispensary about $119,577 a year to cover costs. But creating a medical marijuana division would mean adding three to four new positions and annual costs would spike to $2.7 million. Dispensaries would pay $169,895 a year under the new model.
"This is almost a 100 percent increase to what dispensaries pay," said Sean Kali-rai, a lobbyist who represents four collectives in San Jose. "They're still paying off debt from moving and now we're talking about increasing costs."
Kali-rai said the city's costs should have decreased since fewer dispensaries are registered, which reduces City Hall's workload, and said the focus should now be on enforcement of the policy.
Assistant City Manager Dave Sykes doesn't disagree. He says the costs of regulating medical pot will go down "over time" but it requires a bigger investment now to get the program off the ground.
"The current funding for the program is understated, and we're not capturing the costs of what we need to manage the program now," Sykes said.
Sykes said his office recommends shifting oversight of the medical marijuana program to the San Jose Police Department, similar to the division of gaming control, which oversees the city's two card rooms.
Councilman Raul Peralez, a former police officer, also supports the idea. "Gaming Control is able to do undercover operations," he said. "We're certainly not going to send a city manager's employee to do that. Police understand the legal and illegal aspects of the dispensaries."
Meanwhile, Kalra wants city staff to explore the idea of medical marijuana deliveries, a practice already in effect in other major Bay Area cities like San Francisco and Oakland.
"It is my sense that if we ignore delivery altogether and ban it, we open ourselves up to illegal delivery from other jurisdictions," Kalra wrote in a memo.
Angelique Gaeta, an assistant to the city manager who oversees the medical pot program, says the prohibition dates back to 2011 and was put in place because "it's difficult to track" where medical marijuana comes from with delivery services.
The city is working with its 16 legal pot shops on allowing deliveries, Gaeta said, but isn't taking steps to open that market to all delivery companies without council direction.
"With regard to other folks, we have to explore what that would look like and protect our 16 collectives to a certain extent," Gaeta said.
The City Council on Tuesday also will discuss establishing fines for pot shops that violate new rules passed in December that include displaying an identification badge and limiting cultivation to one site.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: San Jose May Establish New Medical Pot Division And Explore Allowing Deliveries
Author: Ramona Giwargis
Contact: San Jose Mercury News
Photo Credit: Justin Sullivan
Website: San Jose Mercury News
