San Mateo county cities consider medical marijuana bans
San Mateo county cities consider medical marijuana bans
Monday, March 8th, 2010 at 9:59 am
Daly City is set to join a number of cities within San Mateo county by enacting a temporary moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries. Daly City, which has received around ten inquiries from potential applicants, is considering implementing a 45 day moratorium on the establishment of pot dispensaries.
Many cities along the peninsula corridor have already placed a moratorium on the dispensaries. Last November, the San Bruno city council voted to extend a moratorium on cannabis collectives for 22.5 months. South San Francisco extended its ban for an additional 10 month period in December and Redwood City unanimously passed a forty five day ban in November.
Many cities are unsure on how to handle the issue of medicinal marijuana. The American Medical Association recently made a decision to change its long held position on the medicinal value of marijuana from a schedule 1 substance with no medicinal value to a drug with therapeutic benefits that called for further research. Despite this, cities are rubber stamping moratoriums on dispensaries to give themselves more time to make a final decision.
Among the problems that cities face is how to regulate the dispensaries. San Mateo issues a conditional use permit to the dispensaries. Berkeley allows the dispensaries to self-regulate themselves by way of a board. Other cities use special zoning for the dispensaries within the city or restrict the sale of medicinal marijuana to state licensed facilities only.
Another problem is the current pending litigation that serves to shape the legality of permanent bans. In October, a judge granted an injunction against Los Angeles over the city’s medical marijuana dispensary ban. The Los Angeles city council has been working for two years to write a permanent ban on medical marijuana dispensaries but to no avail.
City attorneys throughout San Mateo county are keeping close tabs on the pending litigation. The outcome will serve to shape how the city governments handle medical marijuana dispensaries. Until an outcome is reached, cities will most likely continue to enact temporary moratoriums on medicinal marijuana dispensaries.
