A new law in California will create a state agency to issue and revoke licenses for medical marijuana sales, but San Diego officials say there’s a window to impose separate regulations at the local level.
If San Diego’s mayor and city council wants any local control on the regulation of medical marijuana cultivation, these city leaders need to act fast, officials say.
The reason: if local licensing ordinances aren’t enacted by the state’s March 1, 2016, deadline, the state’s authority to determine which businesses can grow cannabis supersedes any city regulations.
The new medical marijuana law mandates that a potential marijuana grower first become licensed by their respective city and then licensed again by the state.
But if the city hasn’t set up a process to issue licenses, then all a grower would need is one license.
Proponents of the new law say it will allow the state and local governments to collect more taxes.
“It’s the issue of control – of what is being grown that is most important to us,” said Dr. David Blair, CEO of the San Diego co-op medical marijuana dispensary, A Green Alternative.
Local
A representative of the city attorney’s office said, as of Thursday, no businesses have a legal license to grow marijuana.
