Split San Jose council orders rewrite of medical marijuana ordinance

The council voted to approve a recommendation by Councilman Pierluigi Oliverio calling for an ordinance to be brought back in June that would allow a limited number of medical marijuana collectives and impose additional taxes on them to help support city services, reports the San Jose Mercury News. The city clerk officially recorded the vote as 6-4, with Madison Nguyen, Nora Campos, Kansen Chu and Nancy Pyle opposed, and Councilman Pete Constant absent. Pyle later said she intended to vote with the majority, but the record had not been officially updated.

Mayor Chuck Reed initially urged the city to hold off until voters in November decide on a measure that would legalize recreational use of the drug. But he agreed to support Oliverio’s proposal after he modified it to allow flexibility on the locations and taxes for collectives, and more time for city staff to prepare the ordinance. He cautioned that the proposal should not be seen as a welcome mat for marijuana drugstores.

“It doesn’t mean anybody can do anything they want to do anywhere they want to do it,” Reed said. “We’re trying to implement state law in a way that allows us to control what we do in our city.”

Nguyen said she favored a firm moratorium and that “there’s just a lot of issues.”

If the council approves the proposed ordinance in June, city voters would be asked to consider a tax on medical marijuana collectives in November, just as voters statewide are considering legalizing recreational use of the drug.

Many of the dozens of speakers in a packed chamber encouraged the council to approve an ordinance, echoing Oliverio’s concerns that without a clear law, shady operations will proliferate.

“Our desire is to be good citizens, to pay our taxes and play by the rules,” said Steve DeAngelo, who runs the Harborside collective, one of several to open in San Jose in the past year. It is part of a group of 16 others that have formed a coalition to advocate for proper oversight of medical marijuana operations.

On the other hand, many others cited concerns about the proliferation of purported medical marijuana dispensaries in neighborhoods, urging the city to declare a moratorium on all of them. Edward Jonathans, of Campbell, who was with the Coalition for a Drug Free California, said marijuana is dangerous and at one point ruined his career.

Oliverio urged the council to act quickly, as medical marijuana providers already are proliferating even though they currently aren’t allowed under city law, drawing complaints from neighbors and tying up city code enforcement staff.

Oliverio also argued the city can use the money from taxing medical marijuana dispensaries, which support the idea. He noted that Oakland expects more than $500,000 from just one of the four medical marijuana providers the city allows. He pointed out that new tax dollars could help San Jose as it ponders service reductions such as closing community centers.