San Diego Considers Sale Of Recreational Marijuana

I am Alison Saint. John and for Maureen Cavanaugh. Today is Monday, December 12. Live this week Sandy go city Council take on the question of how to license pot shops to some recreational marijuana and how to regulate domestic cultivation. Reporter David Garrick covers the San Diego Hall for the San Diego Union Tribune. At of the vote on prop 64 many cities in San Diego County passed emergency laws banning recreational marijuana and so far looks like only the city of San Diego is still is signaled it is open to selling recreational marijuana. Tell us, how would that work under the city's proposals? The medical marijuana dispensaries at the citizen Lacey that allows come with start selling recreational marijuana. 15 of those have been approved but only a tab opened in the other seven are in the process of getting permits of getting handicapped spots and redtape. Have all of them indicated they are interested in selling recreational marijuana? They have a coalition that they formed and that has expressed interest. There might be a straggler but it seems unlikely since they are in the business and it allows an easier pathway. This would not go into effect in fact until 2018 is that right? The ordinance would. Allowing them to sell the recreational marijuana would happen as soon as the state licenses go into effect. The state as promised those will be in effect by January 1, 2018 but it is possible they could go into effect a little sooner but knowing the state it will be near the deadline. Certainly not for several months. Right. Where hearing some complaints from some residents who live around the pot shops that they are having problems. Is anything at the proposed regulations that would address concerns about trash, graffiti that kind of thing? There is. There is an element that says, loitering and trash is affected. It also affects the signs. The city had allowed them to have signs that an ordinary business would have they assumed they would be letters naming the business but a lot of places have put pictures of a weed leave for other cartoonish things which some people might appeal to children or might make a neighborhood look at. The simple test both medical and recreational ones will be able to put the name of the business in letters. Aware of the medicinal medical marijuana dispensaries thing about these? As far as I'm aware they are these because they were lobbying to be able to sell recreational and issued a statement last week saying they replace this has come forward but they also said, we have not completed a detailed review soon as possible when they get into some of the fine print they may be disappointed but the sign think does not seem too big of a deal and the letter outside of the business, seems like common sense requirements the city is adding. And deny same thing in there that will be red flag. There is an incentive to the city to put this because it will generate some revenue. At these rules are approved what would be the tax implications? City voters actually picked an ordinance on November 8 in case recreational was approved by the state. The city will start taxing recreational sales. The city does not tax medical sales -- they will tax recreational suspect it starts at 8% and slowly rises. I think the Council has the ability to increase it. A percent of every sale will go to the city and that could climb in the city's argument is that they need the money to pay for additional law enforcement, additional regulation and I think that is true but it is possible will also become a revenue stream for the city is not depending on how well the shops do. The rules licenses have been in a couple of place does a couple of years already. Are there many unlicensed marijuana shops popping up? There was a real problem with that a couple of years ago because the licensed ones without opening. The three was when the licensed mines opened come all the unlicensed ones with close but with geography sometimes it is more convenient to go to one of the unlicensed ones and sometimes the average consumer cannot tell the difference. The problem the city has with the unlicensed ones, there is no zoning restrictions of they can be next to a school, church, Park, in the wrong kind of places. There are quite a few illegal ones (got your 45, then I her 30. It depends on who you talk to. Another element, there are a lot of illegal delivery services so they do not have a brick-and-mortar location but they are delivering illegally. Was going to ask you about the delivery because speaking of geographical location there are many cities in the county that do not permit legal sale of marijuana for medicinal or anything also delivery is an issue for some people living in the county and I do not know, disease rules that the city is passing affect delivery roles? You specify the delivery is only allowed from a legal licensed dispensary. Even though that seemed obvious to the city because their rules do not specifically state that some folks treated as a local privileges that you are saying delivery is okay with I think the city has always said delivery is okay but this does a lot of clearing up of confusion. One thing I would like to bring up that will allow additional dispensaries. Right now there are 15 of folks pretty much think I might end up being the final number maybe 16, but this will increase the number of dispensaries allowed because the city had a rule in there about. You could not be near a park. City staff interpreted all great pairing areas and open-space areas as counting as a park and the new ordinance said no, a park is a part, those are not. There are a few dispensaries that were proposed near the Allied Gardens, Crandall area that were rejected because it is a repairing area over there and they will be allowed. I'm guessing we will have two or three more. There's always the question of domestic cultivation of recreational marijuana. How did the city regulations affect that? There's a moratorium right down in they will say they will only allow people to do it inside their on home. Until the city comes up with the regulations. When the city comes up with the regulations and approves them, it will make a couple get it. They will allow commercial cultivation in greenhouses but they will not allow outdoor commercial cultivation that will allow and/or commercial cultivation and indoor personal cultivation. Again that may not go into effect until later this year. Complete the cultivation thing goes into effect immediately because the state approved the cultivation as an immediate thing that recreational dispensaries is something that would come later with licenses. Of that is coming up on Thursday? Tuesday -- and then Thursday the Council deals with that. That was David Garrett, reporter for the San Diego Union Tribune.