Medical marijuana shops will be allowed to locate in any commercial zone in San Diego if the city follows the recommendations of its Medical Marijuana Task Force.
The task force recommends that marijuana dispensaries be banned from residential areas, but allowed to locate in any commercial area. That includes neighborhood commercial zones, which are embedded in residential areas. Some task force members were concerned that would put marijuana shops too close to people's homes. But task force co-chair Stephen Whitburn said patients should be able to buy their marijuana close to home.
"Where there are objections to that, those can be weeded out through the reviewing process," he said.
The task force recommends marijuana dispensaries be required to get a conditional use permit, and they should be at least a thousand feet from a school, playground or library. Their recommendations go before the San Diego city council next month.
