San Jose Mercury News, 1/26/12
Yet another chapter is being written about San Jose and its medical marijuana dispensaries. With the announcement that enough people signed the petitions to put the city’s ordinance on the ballot, the city council is now looking at potential compromises.
Last fall, the council ignored the planning commission’s suggestion to limit dispensaries to 25, voting instead for a limit of 10 and a requirement that the marijuana be grown on the collective’s premises. A petition drive to void the council vote ensued, collecting the signatures needed to put the measure on the ballot.
The city is now exploring other options.
“We acknowledged … the fact that the signatures were certified in sufficient quantity,” Mayor Chuck Reed said recently. “We have until March 6 to decide whether to put it on the ballot. When the petitions were filed with the sufficient signatures, we rescinded the ordinance.”
At the council meeting on Jan. 10, council members asked city staff to analyze options. The staff should return to the council on Jan. 31 with information about increasing sales tax on the drug as well as coming up with options for compromise.