Marin could have up to four medical marijuana storefronts in unincorporated areas, if a new draft ordinance secures approval from county supervisors.
The ordinance, which has been in process since summer, is in response to a Grand Jury report in 2013 criticizing the county for a lack of access. There are currently no storefronts for medical marijuana in the county since the final one, in Corte Madera, closed in 2014 due to a town moratorium. The new draft could be voted on as early as December, and is scheduled for a first reading before supervisors on Oct. 20.
An earlier draft would have permitted only three storefronts in the county, each of which would have been sited at least 600 feet from schools. Many advocates have stressed the need for storefronts in the county—yet some parents worried about impressionable youth walking or bicycling by the dispensaries.
The newest version, which was released Oct. 2, made a few significant changes. Up to four storefronts would be allowed (two in West Marin and two in eastern Marin) but now must be at least 800 feet away from schools. The increased buffer means that, in West Marin, the number of parcels theoretically eligible to host a dispensary is slightly reduced, from 133 sites to 119. Storefronts will also be allowed to operate delivery services.
The current draft of the ordinance was released just one week before Gov. Jerry Brown signed landmark legislation last Friday—composed of three bills—creating a statewide regulatory framework for medical marijuana.
Medical marijuana was first legalized by the state in 1996, but since then the legislature has left regulatory authority over dispensaries—which have had to operate as nonprofit collectives—to local governments.
Starting in 2018, the new laws will require medical marijuana dispensaries, growers and distributors to obtain both local and state licenses, and for the first time ever the medicine must be tested for molds, potency and pesticides.
“This is good news because it means I can feel better about the medicine I get for my wife,” said Inverness resident Jeff Hickey, who himself started using medicinal marijuana as he battled prostate cancer and whose wife uses it to alleviate the symptoms of fibromyalgia. “We can know exactly what we’re getting.”
The new state law also allows for-profit businesses to distribute the medicine, which currently can only be distributed by nonprofit collectives. One of the bills specifically repeals previous legislation that authorized collectives, in an apparent move to phase them out.
Yet since the law won’t go into full effect until 2018, Marin’s draft ordinance only permits the county to offer licenses to nonprofits.
If approved, the county ordinance would offer two-year licenses, expiring around the time the state law is fully implemented. At that point the county could tweak the ordinance to align with state requirements.
“The ordinance is structured as an interim ordinance because of this new state law,” said Tom Lai, deputy director of the county’s Community Development Agency.