‘No’ on Measure C: San Jose Has Solid Medical Marijuana System

San Jose’s clumsy process to enact a medical marijuana framework began more than half a decade ago with elected officials snickering like nerds about getting high at the dais and then knee-jerked into crackdown mode when the city’s planning commission wanted to arbitrarily cap collectives at 25.

When that failed to get traction, there were white flag proposals from a few shortsighted council members who suggested San Jose simply give up and scrap local regulation altogether.

Now, finally, through significant efforts to tax and relocate collectives with zoning restrictions and operational requirements, the city has a system in place that seems to work for both clubs and patients—while protecting members of the public who choose to keep their distance. Cannabis prices have remained flat, security requirements have been strengthened, testing medicine is required and, despite a dip in tax revenue, the city is still collecting millions. Measure C, a June ballot measure, hopes to tear it all down and start from scratch.

It seems counterintuitive, but if you care about safe access to medical marijuana in San Jose, vote “no” on Measure C. The system is actually working.

As it stands, San Jose counts 16 licensed collectives—each buffered from schools and homes, and many tucked away in industrial pockets of the city. The operators have worked with city leaders, paid their taxes and changed attitudes by proving to be more professional than some of the bureaucrats they had to convince. Even socially conservative former Mayor Chuck Reed has joined them in the fight.

Measure C aims to scrap this hard work and return to the days when San Jose had more than 100 collectives, many of which flouted state marijuana laws and became nuisances to residential and commercial neighbors.

Even Measure C’s author, cannabis attorney James Anthony, has disclaimed the proposal, telling anyone he can in interviews and on social media to vote “no.”

He came to this decision after city leaders and collectives agreed in December to relax the vertical integration requirement that all cannabis and products—edibles, oils, tinctures and the like—be manufactured on site. Such a condition would have made it impossible for supply to meet demand.

San Jose’s rules, thankfully, have been grandfathered in before the state’s Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act goes into full effect. Outright legalization in California is on the horizon, which will present its own challenges, and there’s a chance for San Jose’s 16 authorized dispensaries to have a leg up when that day comes. But that’s a concern for another day.

A collective requires cooperation, and the past year has proven to be a difficult but collaborative process to get rid of the non-compliers and provide a fair regulatory framework for responsible operators.

73 Comments

  1. Perhaps I am a little off point here but I hate what has happened to downtown San Jose with all the pot smokers hanging out on the sidewalks smoking pot in the middle of the day. I literally have to hold my breath sometimes when walking during my lunch hour because I’m afraid I will come back to work with a contact high. People used to be more discreet about it but year by year more and more people just smoke openly and not even care about the intrusion on others.

    • Yup, Julie. “Patients” smoking “medical” marijuana. What a joke. The folks you see are dopers, not patients. Legalize it, regulate and tax it exactly the same as booze is regulated and taxed. Criminalize certain uses, like being under the influence while driving. You can’t drink on the sidewalk. Many cities have laws prohibiting smoking cigarettes within “x” number of feet from buildings. Do the same with pot. I don’t care if you get high, but take your smoke elsewhere, dopers

      • If someone breaks the law call the cops. Downtown’s main problem is the homeless, who have little money for marijuana or anything else. Then I would lump in the many, many bars who render the area useless to families in the evening

    • Another thing i would like to point out is that the down town area is already very heavily patrolled by the police. The biggest problem is the homeless. Many of them have fallen victim to this senseless war on drugs that has not solved anything at all. The war on drugs has caused much more harm than good. It creates opportunities for criminal behavior and violence that would not exist otherwise.. It creates unnecessary violence and this needs to end ASAP. .

      • Patients? 99.9% of the users in SJ appear to be recreational stoners! Give me a break. I laugh when I drive pass the dispenseries and see the the patients on skateboards smoking a fatty in the parking lot. Just call it what it is but please stop using medicine as a cover. Yes I do agree there are great medical benefits but the stoners I see around SJ are not patients in any way shape or form. What a joke!

        • This has nothing to do with Measure C.

          Did you know the San Jose City Council has passed an ordinance allowing only 16 medical marijuana clubs in San Jose? This 16 club, government controlled monopoly has already created long lines, a spike in prices, and far fewer choices for the sick patients of San Jose and surrounding areas. These clubs are also disproportionately located in neighborhoods of color and lower income.

          Measure C allows for clubs to operate in zones closer to where people need them. There are still strict rules that protect children from access by requiring patients to be over 21 years of age as well as possess a written recommendation from their doctor. Medical marijuana under Measure C, is MUCH harder to gain access to than alcohol.

          Measure C also requires that clubs be located a minimum of 1000ft from schools and does not allow any club to be located in a residential zone. Any talk about kids being able to easily purchase marijuana is simply an untrue scare tactic used and paid for by the 16 club monopoly and special interests.

          The MMSRA signed by Gov. Brown last October regulates commercial marijuana from seed to sale at the State level. The AUMA, authored by Lt. Gov. Newsom, is on the November ballot and will decriminalize marijuana throughout the State. The city’s ordinance was conceived 7 years ago and is incompatible with both of them.

          San Jose is the only market outside of Oakland and SF and 16 clubs can’t possibly effectively serve the millions of people from the peninsula, east bay, and south bay. Medicine needs to be accessible by all residents, especially the disabled, elderly and sick.

          Measure C will provide safe access,lower prices, and ease congestion for qualified patients who need it.

          Vote YES on Measure C”

        • Give the people a break! They are not all disrespectful dummies like you.You are just a jive talking fool. You have absolutely no way of knowing what peoples medical conditions are. Most medical problems are hidden. I have never seen such a thing as patients smoking in the parking lots and I dont think anybody belse has either. Did you get a picture? Most all dispensaries had security guards and cameras even before the ordinances. Prop C does not drop security guards or jeopardize peoples safety in any way. Prop C just removes some of the untenable zoning regs, the closed loop fantasy,. and it replaces the fine scheme or scam, with $100 fines across the board.

      • Perhaps for a few MMJ is not BS. I know MJ had no positive effect for my Dad when he was dying of cancer. Anyone with a complaint of pain or nausea can find an MD to prescribe it. It’s any easy way for dopers to get their high. It’s easier to get than a handicap placard for your car. For the most part, MMJ is a joke. Have another hit and knock down some M&Ms and Doritos, Jim Stamm

        • I am sorry about your dad.
          How did he use it? What specifically was he trying to treat? nausea and chemo side effects anxiety insomnia severe pain or the cancer itself. Pretty much it has to be eaten to be medically effective to treat any of these conditions.

        • I am very sorry for the loss of your father. I also lost my brother to Cancer VERY recently . My father lost his fight with Pancreatic Neuro Endocrine tumors . a very rare form of cancer . my brother fought like warrior for almost 4 years . in that time he under went a whipple procedure( a surgery that has an extreme mortality rate), various forms of Chemo and radiation , along with chemoembolization, radioembolization , shunts , feeding tubes ,drain tubes , etc , etc. he refused any and all attempts to give him medicinal marijuana , on the grounds that it would/could disqualify him from clinical trial . then came the fateful day that he told us that they were out of options and it was just a matter of waiting. at that point , he decided to try the Medicinal Maryjane. He said that he wished he would have tried it sooner , simply because he was in excruciating pain . He was simply blown away at how much it eased his pain and discomfort . it did not cure him , but it made the pain tolerable ,and for that I will always be grateful. Im not saying medicinal maryjane is for everyone . I just know that there is a place for it when it comes to pain management

          • Heroin works even better for that kind of pain, as does a lot of other controlled synthetic’s that are available. When you are terminal there is no reason not to use them.
            On the other hand, getting hooked, using them for recreation is stupid.

      • You are an idiot, it is BS, move to a state other than CA and smoke your brains out. Patients my ass, I could get a medical card tomorrow if I wanted too.

  2. Interesting that this and the Measure B endorsement originate from the anonymous “Silicon Valley Newsroom”. Not a named guest writer, a member of the editorial staff, or publisher. Why not take ownership and responsibility for opinions?

    Even a nom de plum like many use for comments is more forthright than hiding opinions behind “Silicon Valley Newsroom”.

    • This is a pay to play paper. Pay 2,000 and your story is in.

      FUNNY. They ask the 16 dispensaries running an oligopoly/monopoly business, “How are you doing?”, “Do you want any competiotion?”.

      “No we don’t want any now. The city bent over and gave us what we want.”

      The current ordinance is racist. See other posts

  3. Medical cannabis has been around for nearly 5,000 yrs. Thats when the Chinese emperor Sheng Nung first wrote about medical cannabis. Medical Cannabis was in the US Pharmacopeia from 1850 until 1942, 5 yrs after pot prohibition began. Pot was not removed from the pharmacopeia for 5 yrs because the AMA back then was opposed to its removal and prohibition because cannabis is a safe and effective medicine. It does not treat everything but has proven to be effective in treating; certain types of cancer, epilepsy, insomnia, bulimia and anorexia, chronic pain, menstrual cramps, PTSD, panic attacks and anxiety plus a host of other conditions. .

    • Hey LoveClown, Talk about being off point. You’re here trying to sell everyone on the benefits of weed and most people who smoke don’t even have these problems mentioned. I smoked weed for years in my younger days and then I grew up. And it feels good to have a clear mind. Contrary to your sales pitch on your Facebook page, Marijuana does not make you more intelligent. You may think so while you’re high but it actually makes you dumber. If you think you can function at full capacity while high, you’re fooling yourself.

      I don’t care if Marijuana is legalized but people need to use it responsibly, just as we expect people to use alcohol responsibly. And these dispensaries need to start running their businesses legit and pay taxes and take some responsibility for the rift-raft (customers) that they are attracting. I have better things to do on my lunch hour than police the area and call 911 each time I smell weed.

        • Alcohol kills brain cells, tobacco is the leading cause of preventable deaths. SO WHAT.

          ALCOHOL’S DAMAGING EFFECTS ON THE BRAIN – http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa63/aa63.htm

          Smoking leads to disease and disability and harms nearly every organ of the body.1

          More than 16 million Americans are living with a disease caused by smoking.
          For every person who dies because of smoking, at least 30 people live with a serious smoking-related illness.
          Smoking is a known cause of erectile dysfunction in males.

          Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death.

          Worldwide, tobacco use causes nearly 6 million deaths per year, and current trends show that tobacco use will cause more than 8 million deaths annually by 2030.2
          Cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per year in the United States, including nearly 42,000 deaths resulting from secondhand smoke exposure. This is about one in five deaths annually, or 1,300 deaths every day.1
          On average, smokers die 10 years earlier than nonsmokers.3
          If smoking continues at the current rate among U.S. youth, 5.6 million of today’s Americans younger than 18 years of age are expected to die prematurely from a smoking-related illness. This represents about one in every 13 Americans aged 17 years or younger who are alive today.1

          http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fast_facts/

          This Measure is about:

          safe access for patients
          systemic racism
          government created monopolies
          limited variety of poor quality medicine

          • No argument that cigarettes and alcohol are unhealthy, as is Marijuana. Smoke of any kind in your lungs is bad. Marijuana also zaps your energy and while high, you’re unable to take care of business because your logical thinking has been impaired. Observing the people I’ve known in my lifetime, I’ve noticed a correlation between the pot smokers and being unsuccessful in their careers. Actually I would say that my pot smoker relatives haven’t a career. And the people I know who are the most successful do not smoke pot. Funny how the ones who make the least amount of money spend what little money they do have on dope.

      • I am not selling anything, I am just revealing facts and knowledge. Two things I think may be distant to You. .
        I just report the news and studies about pot. That isnt my sales pitch dummy. That is an artical about a scientific report. Something you never even bothered to read fully. If you had you would know that light use enhances IQ heavy use impairs IQ. Dont act like a smart ass if you are not smart.

        • Funny that you keep calling everyone (who doesn’t agree with you) rude yet you’re the one calling them childish names. There are many conflicting studies and of course most are biased depending on who funds these studies so don’t believe everything you read. You seemed very stressed….maybe you should go smoke another fat one.

          • not every one at all. just the the one whio are rude. I dont believe i have called u rude yet because u havent crossed that line.

          • JUL:IE> “I’ve noticed a correlation between the pot smokers and being unsuccessful in their careers”

            Gee Julie do you think that for some years of stigma social ostricization and criminalization might have anything to do with that?

            And then again there are others who have had not much problems with that like: Carl Sagan, Richard Bronson, Barack Obama, Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, Jay Z, Bill Maher, Bill Gates, Rand Paul, LeBron James, Rush Limbaugh, George Clooney, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Ted Turner, Michael Phelps, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Willie Nelson. SnoopDogg, Wiz kalhifa, Susan Sarandon, Ya know i could keep on going on all afternoon because there are several thousand successful stoners that i am aware of but i dont have the time. You can educate yourself if you really want to.

          • Having tried marijuana before doesn’t classify one as a stoner or pot smoker. I clearly said that the pot smokers I was referring to are people that I know. People who smoke pot regularly and other than Willie Nelson, not sure who else fits into that category. You’re calling Barack Obama a stoner? Haha….he is a lot of things but I wouldn’t consider him a stoner. And please stop with the “stigma social ostricization” excuse. I’m so tired of people playing the victim.

          • JULIE> .maybe you should go smoke another fat one.

            Julie your ignorance is showing. I rarely smoke cannabis. I eat it instead. Most medical cannabis users with serious conditions do. It is much more medically effective that way. Also why waste your $ investment going up in smoke?

            Also regarding studies the best research about cannabis comes from Israel and Canada although there is now some unbiased American research starting to develop. They dont have the gov induced stigmas about cannabis to deal with there. In the US the dea has had a policy of only funding research that would prove that cannabis is bad. Even so that has backfired on them miserably. Dr. D. Tashkin received a grant to prove smoked cannabis caused lung damage. His study showed people who smoked pot had a lower rates of lung cancers than people who didnt even smoke anything at all. This is attributed to thc and cbd anti cancer fighting properties scrubbing the lungs. They also found that people who smoked both tobacco and cannabis had higher rates of cancer. There have been other major gaffs too. The Truth About The Study That Says Marijuana Kills Brain Cells https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g66BYWeufFc Por lil monkeys suffocated to death.

          • JULIE> “please stop with the “stigma social ostricization” excuse. I’m so tired of people playing the victim”

            That doesnt even make sense. Nobody is playing the victim here except for you, claiming to inundated by pot smoke down town. I really doubt the legitimacy of your claim. All I have tried to do is enlighten people and argue for others who have been victimized by this senseless and horrible war on drugs. I am not selfish and anti-social like you. You dont seem like an ethical person.This includes John too. Ethical people would not mock and berate the sick and disabled. Ethical people would try bto facilitate their treatment and healing as economically as possible. Cannabis can do this in many instances. It doesnt fix everything but it does a lot. There is probably a lot about pot prohibition that you do not know or understand. The monopolistic corruption by the cotton, paper pulp and fossil fuel industries changed the course of America and the world for the worse. .

      • JULIE> “You’re here trying to sell everyone on the benefits of weed and most people who smoke don’t even have these problems mentioned”

        Dumb Girl I am not at all trying to sell people on the benefits of cannabis. (Marijuana is a racist term) I am just trying to educate disrespectful and uneducated people about the facts on medical cannabis.

        What i am trying to sell is VOTE YES ON MEASURE C

  4. Did you know the San Jose City Council has passed an ordinance allowing only 16 medical marijuana clubs in San Jose? This 16 club, government controlled monopoly has already created long lines, a spike in prices, and far fewer choices for the sick patients of San Jose and surrounding areas. These clubs are also disproportionately located in neighborhoods of color and lower income.

    Measure C allows for clubs to operate in zones closer to where people need them. There are still strict rules that protect children from access by requiring patients to be over 21 years of age as well as possess a written recommendation from their doctor. Medical marijuana under Measure C, is MUCH harder to gain access to than alcohol.

    Measure C also requires that clubs be located a minimum of 1000ft from schools and does not allow any club to be located in a residential zone. Any talk about kids being able to easily purchase marijuana is simply an untrue scare tactic used and paid for by the 16 club monopoly and special interests.

    The MMSRA signed by Gov. Brown last October regulates commercial marijuana from seed to sale at the State level. The AUMA, authored by Lt. Gov. Newsom, is on the November ballot and will decriminalize marijuana throughout the State. The city’s ordinance was conceived 7 years ago and is incompatible with both of them.

    San Jose is the only market outside of Oakland and SF and 16 clubs can’t possibly effectively serve the millions of people from the peninsula, east bay, and south bay. Medicine needs to be accessible by all residents, especially the disabled, elderly and sick.

    Measure C will provide safe access,lower prices, and ease congestion for qualified patients who need it.

    Vote YES on Measure C”

    • Sodium tells us ” These clubs are also disproportionately located in neighborhoods of color and lower income.” That’s because those areas are where most dopers live.
      “Measure C also requires that clubs be located a minimum of 1000ft from schools and does not allow any club to be located in a residential zone.” if you weren’t so stoned all the time you would read the ordinance and learn that the current limitation that a “collective” cannot be within 150 feet of residential uses will be ELIMINATED if Measure C passes. “San Jose is the only market outside of Oakland and SF and 16 clubs can’t possibly effectively serve the millions of people from the peninsula, east bay, and south bay.” WOW! I didn’t realize the Bay Area had MILLIONS of dopers who desperately need pot. That’s a lot of “sick” folks, Sodium.

      • Tax receipts for last year alone put the market at 75M. Why would any of the 16 want to “rock the boat”.

        The Spartan Keyes/Monterey Corridor has become the dumping ground for these dispensaries. The residents of this area deserver better. San Jose’s other residents deserve better access too.

        The city’s ordinance is flawed. They could have codified 2 or 3 per district increasing access, selection, and mitigating impacts to one poor neighborhood.

        San Jose’s ordinance is racist and continues the tradition of systemic racism dating back centuries. San Jose’s zoning requirements facilitate, in fact require, that these businesses open in poor neighborhoods of color. Over 1/2 of the dispensaries are in a neighborhood of ~32,000 residents.

        San Jose’s ordinance similarly disproportionately affects the ~32,000 residents of the Spartan Keys/Monterey Corridor:

        https://www.sccgov.org/sites/sccphd/en-us/Partners/Data/Documents/City%20Profiles/San%20Jose%20Neighborhoods/SpartanKeysMonterey_neighprofilesPDF5110041.pdf

        31,895 residents as of 2014.

        9 of total 16 dispensaries are located in Monterey Corridor/Spartan Keyes neighborhood. The zoning is so strict any new dispensaries would also have to locate in this neighborhood because the few open parcels are there. This is institutionalized, systemic discrimination.

        1. Caliva – 1695. S. 7th St San Jose, CA 9511
        2. Ca Collective – 210 Phelan Ave. San Jose, CA 95112
        3. Haze – 1761 Smith Ave San Jose, Ca 95112
        4. Herb’s -543 Parrott St. San Jose, CA 95112
        5. Guild – 2943 Daylight Way San Jose, CA 95111
        6. White Fire – 111 Old Tully Rd San Jose, CA 95112
        7. Canna Culture – 3591 Charter Park Dr. #20 San Jose, CA 95136
        8. Natural Herbal Pain Relief – 2121 S. 10th Street San Jose, CA 95112
        9. Lux – 1859 Little Orchard St San Jose, CA 95125

        Denver’s marijuana ordinance disproportionately affects poor communiites:

        http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/05/what-works-colorado-denver-marijuana-pot-industry-legalization-neighborhoods-dispensaries-negative-213906

        http://www.denverpost.com/2016/01/02/denvers-pot-businesses-mostly-in-low-income-minority-neighborhoods/

        http://qz.com/587234/denvers-zoning-rules-are-sending-marijuana-businesses-to-poor-neighborhoods/

      • “That’s because those areas are where most dopers live”

        John You are a very disrespectful person.
        Not even remotely true. It is because they are in the pot ghettos the city forced them into.
        Not even remotely close to public transit for patients to access them As far as being in residential neighborhoods that is just not true, They will be located in place where a 7-11 would be acceptable.
        The total regianal bay area poopulation is over 7,861,000 And that is not counting places like watsonville Monterey Hollister losbanos merced patterson etc etc. The majority of people in California voted to have medical cannabis. You Should respect the will of the majority.

    • Sodium,
      You go to a club for recreation, you go to a drugstore for medicine. Every conceivable benefit of this stuff can be duplicated with better and cheaper prescription or over the counter drugs, except for getting high and giggling.

      • “2016 might be the year that shatters marijuana prohibition.

        Marijuana initiatives are sweeping across the nation this year, and already 20 states report marijuana legalization ballot measures in the November 2016 elections, as reported by SFGate.

        That means 20 more states could legalize medical or recreational marijuana this year. If so, they’d be joining 35 states that have already legalized some form of recreational or medical marijuana.”

        http://national.suntimes.com/national-world-news/7/72/2621877/20-states-to-vote-on-marijuana-legalization-2016-elections

        http://blog.sfgate.com/smellthetruth/2016/02/18/20-states-report-pot-legalization-measures-in-2016-election/

        “Gallup finds 58 percent of Americans support cannabis legalization for adults.”

      • Every conceivable benefit of this stuff can be duplicated with better and cheaper prescription or over the counter drugs,
        It is the exact opposite of what you said. That is what makes cannabis such an important plant it is extremely versatile.

        This is a lil bit off topic but it demonstrates some of the other harms pot prohibition and dopists like you have caused.. Do you know hemp bio-fuel produces 80 % less CO2 and 98 % less sulfur pollution than fossil fuels. If the world had not been denied the use of hemp bio fuels since 1937 we might not be so severely troubled by Global warming and oil spills and pollution. Henry Ford developed a cars that were made from and fueled by hemp. Why rape and pollute the earth when we can grow our own fuel?

  5. Access to Medical Marijuana under Measure C will be many times more difficult than alcohol. No access is provided to non-patients (children per se) and patients will be rigorously tracked via the MMSRA. These scare tactics surrounding Measure C are just that.

    ANYTIME an industry favors regulation as the entrenched marijuana lobby in San Jose does here (why is that). It must treat them nicely!

    Driving under the influence of marijuana is illegal under the MMSRA and the MMSRA includes provisions to define the thresholds.
    http://www.techtimes.com/articles/32956/……

    Overall, statistics, when adjusted for factors such as age, race and gender, suggest there’s little difference between driving stoned or sober when it comes to the risk of having a wreck, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) claims. – See more at: http://www.techtimes.com/articles/32956/……

    http://www.cbsnews.com/news/stoned-drivi……

    “But unlike with alcohol, drivers high on pot tend to be aware that they are impaired and try to compensate by driving slowly, avoiding risky actions such as passing other cars, and allowing extra room between vehicles.”

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles……

    “Detrimental effects of cannabis use vary in a dose-related fashion, and are more pronounced with highly automatic driving functions than with more complex tasks that require conscious control, whereas with alcohol produces an opposite pattern of impairment. Because of both this and an increased awareness that they are impaired, marijuana smokers tend to compensate effectively while driving by utilizing a variety of behavioral strategies”

    (Putting Marijuana DUIs into perspective)
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sam-tracy/……

    “But that’s not to say marijuana impacts driving performance the same as alcohol. Driving under the influence of marijuana doubles your risk of a crash, while a just-barely-illegal .08 BAC increases your risk eleven-fold — yet the penalties are the same.”

    Regardless of Measure C results; the MMSRA governs marijuana from seed to sale throughout the state and it explicitly includes provisions to test for drugged drivers.

    http://www.cannabusiness.com/news/politi

    Assemblyman Rob Bonta, who authored a portion of the bills, wrote “Patients will have assurances that their products are safe. Law enforcement will have a foundation for identifying drugged drivers and increased funding to protect the public.”

    https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces

    ” [ Approved by Governor October 09, 2015. Filed with Secretary of State October 09, 2015. ] ”

    “19303. Protection of the public shall be the highest priority for the bureau in exercising its licensing, regulatory, and disciplinary functions under this chapter. Whenever the protection of the public is inconsistent with other interests sought to be promoted, the protection of the public shall be paramount.”

    19315. (a) Nothing in this chapter shall be interpreted to supersede or limit existing local authority for law enforcement activity..

    19318. (c) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), criminal penalties shall continue to apply to an unlicensed person engaging in commercial cannabis activity in violation of this chapter, including, but not limited to, those individuals covered under Section 11362.7 of the Health and Safety Code.

    The MMSRA provides for criminal penalties and allows local law enforcement to get the job done!

  6. San Jose’s ordinance is racist and continues the tradition of systemic racism dating back centuries. San Jose’s zoning requirements facilitate, in fact require, that these businesses open in poor neighborhoods of color. Over 1/2 of the dispensaries are in a neighborhood of ~32,000 residents.

    San Jose’s ordinance similarly disproportionately affects the ~32,000 residents of the Spartan Keys/Monterey Corridor:

    https://www.sccgov.org/sites/sccphd/en-us/Partners/Data/Documents/City%20Profiles/San%20Jose%20Neighborhoods/SpartanKeysMonterey_neighprofilesPDF5110041.pdf

    31,895 residents as of 2014.

    9 of total 16 dispensaries are located in Monterey Corridor/Spartan Keyes neighborhood. The zoning is so strict any new dispensaries would also have to locate in this neighborhood because the few open parcels are there. This is institutionalized, systemic discrimination.

    1. Caliva – 1695. S. 7th St San Jose, CA 9511
    2. Ca Collective – 210 Phelan Ave. San Jose, CA 95112
    3. Haze – 1761 Smith Ave San Jose, Ca 95112
    4. Herb’s -543 Parrott St. San Jose, CA 95112
    5. Guild – 2943 Daylight Way San Jose, CA 95111
    6. White Fire – 111 Old Tully Rd San Jose, CA 95112
    7. Canna Culture – 3591 Charter Park Dr. #20 San Jose, CA 95136
    8. Natural Herbal Pain Relief – 2121 S. 10th Street San Jose, CA 95112
    9. Lux – 1859 Little Orchard St San Jose, CA 95125

    Denver’s marijuana ordinance disproportionately affects poor communiites:

    http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/05/what-works-colorado-denver-marijuana-pot-industry-legalization-neighborhoods-dispensaries-negative-213906

    http://www.denverpost.com/2016/01/02/denvers-pot-businesses-mostly-in-low-income-minority-neighborhoods/

    http://qz.com/587234/denvers-zoning-rules-are-sending-marijuana-businesses-to-poor-neighborhoods/

    AUMA

    AUMA – Lt. Gov. Newsom led ballot measure to decriminalize on the Nov. ballot

    http://www.letsgetitrightca.org/signup?sc=ad_gg-lb-ca_auma_av3&gclid=Cj0KEQjwmpW6BRCf5sXp59_U_ssBEiQAGCV9Gm6fnoadffoKTXOWPS1YUJPUMxr4vjMlVhn-Ncx-UygaAqtw8P8HAQ

    MMSRA

    MMSRA state ordinance signed by Gov. Brown last Oct.

    https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB266

    19302. There is in the Department of Consumer Affairs the Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation, under the supervision and control of the director. The director shall administer and enforce the provisions of this chapter.
    19315. (a) Nothing in this chapter shall be interpreted to supersede or limit existing local authority for law enforcement activity,”

    19318. …(c) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), criminal penalties shall continue to apply to an unlicensed person engaging in commercial cannabis activity in violation of this chapter, including, but not limited to, those individuals covered under Section 11362.7 of the Health and Safety Code.

  7. The article claims to work but for whom? Not all clubs and patients. The 16 is not enough to speak on behalf of all citizens in San Jose. Many home growers work for the City and Santa Clara County and then vended to my Collective specifically in San Jose. Many starter growers have flourished and changed their family’s lives for the better. What happened for them is a direct reflection of what happend in Colorado. California mirrors that of Colorado. Read it here
    http://fusion.net/story/114988/marijuana-trimmers-can-move-into-jobs-that-make-90000-a-year/
    There is nothing wrong with giving citizens easier labor for more pay. Vote Yes on SJ Measure C for an improved change!

    • At least two of these approved collectives are places that I’d NEVER visit again due to outrageous prices and inventory of interior quality. The ongoing ‘land use’ legalbabble speaks to bureaucratic incompetence and inferior lawyering ; it’s intellectual nonsense to imposes taxes on businesses that are alleged to be operating unlawfully. I’ll take the small, old-style collectives like SVCare, which was run out of town. I’ve voted YES on Measure C.

      • The dispensaries were well run too, especially given the city’s hostile attitude towards them. I think they weren’t able to invest in their businesses correctly because the city didn’t give the business owners enough support. Who would invest 50,000 to remodel their business when the city is trying to zone you out.

        If the city would have provided some sort of guidance, the few dispensary owners I talked to would have heavily invested in infrastructure. I know one owner who had installed lights in the parking lot but was forced to remove them because the city wouldn’t permit them at all. The work was done by a licensed electrician and the city wouldn’t process the permits.

  8. Haven’t we all learned that ANY Ballot Measure backed by Chuck Reed is doomed . YES ON MEASURE C

  9. Since when is the Voter Information guide a humor essay – especially the last paragraph, with four exclamation points!!!! If you’re trying to convince the general electorate, this has the opposite result. I’m open to rational arguments or reasonable plans, but after reading this – are you kidding? Next time, maybe use more !!!!!!!

    From the Voter Information Booklet (really):

    Vote Yes!

    Right now, San Jose has sixteen medical marijuana dispensaries that are open, registered and taxed by the city, and providing good quality medicine to patients throughout Silicon Valley.

    But San Jose needs more marijuana clubs! Sixteen registered clubs are too few to meet patient needs. San Jose is a regional market that serves Silicon Valley and has an obligation to meet patient needs for the region now and into the future. Denver, Colorado is two-thirds the size of San Jose and it has 424 medical and recreational dispensaries – there is no reason San Jose should not have at least a similar number or more!!!

    Safe access is important so they should be everywhere in the city, in commercial zones, especially commercial pedestrian and commercial neighborhood, and right next door to residences, so marijuana users don’t have to drive to far away places to receive medication—they can just walk around the corner to the neighborhood pot club!!!!

    Vote yes to make San Jose the capital of medical marijuana in California!

    • This post is more gobbledygook and FUD.

      A Yes Vote for Measure C DOES NOT allow dispensaries to locate anywhere.

      Measure C allows for clubs to operate in zones closer to where people need them. There are still strict rules that protect children from access by requiring patients to be over 21 years of age as well as possess a written recommendation from their doctor. Medical marijuana under Measure C, is MUCH harder to gain access to than alcohol.

      Measure C also requires that clubs be located a minimum of 1000ft from schools and does not allow any club to be located in a residential zone. Any talk about kids being able to easily purchase marijuana is simply an untrue scare tactic used and paid for by the 16 club monopoly and special interests.

      Measure C will NOT make San Jose the capital of medical marijuana in California. This is more FUD. A Yes vote for Measure C will protect our neighborhoods, improve access, and increase variety.

    • You are referring to the sabotage on the part of the Measure’s original author. I suspect you are he and he is you.

      HI James!

      Right, An attorney http://members.calbar.ca.gov/fal/Member/Detail/203150 wants you to support his client (Harborside).

      Harborside wants to maintain their monopoly position in San Jose. They don’t want any other clubs to open.

      This is about $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

  10. Patients (like me) go to a doctor, legally obtain a prescription, and go to a legal place to get it filled. The prescription is for medicine to relieve pain. It also has the side effect of making the patient high. But wait! The patient could consume the medication on site! OMG the patient could sell some of it to KIDS!!

    By all means let’s make sure that there are very very few of these legal places to obtain these dangerous drugs, and let’s make darn sure that they are nowhere near schools or churches or any other place where innocent decent people are.

    The “legal places” that dispense these drugs are, of course, Walgreens, CVS, et al. REALLY dangerous drugs like Oxycontin. While we must allow patients to get their medicine we must do so, to quote this article, “while protecting members of the public who choose to keep their distance.”

    Does it sound stupid to you that I want to make sure Walgreens isn’t anywhere near a school or church? Does it sound stupid to you that I think the public needs to be “protected” from CVS? Of course it does, because it IS stupid. Just as the current medical cannabis framework in San Jose is stupid.

    YES on Measure C. Start over and this time treat medical cannabis as exactly what it is: just another one of the many helpful drugs that have some potential for abuse.

  11. If you hate politicians & have little respect for the law & those who enforce it,this is your opportunity to tell them all to go to hell by voting YES on MEASURE C !!!

    • another irrational post with no bearing on measure C measure C is for safe consistent access for the patients of the South Bay

  12. the city is trying to get you to believe that these are the only 16 responsible operators in San Jose and that just isn’t true

    the city has colluded with the 16 to put this issue to bed but the ordinance does not work

  13. Years ago our ex mayor Chuck Reed vowed to shut down all the club. The untenable portions of the san jose ordinance (the zoning regs, the closed loop fantasy. the fine scheme or scam) will eventually drive the remaining clubs out of business. This pot ordinance is the city council just trying to make chuckies dreams come true. Measure ce is making the people dreams come true. Which is more important the will of the people or the will of chuckie?

  14. At first the city made the ordinance because the city said there was a quote “torrent of com[plaints” about the dispensaries. Has any body seen this torrent of complaints? I believe 911 calls are subject to inspection under the freedom of information act. If such a torrent of complaints exists i think it should have been displayed for verification before the city put over 100 businesses out of business and made at least 1000 people unemployed, The total number of people unemployed is greater because kt does not take into account back end people like growers and edible amd concentrate manufactures etc..

  15. I would like to point out the Sodium Pentathol and Yes MEASUREC are both David Karrigan. He made multiple posts on Nextdoor about this. Aside from not having a clear and accurate message, he was actually caught lying. His intentions flipped back and fourth many times.

    Educate yourself and make your own decisions. Do not rely on the words of someone who was caught lying.

  16. I would like to point out that YES MEASUREC and SODIUM PENTATHOL are the David Kerrigan. He lives off Monterey RD. He posted everything above on Nextdoor.com also. While in the thread a person caught him lying. He also started the thread (which is against next doors rules) and after he was caught lying he went and reposted all the earlier messages to try and cover it up.

    The point being is not that he isn’t trustworthy, I honestly dont know. I want voters to educate themselves and make their own decisions. We are all influenced by the outside, but we can easily make our own decisions. The Effects of voting hits all of us, so get out there and vote and vote the way YOU want!

  17. You goons have no right to tell anyone what they may or may not consume. Period. All restrictions on cannabis cultivation, sale, and consumption by adults should be removed immediately. Some of the best pot dispensaries in the city have been closed down. And for what? So some control freaks can continue their sick games?

    • Serenseraph,
      Actually I’ve found most arguments and discourse posted here helpful in deciding how to vote.

      After receiving several neighborhood complaints, I visited a (now closed) MJ outlet near 5th & Commercial a few years ago. Parked nearby for an hour to observe store traffic. The only unusual aspect was the proprietor walking his dog outside during lulls. Visited several of the nearby businesses to inquire about adverse impacts and finally visited the store. Tempted to take a selfie – first time in a pot store.

      The proprietor was very pleasant and concerned when I mentioned complaints. Turned out the problems were with homeless traveling to the County homeless service center or the metal recycling center a few blocks away. The pot store was being unfairly blamed.

      Now this is hardly a representative sample. And other stores may indeed have adverse impacts. But I’m inclined to live and let live unless something is actually harmful – not suspected of being harmful. Restrictions on pot stores or gun stores within several hundred feet of a school or church are examples. No harm that I’m aware of even if adjacent.

      On the other hand, I’m grateful for the distance between a couple of 7-11 stores and my residence. Rosemary Gardens and Horace Mann residents are not so fortunate. Likewise the El Tarasco bar on 13th St caused significant problems for years. But San Jose officials declined to pull their business license or take other action.

      That’s really my dilemma on C: if some bad actor MJ stores do create adverse impacts, there appears little reason to expect corrective action from SJ officials.

      Other than demanding that the First Amendment be nullified, any constructive input?

      • The state ordinance and Measure C provide plenty of regulation. The city can’t manage to shut down problem bars. The answer to that is to regulate Marijuana? Silly little rabbit.

        The MMSRA governs marijuana from seed to sale across the state. MMSRA state ordinance signed by Gov. Brown last Oct.

        https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB266

        There is in the Department of Consumer Affairs the Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation, under the supervision and control of the director. The director shall administer and enforce the provisions of this chapter.

        (a) Nothing in this chapter shall be interpreted to supersede or limit existing local authority for law enforcement activity,”

        …(c) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), criminal penalties shall continue to apply to an unlicensed person engaging in commercial cannabis activity in violation of this chapter, including, but not limited to, those individuals covered under Section 11362.7 of the Health and Safety Code.

    • This post is more gobbledygook and FUD.

      A Yes Vote for Measure C DOES NOT allow dispensaries to locate anywhere.

      The MMSRA governs marijuana from seed to sale. signed last Oct. 2015 by Gov. Brown. google it

    • > You goons have no right to tell anyone what they may or may not consume.

      Marijuana addition IS a real societal problem.

      Marijuana addiction exhibit A: Frank Mockery

      Heavy use of marijuana results in cognitive impairment.

      Cognitive impairment exhibit A: Frank Mockery.

      Frank is too modest to mention it, but his IQ was once over 200. Now it’s only 154.

  18. That’s some perverted logic. Apply a set of undue burdens on only 1 class of businesses in the city. And at the same time allow liquor stores and bars to serve homeless, drunks and the like who urinate, fight, act a fool all hours of the night, every night. The hypocrisy is astounding. The MMSRA passed last Oct., 2015 signed by Gov. Brown. There is plenty that the city can do!

    MMSRA state ordinance signed by Gov. Brown last Oct.

    https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB266

    There is in the Department of Consumer Affairs the Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation, under the supervision and control of the director. The director shall administer and enforce the provisions of this chapter.

    (a) Nothing in this chapter shall be interpreted to supersede or limit existing local authority for law enforcement activity,”

    …(c) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), criminal penalties shall continue to apply to an unlicensed person engaging in commercial cannabis activity in violation of this chapter, including, but not limited to, those individuals covered under Section 11362.7 of the Health and Safety Code.

    • The biggest burden is not born by the businessmen but it is borne ultimately by the patients who are putting up their money to finance all this unnecessary nonsense

      • You are either invested in a club, smoke your brains out or are just an idiot. No means NO. Time to go back to your smoke fill where ever you reside and care for your plants.

  19. MMSRA state ordinance signed by Gov. Brown last Oct.

    https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB266

    There is in the Department of Consumer Affairs the Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation, under the supervision and control of the director. The director shall administer and enforce the provisions of this chapter.

    (a) Nothing in this chapter shall be interpreted to supersede or limit existing local authority for law enforcement activity,”

    …(c) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), criminal penalties shall continue to apply to an unlicensed person engaging in commercial cannabis activity in violation of this chapter, including, but not limited to, those individuals covered under Section 11362.7 of the Health and Safety Code.

  20. Don’t be swayed by obviously biased editorials bankrolled by large advertisers ! Don’t allow angry & vindictive politicians to create monopolies & dictate where cannabis patients must procure their medication ! Competition levels the playing field & ensures competitive (lower) pricing ! When the number of dispensaries in our community exceeds the needs of the patients they serve,the least qualified & profitable will close by their own accord ! Always remember that variety is the spice of life & that we lose access to many unique cannabis products when forced to shop at a small number of dispensaries that have deep pockets & political clout ! Keep in mind that the present system is egregiously unfair to many who’ve served their patients admirably for years & were forced out of business by a small cadre of pandering political posers ! It’s an indisputable fact that there are far more scofflaws consuming alcohol in our city than those who consume cannabis in public,most of whom are not cannabis patients & procure their “marijuana” on the black market. Yet you don’t see San Jose politicians closing any of the hundreds of locations where these dangerous drunkards consume or obtain ethyl alcohol ! These politicians who’ve been waging a crusade against the providers of medicinal cannabis & losing for over a decade are hypocrites at best & much more likely just a handful of scheming & reprehensible bold-faced liars ! Instead of serving the best interests of their constituents,they’ve chosen to enrich a few of their patrons at the expense of tens of thousands of those they were elected to serve ! Kinky Friedman once said that his definition of politics is “poly” – meaning many & “tics” – a type of blood-sucking parasite” & that’s an apt description of the present popularity contest winners running our fine city into the ground ! He also wrote an excellent book about his own political experiences called “You can lead a politician to water,but you can’t make them think” – truer words have never been spoken ! It’s time to show these inept grandstanders what we really think about their “friends” & their treachery & VOTE YES on MEASURE C on June 7th !!!

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