The San Jose, California City Council has unanimously approved a measure allowing the city’s 16 dispensaries to begin selling to adults 21-and-older on Jan. 1, 2018, according to a San Jose Inside report. Avery single district in San Jose voted for the legalization initiative last November.
The vote will allow medical dispensaries currently operating in the city to sell and deliver to adults so long as they obtain a license from the state. The approval neither changes zoning regulations nor allows additional shops to open; under current zoning rules, dispensaries are barred from opening certain distances away from schools, churches and other “sensitive uses.”
In a memo, Councilman Lan Diep suggested the city’s rules could act as a model for other cities.
“Our policy should not be a blunt instrument, but rather a high-quality model for other cities to clone,” the memo states. “Through smart regulations and taxes, we can weed out bad actors and get our general fund revenues high.”
San Jose is the third major city in the state on track for a New Year’s Day rollout of the adult use cannabis industry. In September, the Los Angeles City Council passed draft rules setting the stage for adult-use sales; and San Diego followed suit the next month, approving cultivation, testing, and manufacturing rules for the voter-approved industry.