Marijuana plants for sale at a San Diego dispensary in 2018. (Union-Tribune)
City keeps other businesses restricted to medical only
Oceanside — Oceanside’s City Council voted 4-1 this week to add the commercial cultivation of recreational marijuana to its list of regulated cannabis businesses.
All other businesses such as manufacture, testing and distribution will remain for medical uses only for now, but the council agreed to reconsider in six months whether to allow recreational, also called adult-use, marijuana for them.
Opponents say the change continues Oceanside’s gradual creep toward the legalization of all types of cannabis businesses, despite the council’s original stated intention of medical only. Proponents say they are just trying to “level the playing field,” increase the city’s tax revenue and give people fewer reasons to buy from illegal sources.
“I fell for the bait with this just being medical marijuana and good for medical purposes,” said Councilman Jack Feller, the only one to vote against the expansion. “That’s why I voted to let it go forward. It is a true bait-and-switch from what was initially brought before us.”
Feller said he understands that cannabis can be a medicine for some people, but he opposes any loosening of regulations that could make the substance more easily available to children or teens who could use it for something other than medicinal purposes.
The City Council adopted an ordinance in 2016 that allowed medical cannabis delivery in Oceanside. In 2018 the council adopted multiple ordinances and amendments to allow medical cannabis cultivation, manufacturing and other businesses. Dispensaries were initially excluded, but by the end of 2018 the council decided to issue business licenses and conditional-use permits for a maximum of two store-front dispensaries for deliveries only, with no in-store sales.
The city approved a conditional use permit for its first medical, delivery-only cannabis dispensary, MedLeaf Delivery, in May. The owners said they plan to open in July in an industrial park near the municipal airport in the San Luis Rey Valley.
Councilman Christopher Rodriguez asked at Wednesday’s council meeting for the city to eliminate the medical restriction in all regulated cannabis businesses.
The post Oceanside to allow commercial cultivation of recreational cannabis appeared first on L.A. Cannabis News.
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