By The San Francisco City Board of Supervisors on June 6 voted to suspend the issuance of new cannabis business licenses citywide for the next four and a half years. Although one was absent, the ten directors present at the time voted unanimously.
Superintendent Asha Safai, who was behind the moratorium, stressed that the measures were temporary. “This is a moratorium, not a ban, and we can finally revisit this situation in a few years,” he said. San Francisco standard.
San Francisco standard It also said the move addresses concerns from the local Asian-American community against cannabis, which Safay will appeal to the group when he runs for mayor of San Francisco in 2024. There is a possibility that it is a movement to do.
Safai said the reasons behind the ban were largely due to oversaturation of cannabis products and black market sales, as well as threats to public safety regarding recent crimes. robbery. In May, Safai spoke to the board of directors about these concerns. “Let me be clear, there is no shortage of cannabis retail outlets, and many are blaming brazen intrusions, public safety concerns, and an unregulated marketplace that has not faced proper policing. I am suffering from He said.
San Francisco standard There are 32 licensed medical marijuana dispensaries in the city and 31 recreational marijuana dispensaries in the city, according to an estimated 100 applications currently being processed.according to sci-fi gateSan Francisco is estimated to have nine cannabis dispensaries per 100,000 inhabitants, compared with just 2.6 per 100,000 inhabitants in San Diego and 1.8 in Los Angeles, while cities such as Portland and Oregon have an estimated 9 dispensaries per 100,000 inhabitants. There are 34 pharmacies. .
Supervisor Dean Preston also voiced his support in the June 6 vote, citing the addition of the 2027 sunset clause. “What was originally proposed was a longer-term ban,” Preston said, according to reports. sci-fi gate. “These amendments go a long way toward furthering the short-term grace period that was originally intended.”
The suspension period will last until the end of 2027, after which the Supervisory Board will decide whether to end or extend the ban. This suspension will not affect existing cannabis businesses or applicants. The ban will go into effect in early July, 30 days after approval.
Existing cannabis business owners, including Berners on Hate co-founder Johnny Delaplane, said: sci-fi gate More pharmacies will only increase competition and ultimately make everyone else less successful. “There is a limited amount of legal cannabis market in San Francisco,” Delaplane said. “If we were to split into 70 retailers and soon have 140 retailers, many of those retailers would go bankrupt.”
Brad Lowe, a public policy lecturer at UCLA and an adjunct professor at Pepperdine University, explained that while this would benefit pharmacies, it would likely also increase the price of products for consumers. “There are ways to build value by limiting access.” Rowe said.. “The question is who will pay for it? It is the consumer who pays the higher price.”
Other business owners noted how the ban would benefit the wealthy who already have stores in the city. Said “that’s unfair” Reese Benton, owner of Posh Green. “For someone like me, even opening the first store is difficult.”
The ban will hurt other social equity applicants, according to Nina Parks, owner of Gift of Doja and an equity applicant currently in the middle of the application process. “While the original role of equity programs is to open access to marginalized people, this legislates limited access to opportunities,” Parks said. rice field.
In some areas, such as Pasco, Washington, authorities have lifted a 10-year cannabis ban, while Amsterdam recently enacted a ban to prevent smoking cannabis in public. Like San Francisco, other recreational cannabis states are facing oversupply problems.Recent reports from Associated Press It addressed the overstocking of produce by growers, with not enough legal pharmacies to sell and distribute flowers, edibles and spirits.
