San Jose Medical Marijuana Under Attack

On Tuesday, September 13th, the city council of San Jose, California, will hold an important meeting about the future of medical marijuana within its boundaries. Patient supporters will work to maintain the legal standards that have been previously defined, while opposers will seek to greatly limit the current law's regulations.

California is among those states that act as a forerunner in the world of medical marijuana. With a number of firsts under their belt, California’s population has not experienced many step backs in terms of dispensaries and patient care, but that could change today.

San Jose lawmakers are discussing a number of issues, one of which is where medical marijuana should come from. Currently, there are still a lot of grey areas in terms of where dispensaries are getting their pot, which makes many city officials nervous.

Officials are now suggesting that all medical marijuana should be grown by the dispensary, within the dispensary. This would require collectives to take up nearly an entire city block in order to be completely operational, which is an obvious restriction to quick and simple medicine access.

The city council is also working to restrict the amount of dispensaries within San Jose. There are currently 140 registered collectives within the city, and officials are looking to lower that number to 10. Marijuana advocates argue that this is unfair and will lead to marijuana superstores, rather than decrease use.

Other issues surrounding medical marijuana are sure to be discussed, but these two are sure to be the most extreme. These regulations would clearly violate the intention behind the law that legalized medical marijuana, which was passed in order to provide convenient access to medicine, for those who need it.

While other states have been taking huge steps to restrict the rights given by medical marijuana laws, this is rare for California. As a trend-setting state, it would be very bad news for the medical marijuana community if these restrictions were to hold up in San Jose. It is up to patients and supporters to speak up to make sure that voter-passed laws are not limited in these ways.