The San Jose City Council on Tuesday approved drawing up guidelines for the operation of medical marijuana collectives as a way to regulate the businesses and possibly bring in much-needed revenue to the nation's 10th largest city.
After more than two hours of debate, city leaders voted to draft an ordinance that would likely limit the number of pot clubs, control where they operate and tax them.
"The only way to ensure medical marijuana collectives follow the rules is to regulate them, and I can't say we're doing that today," said councilman Pierliugi Oliverio, who introduced the motion.
Dozens of residents, medical marijuana patients and collective operators testified in favor of regulation - many wanting to ensure they are located away from schools and neighborhoods and taxed as legitimate businesses.
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I had a Mark Twain, nineteenth-century moment at Venice Beach last week.
Its name might be its strongest asset: The Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act, a marijuana legalization effort that goes out of its way not to say the word "marijuana."
