Posted on October 22nd, 2008 by Cali CannabisLocal authorities in San Mateo, CA shut down three cannabis dispensaries last year, and another in 2008. However, a recent article by the San Mateo News on InsideBayArea.com indicates that the city could be changing its tune.
Check out the killer quote from Deputy Mayor Brandt Grotte towards the bottom.
City officials are considering an ordinance that would regulate the cultivation of medical marijuana and the cooperative groups that band together to produce the substance.
At a study session Monday night, members of the San Mateo City Council voiced their support for the legal production and use of medical marijuana but agreed the city should establish clear rules for those activities and educate the public on local and federal law.
Authorities shuttered three pot clubs in San Mateo in 2007 and a fourth in 2008.
The draft ordinance would require medical marijuana collectives, composed of patients and their primary caregivers, to apply for a license and register with the San Mateo Police Department before growing or storing pot. The collectives would operate indoors with barred windows at least 300 to 500 feet from schools, recreation centers and youth centers.
To protect patients, the collectives — rather than city officials — would maintain a list of members, City Attorney Shawn Mason said.
“I’m in full support of the city of San Mateo having a regulation like this,” Deputy Mayor Brandt Grotte said during the meeting.
Nonetheless, “there still remains the inevitable conflict between state and federal law, and eventually I hope the feds will grow up and get over it.“
