The Concord City Council debated loosening cannabis regulations to allow more testing and manufacturing operations in the city, but the future of dispensaries and retail delivery businesses within city limits remains uncertain following the council’s regular meeting Tuesday night.
Current limits allow for two manufacturing and distribution licenses for medicinal-only businesses and two more for testing laboratories serving both medicinal and recreational or “adult use” markets.
The manufacturing and distribution licenses have already been awarded, and there’s an application pending for a testing laboratory, meaning that local law only allows for one more permit and only for another lab.
Concord also allows licensed dispensaries to deliver cannabis, so long as their brick and mortar business is outside the city limits. That creates problems, however, for the companies making those deliveries.
Robert Spearin with www.mountainremedy.com, an Oakland-based cannabis delivery service, says roughly one-third of his sales are delivered in Concord – and establishing a location inside the city would save his staff
a lot of driving while reducing the company’s carbon footprint.
During public comment, he also urged the city to remove restrictions on the recreational market, as many medicinal customers prefer to acquire cannabis that way.
“Of our sales,” Spearin said, “only 5 percent come from the medicinal market.”
“There isn’t an avenue for people to easily obtain medical recommendations like there used to be,” Spearin said.
In April, the council directed city staff to look into potential revisions that could allow for delivery operations, brick-and-mortar dispensaries and an increased number of licenses for testing labs as well as manufacturing and distribution companies.
There seems to be strong support among councilmembers for increasing the number of licenses available for testing labs, which Councilmember Laura Hoffmeister compared to pharmaceutical companies, or doing away with the limit altogether.
Mayor Edi Birsan said, “Being the son of a scientist, I think we should have a testing lab everywhere. I love science.”
There was also support for increasing the number of licenses for manufacturing and distribution companies, although members of the council expressed concerns about doing so too quickly.
“I think we need to be responsible in doing it incrementally and figure out what the right number is,” Hoffmeister said.
While Birsan advocated for a more open approach, allowing recreational dispensaries in order to facilitate access for medicinal users and to capture the tax revenue, the fate of that business type in Concord
remains uncertain.
Many of those who spoke during public comment Tuesday evening advocated for increasing the license limits, but at least three people filed written comment with City Hall urging the council not to do so, citing
concerns about public safety and family values.
Jenna Stewart, coalition coordinator for the Monument Youth Drug and Alcohol Coalition, asked the council to consider the potential for adverse impacts on young adults and suggested increasing the buffer from 600
to 1000 feet between cannabis businesses and “sensitive use” locations like schools.
53 comments
” … an Oakland-based cannabis delivery service, says roughly one-third of his sales are delivered in Concord …”
Well, that just about says it all. Birsan needs to take his marijuana-fueled attitude and get out of town. Some nerve corrupting Concord with all this pathological drug use. Between he and Hoffmeister the city will soon rival Oakland in its undesirability for decent folks.
Concord, being the Modern and Progressive City that it is, should mirror other great Modern and Progressive Cities concerning their policies on these dispensaries.
If policies for LA and San Francisco work for them, they should work fine for the people of Concord.
There is nothing “Modern and Progressive” about existing in a cloud of apathy fueled by marijuana. If you like that sort of existence, don’t bring Oakland to Concord, move to Oakland.
Agreed 100% we are loosing money by not allowing Concord to collect the revenue. Get with it Concord.
@Jane Doe I believe the activity to which you refer that would generate this revenue is correctly referred to as “out of it.”
Way to go. Keep people’s brains fogged so they don’t know what you’re doing to them. Legal or not, these dopeheads need money to get it and since they don’t work….guess what? And those that do work diminish their capabilities to be better. It’s proven.
Source?
@Kevin Observation.
Nice try.
You should try it … oh, right … not really a viable option when you’re way deep in a marijuana cloud of “… groovy man, he he he he, pass the Jolly Ranchers …”
i partake in marijuana use and I own a business. I am not Seeno rich but I do fine.
There is nothing wrong with enjoying a delicious edible at the end of the day to relax.
It’s better than drinking alcohol!
Let me paraphrase, “There is nothing wrong with me because I need drugs to relax.” See how ridiculous that is?
Birsans attitude is no surprise. He is very pro dope. I thought Hoffmeister had a little more class.
It’s pretry clear that the easy availibity of marijuana leads to more car crashes and a host of other problems. I’m not in favor of doing anything to encourage use or sales in Concord.
Will manufacturing add to the carbon footprint? If they are making hash oil or vaping products, the answer is yes. Will they need a Hazardous Materials permit and regular inspections? Armed guards?
There’s a fascinating article in the LA Times today about the state of cannabis sales in California that covers many of these issues. Per the article, 76% of the cities and 64% of counties in California have not approved pot shops, resulting in billions of dollars going into the black market. Local cities are too scared to embrace change, and it is costing millions in lost tax revenue.
Way to go State of California. Forecasting more chickens than actually
laid. And this is how California gets into budget crunches.
Sorry folks, prohibition is over. Get used to letting adults make their own decisions about what they chose to injest in their bodies.
That would be a legitimate argument if you existed in a vacuum, but, unfortunately, your behavior effects all of us in any number of unpleasant ways.
Mayor Edi Birsan said, “Being the son of a scientist, I think the orange crayons taste the best. I love science, and false appeals to authority.”
The prohibition has been lifted, and the feds will follow the States. Not allowing businesses that are legal to operate in city limits just denies Concord the tax revenue and gives it to another city. Get with the times, expand the licenses and take off the chains. Let there be trade.
There are no chains involved in living without drugs. That’s the beauty of it.
I know that California likes to pretend otherwise, but marijuana is still illegal in the United States.
The King of California doesn’t follow federal laws.
And when has US law ever stopped our intrepid leaders in Sacramento?
Let’s see, … how many people representing us in local government are marijuana users? Well, Birsen is all for it, so apparently he’s a user. There’s really no legitimate reason to be behind it for recreational use unless you are using it, right? For compassionate use in medical issues, I would guess most of our elected officers support it. Hoffmeister is dealing with medical issues, as I understand it, so she could have a medical marijuana excuse. DeSaulnier has a form of cancer, so he’s may be using medical marijuana which would explain a lot. Since recreational is now probably cheaper than medical, I would guess most medical users have transitioned to recreational marijuana. And, since black market is even cheaper than marijuana at retail establishments, my guess is most people go there first or know someone who will go there for them. As a matter of fact, who among local elected liberals aren’t using it? So, there we are …
Never thought I would see the day when smoking weed was more socially accepted than smoking a cigarette….. unbelievable.
And please don’t comment and say how beneficial marijuana is and doesn’t cause problems/addiction/etc – its not true. Anyone that I know who smoke weed are enough proof that I never want to do it – numbing out from everything in life – no emotions, no drive to succeed, lazy….
Cannabis use is said to enhance the characteristics and traits you already have. So if the people you know who consume are lazy, have no drive, no emotions, etc, maybe that says something about the company you keep?
Actually, it says more about the effects if marijuana, but we don’t realistically expect someone living in a drug-fueled craze to fully grasp the concept.
Kevin, I think you might be confusing it with cocaine. All the a**holes I knew that used cocaine were even bigger a**holes when high.
This just in: The Outside Lands Festival allowed marijuana sales this year for the first time, and took in somewhere in the realm of $1 million in proceeds from the sale of marijuana products. There were also around 300 lost credit cards and IDs remaining in Lost and Found when the festival was over.. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
You win the internet today!!
There is no correlation between the two.
How many cards and IDs were lost lat year? The year before?
If Concord REALLY wants to thumb its nose at the feds, put a facility in the Gateway building right next to the FBI office.
I don’t think so sir.
Hey Mayor, Albert Hofmann loved labs too.
That’s the problem – it’s not just your body. Many cannabis products are now being distributed and sold are in a concentrated form that can be dangerous or fatal should someone be exposed to too much of it. The facilities that manufacture and test the products are dealing with hazardous materials.
People using cannabis products end up being unusually careless. At least once a week now I’m finding discarded cannabis products that are either full or nearly so. People get high and wander off, leaving their stash in public parks and alongside walking/biking trails. Curious teens find them.
Law enforcement officers are also finding the stuff and need to follow the correct protocols for documenting what was found and disposing of it. That’s expensive for all of us either directly via taxes or indirectly via higher costs of goods so that vendors can afford ot pay the taxes.
There’s also the issue of second hand smoke. I can smell someone using a Juul from about half a block away.
It’s also not just your body when others are negatively impacted by your habits. Most users are not hermits living miles from anyone and growing their own stuff.
Nobody’s ever had a fatal overdose from too Much THC…..Concentrated or Not,Stop telling lies
Well……….. there’s this:
https://allthatsinteresting.com/louisiana-marijuana-overdose
I’d like to counter that article DJ which is addressed in this article. 😉
https://www.popsci.com/overdose-on-weed-marijuana/
OK TOB….. I’ll see your article and I’ll raise you another link…
https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/18/health/marijuana-driving-accidents-bn/index.html
You might not call it an “overdose”, but I’d say it was enough to get a bunch of people killed.
Forget it Dr J. It’s harmless dontcha know.
Right, let them stew in their own juices until they realize their lives are going nowhere and they’re too stoned to figure out why.
By the way, the mayor is Carlyn Obringer. Edi Birsan was the Mayor in 2018.
Oh, now i get it. It’s no longer “using” marijuana – it’s “testing” it.
I’m sure the armored courier services (Brinks, Loomis Fargo, etc) are throwing every lobby dollar they can scrape up at these initiatives.
How are these shops not getting held up regularly?
They will be just like those apple phone stores
Bob-it’s a concern for anyone working in the industry. Because of the federal view on cannabis, banks often won’t provide their services to the dispensaries and credit cards often aren’t accepted at dispensaries. So you have store fronts that have large amounts of cash on hand. Removing the schedule 1 classification on cannabis at the Federal level needs to happen in order for more safe practices to be put in place.
@Gittyup…You’ve got it right, here’s proof….https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbjHOBJzhb0
Ok, “Reefer Madness” was a little melodramatic, over the top, and unrealistic. But, from first-hand experience I know that stoners are not in full command of their faculties. They drive while stoned. They have unreasonable temper tantrums, they are inconsiderate of the feelings of others, they engage in risky behaviors in all aspects of their lives. Who needs it? Eventually, everyone comes to realize they are undesirable companions (there actually is no real “companionship” with a stoner) and move on. Weed is the stoner’s best friend and there isn’t room for anyone else.
@Gittyup… It’s no more “melodramatic, over the top, and unrealistic’ than the stereotypical comments you’ve made on this thread.
@nytemuvrv I lived it. I knew people who were deep into weed, cocaine, mushrooms, LSD. Since it wasn’t my thing, and my education focused a great deal on making observations of human behavior, I was in a unique position to draw some interesting conclusions about what those drugs did to the people who were using them, … the one’s who lived, that is.
Furthermore, I know people today who were into the drug scene in the1970s who have returned there with the legalization of marijuana. The drug has changed and it’s meaner, more dangerous, and more expensive. They can’t understand why they aren’t enjoying the experience.
These drugs, like alcohol, loose inhibitions, relax moral standards, are sometimes physically relaxing or comforting, alter one’s perception, and impair judgement. The individual behaves accordingly and if you happen to be in association with them, you can expect consequences of their behavior will effect you. They can be inconsiderate, rude, uncaring, hurtful, infidel, mean, careless, passive, apathetic, untruthful, and irresponsible.
During a discussion with my Doctor about my encounters with drug users he told me something I found very true, “Drugs make things OK that aren’t”
Stupid city just giving up to tax revenue, I along with countless others will just go to Berkley or other city to buy
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