Connect with us

News

As Vote on Dispensary Cap Nears, San Francisco Sounds Off in Committee Hearing

Published

on

The prospect of banning new cannabis dispensaries  in the famously weed-friendly city of San Francisco, California continues to have people talking weeks after the idea was shared by a local politician and mayoral candidate.

Mayoral candidate Ahsha Safaí filed paperwork on May 8 to challenge the current city mayor, London Breed, in the 2024 election. As part of his platform, Safaí said that he opposes the opening of future dispensaries in the city. Safaí is currently a legislator on the city’s Board of Supervisors for San Fran’s 11th District. The city’s board of supervisors is set to vote on the ordinance on June 6.

According to The San Francisco Standard, Safaí has seen increasing support among his colleagues, both in progressive and moderate circles, and the proposal unanimously passed at the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee hearing last week.

At the meeting, Safaí said that now was the ideal time to ask for a pause on further dispensary openings. According to him, allowing the market and industry to adjust will provide better security and overall protections, “but at the same time, respecting the wishes and desires of different neighborhoods in this city and their concerns as well,” he added.

He has also cited that a number of neighborhoods are at their limit when it comes to retail cannabis stores and said that adding more dispensaries is a public safety issue, given that they deal in cash and are prone to break-ins.

City data shows that there are currently about 32 licensed medical dispensaries in the city and 31 general retailers, while more than 100 additional applications are still in process. SFGate also notes that San Francisco has more cannabis stores per capita than most other major cities in the state.

The San Francisco Standard also notes that the proposal has gained a surprising base of support through current cannabis industry business owners, meaning that both anti-cannabis activists and pro-cannabis business owners are united on the issue.

California Street Cannabis Company CEO Drakari Donaldson said at the committee hearing that the city “simply [has] too many dispensaries and not enough customers,” adding that instead of thriving, business owners are facing an “extinction event.” He also said that San Francisco’s Cannabis Equity Program, meant to help communities disenfranchised by the War on Drugs, didn’t act as it should have because of oversaturation in the city.

That’s not to say that everyone in San Francisco agrees. During the public comment portion of the hearing, one caller said that the city government should not pursue the issue and that the timing wasn’t right.

The commenter, small-business owner and 25-year San Francisco resident Chris Calloway, said he does not believe that the citizens of the city are preventing businesses from their doors.

“I’d like to see a fair-market approach to cannabis retail in San Francisco. Allow the market to decide on its own,” he said.

Supervisor Connie Chan also showed concern about the government stepping in.

“Are we really dealing with saturation?” Chan said. “Or are we actually allowing some of the existing businesses to monopolize the market in San Francisco and that they end up benefiting from it?”

According to The San Francisco Standard, Chan is planning to introduce an amendment requiring the City Controller’s Office to conduct a comprehensive economic review of the city’s existing cannabis law in 2027.

The proposal already has three co-sponsors: Supervisors Catherine Stefani, Shamann Walton and Matt Dorsey. Supervisor Joel Engardio, who sits on the committee, also voted in favor of the bill. Should her amendment pass, Chan said she would also vote yes, giving Safaí the six votes needed for a majority rule.

Back in 2020, Safaí proposed a similar ban, though the COVID-19 pandemic pushed it to the back burner as the city dealt with other more pressing issues. He said the San Francisco Cannabis Retailers Association requested the ban in 2022; a representative from the association told SFGate in a statement that, “This is good, common sense legislation that will support existing retailers struggling to make ends meet in the wake of over-saturation and unchecked crime.”