Chinatown, San Francisco Bans Cannabis Stores
[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]S[/dropcap]an Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 8-3 on July 31 to ban medical dispensaries and recreational cannabis stores in the city’s historic Chinatown district. The area is geographically tiny—only about 15 city blocks—but the option of allowing cannabis businesses has generated a fierce debate.
Chinatown falls under Supervisor Aaron Peskin’s district and jurisdiction. Peskin introduced the legislation after hearing repeated concerns from local neighboring business owners.
There are several reasons for the pushback against cannabis stores. One of those includes the idea that small merchants in the area won’t be able to compete with the cost of rising rent, potentially driven by the cannabis market. Supervisor Ahsha Safai chose ultimately chose to support existing small businesses. Supervisor Hillary Ronen disagreed with that theory. “For me, this law is too new and I don’t see that gentrification threat happening at the moment,” she said, “because there are simply no applications for cannabis stores in Chinatown.”
Supervisor Malia Cohen was initially against the ban, saying that she couldn’t support a “geographic carve-out for a dispensary-free neighborhood.” But Cohen changed her mind after considering the fact that residents simply can walk a few blocks in nearly any direction to find access to other dispensaries—it is, after all, San Francisco.
The district’s history is rich, and plays a role on how its residents react to cannabis businesses. Flooding in China forced hordes of mostly male laborers to migrate to San Francisco between 1852 and 1882. Many generations endured crippling racism, but found strength in numbers. The massive Chinese colony in San Francisco never left, and they haven’t given up their culture, either.
Chinatown is clearly a district with special needs. Many local residents want to preserve the atmosphere that attracts two million tourists per year. And part of preserving Chinatown means preventing the gentrification that could be stimulated by cannabis stores.
