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MARIJUANA DELIVERY
Manteca may object to state push for medical pot deliveries
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Manteca’s leaders may fire off a letter to the state’s marijuana czar stringently objecting to her agency’s plan to make medical marijuana deliveries universally legally in California despite local ordinances to the contrary.

The Bureau of Cannabis Control is proposing the regulation that negates wording in both voters approved Proposition 64 and the Medicinal Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act that allowed cities and counties to determine whether medical pot deliveries would be allowed within their jurisdictions

And in case they are unsuccessful at stopping the Bureau of Cannabis Control from overriding the voters’ intent and existing state law, the council also may object to a proposed 10-day window for local jurisdictions to issue temporary or annual cannabis delivery licenses. Cities that allow medicinal pot deliveries under state law now have 60 days to conduct such reviews.

In a memo to the City Council, Manteca Police Chief Jodie Estarziau stressed cities need more time to view such requests if they’re forced to allow medical pot deliveries noting “ensuring that a local jurisdiction has approved of either a temporary or annual license is key to promoting public safety and should not be reduced to an over-the-counter approval process.”

 The City Council meets Tuesday at 4 p.m. — three hours earlier than their usual time due to National Night Out activities. The meeting takes place at the Civic Center, 1001 W. Center Street.

In January of 2016 as allowed by state law, the council prohibited medicinal marijuana delivery services from operating within the city limits.

Several Manteca residents spoke at the time saying without a delivery service they’d be unable to obtain medical marijuana as allowed under state law since they lacked transportation. Others noted some residents with valid medicinal marijuana cards such as teachers that want to obtain pot discreetly and favor the delivery service over traveling to an actual medicinal dispensary would also face hardships.

State law went into effect after March 1, 2016 that made medicinal marijuana delivery services legal in California unless local jurisdictions take steps to ban them before then.

 

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com