SAN DIEGO, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Several medical marijuana collectives are working together on a proposal to regulate marijuana dispensaries in San Diego.
The proposal will be presented as a ballot measure this week for the City Council to consider, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
The measure would create operating zones and standards, set up a registration system, impose a cost-recovery fee and levy a tax on dispensaries.
The proposed measures come after a crackdown on marijuana dispensaries in San Diego. Eight weeks ago, U.S. Attorney Lauren Duffy warned the sale and distribution of pot were illegal under federal law. Some collectives have been sued for allegedly violating zoning laws and landlords risk criminal prosecution should dispensaries be found still in operation.
"We believe there needs to be an ordinance in which case collectives can operate legitimately and service the patients that we need to service," said Greg Shultz, a director with the Patient Care Association. "We need rules that are responsible and respectable and, after months of outreach, that's what we've come up with."
Critics of the regulation of marijuana dispensaries say they have been exploited elsewhere in the past.
"The best education voters could have about whether to allow pot shops has been the last two years," said Scott Chipman, chairman of San Diegans for Safe Neighborhoods. "What has to be done to protect neighborhoods and teens, the proponents of these businesses are not likely to allow.
"Regardless of whether there is a city ordinance for pot shops, we will expect and encourage the federal agencies to continue their enforcement."
