There is no question that San Jose residents want legal medical marijuana delivery. In fact 69 percent of residents polled are in favor of delivery. The real question is whether policymakers will do anything about it.
The poll, commissioned by Eaze and completed by Tusk Ventures, asked more than 500 San Jose residents their opinions regarding medical marijuana. The results revealed a desire for common sense medical marijuana policies, particularly when it comes to delivery. Delivery is currently banned in San Jose, though legal and flourishing in much of the state, including in San Diego, Orange County, Sacramento and San Francisco.
Like many California cities, San Jose has had ongoing discussions about how best to manage medical marijuana. This past spring, the city hosted a series of community engagement hearings and one thing kept coming up: a desire for medical marijuana delivery. City stakeholders are currently deciding whether to move forward with a regulatory framework.
We hope they do, for the following reasons:
Patients need safe access but prohibition is encouraging the illicit market.
There are two reasons voters want legal medical marijuana delivery. For many residents, safe, easy access to medical marijuana is considered a basic health care right, particularly for those suffering from severe conditions that limit their mobility. The second is that voters understand prohibiting delivery actually creates opportunity for the illicit medical marijuana market, encouraging the very problems that prohibition aims to solve.
Were in dire need of a regulated delivery model.
A quick search on W*edmaps, a service that advertises legal and illegal cannabis businesses, reveals more than 20 illegal delivery services advertising in San Jose. Because they operate in the shadows, it is impossible for the City of San Jose to regulate, monitor or collect taxes on them. They flourish because legal options cannot exist. The majority of San Jose voters understand this, with 53 percent of poll respondents support delivery services because they know if delivery is banned, people may utilize illegal, unsafe methods that are almost impossible to police.
Prop 64 works for the state, but local municipalities need reform, too.
Many may think that with the upcoming vote on Prop 64, the ballot proposition that would legalize recreational marijuana in California, debating these local regulations is a moot point. Thats far from the case. If California legalizes marijuana for recreational use, delivery is still left to the decision of local municipalities. So, legal delivery will still be illegal in San Jose even if recreational marijuana is legalized. In fact, there will be even more pressure to address this problem. Why wait?
Technology enabled deliveries can keep patients safe.
Sixty-five percent of San Jose voters believe technological safeguards can make medical marijuana delivery safe. At Eaze, Ive seen how technology enabled delivery can keep residents safe. Safeguards include driver background checks, randomized audits, geo-fencing and vehicle inspection. We believe a regulatory framework allowing for medical marijuana delivery would have these safeguards. Whats more, the speed of medicine delivery is often crucial for patients. With an on-demand model, participating dispensaries are able to address this patient need and mitigate congestion occurring with other delivery models where a driver would be going back and forth from dispensaries.
So the question is not whether San Jose residents need convincing. Its whether their elected officials will meet their obligation to respond to the desires of their constituents. I am calling on them to do so. Bring regulated medical marijuana delivery to San Jose.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker
Full Article: San Jose Must Deliver On Managing Medical Marijuana
Author: Keith McCarty
Contact: 408-920-5000
Photo Credit: David Paul Morris
Website: The Mercury News
