Pubdate: Wed, 23 Jul 2014
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright: 2014 Associated Press
Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/submissions/#1
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388
Page: E3

PETITION DRIVE AIMED AT EASING LIMITS ON POT CLUBS FALLS SHORT

(AP) - Medical marijuana advocates in San Jose failed in their 
petition drive to let voters decide whether the city's tough 
restrictions on pot clubs should be overturned.

The San Jose city clerk's office announced Monday that supporters 
were more than 10,000 signatures short of the 33,262 registered 
voters required to put their measure on the November ballot, the San 
Jose Mercury News reported.

"I think it says that the voters agree with the (City) Council - that 
it's time for sensible regulation," said Councilwoman Rose Herrera, a 
pot club opponent. "This helps keep them away from schools and 
interfering with businesses."

The failed petition drive comes after the City Council approved new 
rules last month that took effect Friday. The new restrictions limit 
pot clubs to a few select industrial pockets - less than 1 percent of 
the city's parcels. The regulations also enacted costly operating 
rules, such as 24-hour security and a requirement to grow marijuana 
within Santa Clara County or a neighboring county.

The restrictions will probably force most of the city's 80 
dispensaries to close by July 2015, despite their having a year to 
find a new location. Many dispensaries near homes have already shut down.

Advocates say San Jose's medical marijuana rules are stronger than 
those in other Bay Area cities such as San Francisco and Oakland.

"It's going to be a really different San Jose. There will be much 
fewer locations," said James Anthony, an attorney who spearheaded a 
similar petition drive in 2011 and lobbied against the regulations 
this year. "At the moment, it seems like the city's in the driver's 
seat. I'd say at this point, the focus is on complying."

Dave Hodges, who owns the All-American Cannabis Club in San Jose, 
said Monday he and fellow supporters believed they had up to 75,000 
valid signatures in their month-long petition drive.

Yet, with a week to go, they discovered that most of them were bogus.

"At some locations, 75 to 80 percent of the people who told us they 
were registered voters actually weren't," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom