Chancellor’s Chat
May 2016
As I write this, I can’t help but feel more admiration for the City of Oakland, the home of Oaksterdam University. It was the first city in the country to permit and regulate the front of the house in terms of selling medical cannabis, and for years it was the most cannabis-friendly city in the world, even surpassing Amsterdam. In the span of two days, Oakland has had a front row seat to two incredible, game-changing events in the cannabis industry. In 2012, It was as if the East Bay had been hit by a tsunami wave, between the federal raid on five businesses that forcibly retired our founder and the civil property forfeiture cases against Harborside Health Center and Berkeley Patients’ Group. Now this week, we seemed to have actually caught that wave, and we are finally riding the crest… in the positive direction. Surf’s up!
First, while Oakland has permitted the selling of medical marijuana for some time now, other activities crucial to bringing product to dispensaries have had to operate underground. I call it ‘magic marijuana.’ Poof and it just appears! But, that is about to change.
While some cities in California are restricting their cannabis laws in reaction to the new Medical Marijuana Regulation & Safety Act (MMRSA), Oakland has stepped up to become the first city in the state to not only double the number of dispensaries in the city this year, but also to permit everything from the cultivation and production to the delivery of medical cannabis. The new regulations would introduce permits for thirty cultivators, twelve delivery businesses, five distributors, five transporters, two testing facilities and twenty-eight manufacturing businesses, as well as eight more medical cannabis dispensaries. That could be a windfall for Oakland’s tax revenues based on the $4 million in taxes the existing eight dispensaries generated in 2015. Plus, in response to civil justice reparations, the new regulations will require half of all licenses to be given to applicants who have disproportionately been impacted by past federal and state drug laws.
The other exciting, land-shifting event to occur involves Harborside Health Center, which is based in Oakland and has been the largest medical marijuana dispensary in the country. It has over 100,000 patient members and has been the focus of a four-year shut down bid by the federal government. Since 2012, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has cracked down on dispensaries across California by attempting to seize the buildings that housed those businesses. This ploy has long been in the opposition’s playbook to shut down cannabis businesses. Pressuring landlords has worked remarkably well (better than raids!) and over the past four years federal officials have shut down hundreds of dispensaries across California with a form letter and a stamp.
Harborside, however, stood its ground against the onslaught brought by Melinda Haag, now retired, and on May 3rd the Justice Department raised its white flag in defeat and dropped the federal civil case…as long as Harborside agrees not to file further appeals or claims against the government. That’s good news for the patients who rely on the dispensary to provide them with cannabis medications. It’s also a sign that federal prohibition could soon be a thing of the past and we can focus on improving services and regulations for the industry.
What happens in California impacts the rest of the country and based on these two events, we can be optimistic that our advocacy is working. That, of course, is no guarantee. Let’s celebrate these wins and get back to the business at hand for there is still much to do.
Hope to see you at the National Cannabis Industry Association Lobby Days in Washington D.C. on May 11-13th where I will be lobbying for banking access, IRS revisions, descheduling, and research opportunities as well as the ability for VA doctors to discuss medical cannabis in legal states! Even if you can not come, please SIGN UP and support NCIA’s work to change Federal Law so we can all exist and continue to improve conditions for patients, professionals, farmers, businesses and citizens regardless of geography or presidential politics.
Dale Sky JonesOaksterdam UniversityExecutive Chancellor
Coalition for Cannabis Policy Reform
Chairwoman
