A new order was issued this week by top health officials that says Santa Clara County’s cannabis dispensaries will not be allowed to sell recreational marijuana.
Weeks ago the stores were allowed to stay open for both medical and recreational marijuana customers.
With the new order, medical marijuana can be dispensed inside the stores or curbside but recreational users must use a delivery service to receive their cannabis while they shelter in place.
Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen gave new guidance on Tuesday to the San Jose Police Department on cannabis dispensaries.
Under the revised order, dispensaries will not be allowed to serve so-called “adult-use” or “recreational” customers inside their stores — only “medical customers with a doctor’s recommendation can pick up weed at the shop.
Many dispensary owners were not thrilled with the news. “The county is anti-cannabis and they are imposing their moral will on the only city in the county that allows it — but they’re disguising it as a public health concern,” said Sean Kali-rai, founder of the Silicon Valley Cannabis Alliance and a lobbyist who represents several San Jose dispensaries
“The county is playing politics with cannabis and using the public health order as cover to do it,” Kali-rai said. “There’s no logic behind this at all, it is going to endanger public health, not protect it.”
