It was last week that Santa Clara officials decided to ban the sale of recreational marijuana in stores and now state and local lawmakers are pressing for a reversal on this decision.
It was in mid-March that Bay Area officials first instituted a stay-at-home order and Santa Clara County deemed cannabis dispensaries were essential businesses.
Then two weeks later, when the region’s shelter-at-home order was going to be extended to May 3, the county said that dispensaries were only allowed to sell medicinal marijuana in stores and required that recreational cannabis be sold through deliveries.
Santa Clara County appeared to be the only Bay Area county to introduce this new rule.
San Jose council members Pam Foley, Magdalena Carrasco and Maya Esparza penned a letter to Santa Clara County Public Health Officer Sara Cody this week requesting that she “reconsider only allowing medicinal cannabis to be purchased within a store, curbside, or by delivery.”
“Today, a resident can walk out of a grocery store with a bottle of Tylenol, but that same person is unable to pull up curbside for pain relief from CBD oil. These individuals in need of relief should not be denied safe access to cannabis during this critical time,” the letter read.
Officials are asking the county to implement “manageable requirements,” such as the new social distancing protocols that all other essential businesses that have been permitted to stay open must adopt.
