Three years after recommending San Francisco allow medical marijuana dispensaries to open closer to schools, the Planning Commission has voted to maintain the 1,000-foot buffer between cannabis and kids.
The commission recommended last Thursday that San Francisco keep the 1,000-foot buffer rather than reduce the distance to 600 feet under proposed regulations for medical and recreational cannabis that the Board of Supervisors will decide on in the next two months.
STATE BY STATE: California Cannabis News
The 1,000-foot buffer has caused medical cannabis dispensaries to cluster in certain areas of The City called green zones, where pot shops are permitted to open and have raised concerns for opening too close together in neighborhoods including the Excelsior.
Relaxing the buffer to 600 feet would expand the green zone throughout most of the commercial parts of San Francisco, increasing opportunity for new dispensaries to sell marijuana for medicinal or recreational use next year. The 600-foot buffer is the minimum distance required by state law.
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