OAKLAND (CBS SF) — The Oakland City Council has unanimously approved amendments authored by Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan to move forward with adult use permits and temporary local authorizations for regulating and taxing cannabis.
Kaplan said her amendments include making sure that approvals for cannabis manufacturing, cultivation and sales don’t get stuck in the city’s Revenue and Planning departments due to cross-departmental delays and protecting applicant information from the federal government.
Kaplan said it was important for the City Council to vote on Tuesday night to approve taxing and permitting cannabis sales for adults in Oakland because California is about to make cannabis sales legal for adults in January.
Kaplan said many California cities have chosen to ban cannabis facilities and others are enmeshed in lengthy ongoing debates, so the council’s action means that Oakland has now passed a revised cannabis ordinance and is positioned to be one of the few cities in the state that are prepared to have licensed adult-use sales by January, when the new law goes into effect.
Top image: © Pontus Edenberg | Dreamstime.com
