Tuesday, the Sacramento City Council is expected to decide whether to legalize businesses that cultivate medical marijuana.
Under this new set of rules, a moratorium on medical marijuana cultivation would be lifted. Growers would be required to pay between $9,700 and $28,910 in the first year to obtain a permit.
Brad Wasson is the Revenue Manager with the City of Sacramento. He says the new rules include some of the council's previous suggestions.
"They thought the criminal history was a little strict, especially for people that were convicted of crimes that are now legal under Proposition 64," says Wasson. "And, so, we've kept the felonies in the criminal history as a flag but, we've added a process where they can have an informal hearing."
Wasson says the rules could be used as a framework in the future to allow recreational cultivation and use, although new leadership within the Department of Justice has been opposed.
"On Prop 64 and the adult use, that's the part that they're making the most noise about. We haven't done anything about adult-use marijuana and businesses at this point in time," says Wasson.
The rules would bring Sacramento in line with state medical marijuana regulations.
Grows of 400 square feet in a home are already legal for medical, non-commercial use.
Cultivating within 600 feet of a park would be banned, but appeals could be made to the Planning Commission.
If the council approves, medical marijuana cultivators could begin applying April 3.
The City plans to create 32 new positions to handle a new bureaucracy, including 12 police officers to crack down on illegal growing operations.
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