California towns are preparing ordinances ahead of next year’s rollout of legal adult-use cannabis.
Proposition 64 legalized recreational pot last year, but left the rules around businesses to cities and counties. Places like Sacramento and San Diego have advanced plans to phase them in. But others are taking a wait-and-see approach—or passing outright bans.
"The biggest example of that is really the entire peninsula area,” said Alison Malsbury, a San Francisco attorney who specializes in cannabis business law.
In places like Menlo Park, Palo Alto and Campbell, Malsbury said, residents who attend local meetings don’t want such businesses next door.
“The squeaky wheel gets the grease, right? We have people going out to the meetings complaining about it, and advocating against cannabis businesses, and their voices are the only ones being heard."
Malsbury said the legal landscape around pot is still shifting—and many cities could change their stances next year.
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