City of Yreka taking steps to add medical marijuana within city limits

YREKA, Cal.- The City of Yreka is taking steps to having medical marijuana available within city limits.

In a city council meeting that took place last week, councilors voted in favor of accepting a state grant of $115k to get the professional expertise needed to draft a local ordinance allowing for a non-store front medicinal marijuana dispensary to open.

A new state law requires all California cities to have allowances for medicinal Cannabis.

One resident says legalizing marijuana could benefit the community and bring in more money. But other concerned citizens say the council shouldn’t accept the grant money.

“Yreka does not have to do this,” One Yreka resident said, “If we turn down the grant, all that is required by this law is to adopt an ordinance allowing or not impeding, in any way, the delivery of medicinal marijuana and allow a non-retail storefront for storage of this medical pot if somebody applies”.

According to the California Department of Cannabis Control, before the new law was implemented 56% of cities and counties did not allow any type of Cannabis business.

But now that the City of Yreka can no longer refuse medicinal marijuana dispensaries, the council says they should take all the help they can get.

“The grant itself is not inherently evil, but what it is trying to do for us, if in fact, at some point in time it does come down the pipe that we have to allow delivery, that we can be ahead of the eight-ball,” Council Member Paul McCoy said.

With Council Members Colleen Baker and Drake Davis absent, the council voted 2 to 1 in favor of the measure. In the past, the two absent council members have voted against moving forward with the grant.