Yreka, Calif. — The City of Yreka is considering changes to their laws surrounding recreational marijuana. The proposal would ban dispensaries in city limits, along with any type of distribution or sales.
“Apparently they’re trying to ban it,” Resident Todd Dickinson said. “They want to preserve this old time kind of thing, that I feel like they kind of need to move forward.”
Dickinson has heard about the change that addresses what the City calls “non-medical marijuana cultivation, regulation, and prohibition of commercial cannabis activity, manufacture, testing, dispensing, sales, distribution, and delivery.” That means dispensaries would be banned, and recreational marijuana use would only be allowed on private property.
But Dickinson thinks the dispensary ban could take away valuable income from the City.
“I voted for it,” Dickinson said. “In my opinion, the tax money alone is worth it.”
But Mayor Joan Smith Freeman said that’s something the City has considered.
“We’ve actually done some research on that, and what we found out is for every dollar that you receive for marijuana, you spend nine dollars for social ills, for the social programs that deal with abuse,” Smith Freeman said.
According to Smith Freeman, it was public outreach that first brought attention to the subject, through online suggestions, phone calls, and comments during public meetings.
“The overwhelming majority of the people in Yreka came to us and said, we really don’t want that element in our communities and in the public,” Smith Freeman said.
The discussion isn’t over just yet though. A second reading is scheduled, and the doors will be open to anyone, and their ideas. smith freeman:
“We expect quite a few people,” Smith Freeman said.
The next meeting will be held on September 7th. A location hasn’t been chosen yet. For updates, click here.
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