San Jose latest California city to temporarily ban rec cannabis

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San Jose, the third-largest city in California, on Tuesday joined the list of municipalities statewide to slap a temporary ban on adult-use cannabis businesses before Election Day.

San Jose has joined other California cities in imposing temporary bans and controls on recreational marijuana in advance of Tuesday’s election, when California voters will decide whether to legalize rec cannabis.

San Jose City Council members said they passed the temporary ban to give local officials time to draft marijuana business regulations and to head off a proliferation of unlicensed cannabis stores, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

Two years ago, San Jose became one of the first cities to establish local cannabis regulations. There currently are 16 licensed medical marijuana dispensaries in San Jose, down from dozens of unlicensed dispensaries just a couple of years ago, according to the newspaper.

In addition to adult-use sales, San Jose’s temporary ban prohibits outdoor marijuana grows as well as commercial cultivating, processing, manufacturing, distribution and testing.

The moratorium will probably be in place until 2018, when California would begin issuing licenses for recreational marijuana stores if the legalization measure, known as Proposition 64, passes.