STOCKTON–
It’s a bustling business: more than 150 people a day come through the doors of Canna Care in Sacramento — one of 20 medical marijuana dispensaries in Sacramento.
“I have a brain tumor,” said Noreen Kinsey. She says she couldn’t imagine her life without cannabis, as her illness causes her extreme depression.
“I don’t want to go back to the streets,” said Amy Osburn. She’s recovering from ovarian cancer.
In Stockton, city council voted in favor of a ban on dispensaries 5-2. The city’s mayor, Anthony Silva, was on the losing side of the decision
“I believe that residents are going to go out and try to figure out how to get this medical marijuana legally and there’s not enough avenues, so they’ll do it illegally,” said Silva. “I rather support legal non-conforming dispensaries.”
Another issue for the mayor: tax revenue for the city.
“It would be good to have money to help get school resource officers and police officers,” said Silva.
In Sacramento, there are 20 dispensaries. Lanette Davies owns Canna Care.
“We pay $200,000 a year just in sales tax,” said Davies.
So far, Stockton isn’t seeing that revenue. Two dispensaries are exempt from the ban — Port City, which was only opened five months ago, and Collective 99, which isn’t open yet.
Port City did pay the city $29,000 in tax revenue and is supposed to re-open in six months.
“I think this is an issue that you will see debated in many cities across California, as there’s still no definitive ruling on the state versus the federal government,” said Silva.