05 Dec Supervisors to Consider Allowing Cannabis Sales in County Areas

(Image courtesy of Contra Costa County)

By Tony Hicks
Bay City News Foundation

The Contra Costa Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will consider an ordinance allowing the sale and delivery of non-flavored cannabis vaping products.

County staff is recommending passage and to direct the county health services department to develop a program designed to raise awareness about the dangers of youth cannabis vaping and curtail the illegal market, and return to the board with a recommended program with funding by the cannabis industry

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Despite Californians in 2016 approving Proposition 64 to legalize adult recreational cannabis use (which was approved by more than 60% of county voters), supervisors in 2018 passed an ordinance regulating commercial cannabis activities.

The ordinance, which established standards for sale and delivery, also required anyone engaged in commercial cannabis activities or deliveries to obtain a county health permit, as well as other permits required by the county and state.

Contra Costa cities have allowed recreational cannabis vaping product sales, something that wasn’t allowed in unincorporated areas.

The new ordinance would only apply to non-flavored vaping products. In November 2019, the county board prohibited the sale of tobacco vaping products, flavored tobacco products, and menthol cigarettes. The ordinance also prohibited the sale or delivery of cannabis vaping products.

>>>Read: Curbing Youth Tobacco Sales a Social Justice Issue, Advocates Say

The staff report for Tuesday’s meeting says, “It has become apparent that many seniors and other adults rely on cannabis vaping products for both recreational and medical reasons. Under the existing ordinance, homebound seniors and adults in the unincorporated areas cannot receive vaping cannabis products from any source.”

“(The new ordinance) would allow the sale and delivery of non-flavored cannabis vaping products in unincorporated areas, while continuing to prohibit the sale of tobacco vaping products, flavored tobacco products, menthol cigarettes, and flavored cannabis products in unincorporated areas. The purpose of the ordinance is to ensure that seniors and other adults who use cannabis vaping products do not use unregulated and potentially tainted products, and to address geographical equity in access to legal products.”

The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors will meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the board chambers of county administration building, at 1025 Escobar Street in Martinez. The meeting can be joined at https://cccounty-us.zoom.us/j/87344719204 and watched on the county website at contracosta.ca.gov.

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