With our council’s vote, we are taking a step toward more local control of cannabis in National City and doing it in a way that keeps our youth safe, reduces illicit markets and addresses social equity.
Prohibition of regulated cannabis operations is counterintuitive to addressing these problems as it allows these illicit markets to thrive, endangering local governments and law enforcement while diverting precious resources to shut them down.
As a father, I share the same deep concerns about preventing youth from using cannabis as do our mayor and the rest of our council members who are also parents and grandparents.
By keeping it in private establishments and away from youth and other sensitive spaces, lounges actually protect public safety by allowing safe, supervised consumption without risk of eviction.
We as elected leaders have a moral responsibility to repair the damage and trauma from previous punitive cannabis policies and discriminatory enforcement by ensuring those who have been harmed can be included in the economic upside to the legalized cannabis industry.
Our social equity policy could allow individuals with past cannabis arrests and convictions, or individuals from communities with disproportionately high arrests, to have economic access to this new industry.
We plan to engage our community in establishing strong local guardrails that allows safe access to cannabis patients and adults.