S.F. Marijuana Dispensaries Annual Sales Estimate: $41 Million

In an unprecedented analysis of sales tax revenue from the sale of medical marijuana at city dispensaries, the San Francisco controller's office has estimated annual sales of medicinal cannabis at $41 million.

San Francisco's roughly two dozen licensed collectives must pay the city's 8.5 percent sales tax rate, coming from California's 7.25 percent sales tax with a local one percent sales tax going to S.F.'s general fund, and a .25 percent sales tax that goes to other areas like transportation, reports David Downs at the East Bay Express.

Take Action To Support Safe And Legal Cannabis Access In San Francisco

TAKE ACTION TO SUPPORT SAFE AND LEGAL ACCESS IN SAN FRANCISCO

DEMAND THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS TO RESTORE THE MCD-PROGRAM ASAP!

Last fall, several city departments postponed further consideration of the SF Medical Cannabis Dispensary Program to provide the City Attorney’s Office time to determine the potential impact of the Pack v. Long Beach and to get a sense about whether the Supreme Court would review or de-publish the Pack decision.
Last week, the Supreme Court announced their decision to review Pack effectively making the Pack decision null until a decision is announced years from now.  As a result, the SF City Attorney’s office announced that city departments could resume the MCD-Program.
However, a recent article in the SF Weekly noted that despite the advice/opinions of the City Attorney’s Office, SF-DPH has elected to suspend the program indefinitely!  As a result nearly a dozen pending applications were put on hold!

S.F. Green Lights Medical Marijuana Dispensary Permits Again

San Francisco has begun issuing medical marijuana dispensary licenses again, following a recent state Supreme court decision that will allow local pot dispensaries to do business -- for now.

The city's Medical Cannabis Act permitting process had been on hold for several months, following a state appeals court ruling in Pack vs. Long Beach. The ruling said that city or county laws regulating medical marijuana violated federal law; the decision led cities and counties throughout the state to suspend, reconsider, or repeal their regulatory schemes.

San Francisco Not Issuing Any New Permits for Pot Clubs

San Francisco, the hotbed of marijuana law reform, has frozen medical cannabis dispensary permitting this winter as the City — and dozens of others across the state — nervously await a decision by the California Supreme Court on the very legality of such permits.

Nine groups that are seeking permits to open new San Francisco clubs — mostly in the Mission — have been caught in limbo, the Department of Public Health told Legalization Nation. San Francisco currently has 26 permitted dispensaries. However, an October decision by California's Second District Court of Appeals, in the case of Pack v. Superior Court, states that local regulations — such as permits and fees — are preempted by federal drug law.