Where you won’t find weed in California + California pols condemn anti-Muslim remarks

Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!

YOU WON’T FIND WEED DISPENSARIES IN THESE 10 CITIES

Though Californians voted to legalize adult use marijuana in 2016, it remains largely unavailable in some of the biggest cities in the state.

Out of the 482 cities in California, 174 of them allow some form of licensed cannabis business, says Hirsh Jain of Ananda Strategy.

Many of those cities allow only non-retail cannabis operations, such as manufacturing or distribution, “and so are arguably missing the most important part of the legal supply chain,” Jain said.

That’s because Proposition 64, the ballot initiative that legalized adult-use marijuana in the state, contained a provision that gave local jurisdictions the power to decide for themselves whether to allow retail cannabis activity in their boundaries.

Of the 10 largest cities in the state where there are no marijuana dispensaries, two are in the San Joaquin Valley, one is in the Bay Area, and the rest are located in Southern California, according to the website WeedMaps. Together, they account for more than 2.8 million people without immediate access to cannabis retail, outside of delivery.

Even cannabis delivery could be subject to local jurisdiction requirements, said Moorea Warren of the California Department of Cannabis Control, though a state license authorizes a cannabis delivery company to deliver to any jurisdiction in the state.

“Access to legal cannabis and cannabis products throughout the state is important for public safety and to combat the illegal market,” Warren said in a statement.

California cannabis industry advocates oppose the local control provision, with some asking Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature to get rid of it.

But Elisa Arcidiacono of the League of California Cities said that local control “was a central promise in Proposition 64.”

“In fact, to win additional support for the measure, the authors amended the original language to include the explicit right of cities and counties to ban marijuana-related businesses entirely if they chose to. So, if a city or county refuses to license cannabis companies in their jurisdiction, this is entirely in line with what voters approved when they legalized adult-use cannabis in 2016,” Arcidiacono said in a statement.

Jennifer McGrath, a former Huntington Beach city attorney who now specializes in cannabis law, said that the majority of cities that permitted cannabis dispensaries were ones that had a preexisting medical cannabis regulatory system, ones where voters approved a cannabis tax or ones that were suffering through severe economic difficulty.

“Cities that do not fall under those three categories are generally led by the politics of the city council. On more than one occasion in the last two years, a city has drafted, reviewed, and held public hearings only to reject the regulations based on a change of city council members,” McGrath said.

She said a prime reason why cities delay permitting cannabis retail is politics.

“City council members and county supervisors are concerned with being reelected. Voting for cannabis can result in loss of support from local police chiefs, community members, and political action committees,” she said.

See the list of 10 cities here.

CALIFORNIA POLS CRITICIZE COLORADO CONGRESSWOMAN FOR ANTI-MUSLIM REMARKS

Controversial Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert issued a public apology on Friday, after a video of her making anti-Muslim remarks in regard to Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar surfaced on Twitter.

In the video, Boebert referred to Omar as “Jihad Squad” and told a story about getting on an elevator at the Capitol when she saw a Capitol police officer running to stop the elevator.

“I looked to my left, and there she is, Ilhan Omar. And I said, ‘Well, she doesn’t have a backpack, we should be fine,’” Boebert says in the video shared by the liberal Twitter account PatriotTakes.

Omar responded to the video in a tweet, calling Boebert a “buffoon” and saying that the story was made up.

In a tweet, Boebert said she apologized to the Muslim community that she offended with the remark.

“I apologize to anyone in the Muslim community I offended with my comment about Rep. Omar. I have reached out to her office to speak with her directly. There are plenty of policy differences to focus on without this unnecessary distraction,” Boebert wrote.

Several California represenatatives condemned Boebert’s remarks.

Rep. Eric Swalwell wrote in a tweet that his district has one of the largest Muslim communities in the U.S.

“We are outraged as a community not only by @RepBoebert’s anti-Muslim rhetoric but by @GOPLeader McCarthy embracing the comments. Doing nothing, McCarthy shows he is the leader of an anti-Muslim party,” Swalwell wrote.

Also weighing in were Reps. Tony Cárdenas and Barbara Lee.

“Anti-Muslim bigotry is unacceptable anywhere, but especially coming from a sitting Member of Congress. Rep. Boebert’s comments are shameful, and consequences must be met. Standing with you, @IlhanMN,” Cárdenas wrote in a tweet.

Lee wrote in a tweet that she was disgusted, but not surprised, by Boebert’s rhetoric.

“Anti-Muslim rhetoric is not, and will never be, a laughing matter. She must be held accountable. I stand in support of my sister @Ilhan and strongly condemn this hateful behavior,” Lee wrote.

Also condemning Boebert was California GOP strategist Mike Madrid, who wrote in a tweet, “You shame our institutions.”

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“What’s in a name? For many years, a tall ‘Christmas tree’ was displayed outside the state Capitol, Gov. Davis changed it to a ‘holiday tree.’ It returned to ‘Christmas tree’ under Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jerry Brown but Gavin Newsom has changed it again to ‘State Capitol tree.’”

- Dan Walters, political columnist for CalMatters, via Twitter.

Best of the Bee:

• Lorena Gonzalez, a San Diego Democrat assemblywoman who authored prominent bills on gig workers and warehouse employees, could become the first woman and person of color to lead California’s biggest labor organization, via Jeong Park.

• About 1 million Californians who got unemployment payments from the pandemic-related federal benefit program now have to prove to the state they had a prior work history – or face paying back benefits, via David Lightman.

• A shareholder advocacy organization filed a lawsuit last week challenging a state law that mandates public corporations headquartered in California appoint people of color or LGBTQ leaders to their boards of directors, via Kim Bojórquez.

This story was originally published November 29, 2021 at 4:55 AM.