Cannabis Ordinance Likely Headed to the Ballot Box

It is likely that the most controversial item on Wednesday's City Council meeting - the cannabis dispensary ordinance - will be removed from the City Council calendar, and placed instead before voters on the November ballot.

After a lengthy editorial in Tuesday's Martinez News Gazette, in which City Councilman Mike Menesini proposed allowing the voters to decide the fate of the revised ordinance, Mayor Rob Schroder told Martinez Patch Tuesday that he agreed with the move, and said it was likely the council would remove the item from the calendar.

"I agree with Mike," Schroder said. "When this item was first being heard, I think I received maybe six emails about it. Even after the Planning Commission meeting, there just didn't seem to be a lot of interest in it. Since then, I've received literally hundreds of emails about it. Like Mike said, there are times to lead, and times when you don't want to dictate. It's important to let the voters decide. We've got more important things to spend our time and resources on."

Schroder said he voted for the original ordinance in 2000, but added that the ordinance was made so restrictive that no one could operate a dispensary in town under its rules. Since then, he said, he has visited two dispensaries and kept an open mind on the issue. At the meeting Feb. 16, Schroder said he would lean toward approving the revised ordinance.

Since then, however, the public outcry has been such that Menesini and Schroder have backed away from their support of the ordinance. Councilwoman Lara DeLaney, the other ordinance supporter, said she would go along with Menesini and Schroder.

In 1996, Martinez votes approved the legalization of medical marijuana by an overwhelming majority, with 11,979 voting yes, and 6,665 voting no, according to the Contra Costa County Clerk's office.

The council meets Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers, 525 Henrietta St.