Watch CBS News

South Bay Cities Ask Feds, State Clarify Medical Marijuana Regulation

SAN JOSE (CBS SF) - The Cities Association of Santa Clara County claims its members are increasingly being subjected to litigation and other costs associated with trying to regulate medical marijuana dispensaries while the State and Federal Governments continue to be out of step on the Medical Marijuana issue.

"The federal government is abdicated its responsibility to responsibly regulate marijuana like every other drug and, as a result, cities are put in the position of having no expertise in drug regulation and no capacity to do so," reasoned Cities Association president Sam Liccardo.

In fact, San Jose recently voted to repeal its ordinance after working on it for more than a year.

"In San Jose, we've wasted a lot of staff time and a lot of dollars trying to create an ordinance that would thread the needle between the conflicting dictates of the state and federal government. We threw up our hands," Liccardo said.

KCBS' Mike Colgan Reports:

In all, 10 of the 15 cities within Santa Clara County have signed a resolution urging the legislative bodies to step up in this regard.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.