The Yreka City Council agreed on Jan. 16 to accept the state’s help in drafting a local ordinance that would pave the way for cannabis businesses to operate in the city.
By a 2-1 vote, the council approved a measure that would make $115,000 available to the city to pay to get the professional expertise needed to write an ordinance allowing the operation of a non-retail, medical-only cannabis business in the city.
While the city does not allow marijuana dispensaries of any kind, a new state law requires that all jurisdictions in California make allowances for medical cannabis that is sold in a non-retail and by delivery only.
Council members Corey Middleton and Paul McCoy voted in favor of accepting the grant, while Councilman Duane Kegg reversed course on the proposal and voted against it on Tuesday, after voting in favor of moving forward in March of last year.
More background:‘Times have changed,’ Yreka Council told, as the city enters legal cannabis discussion
“I’ve had a change of heart and I’m tired of state mandates,” said Kegg, seemingly ignoring the possibility of opening the city to a legal challenge if an enabling ordinance is not drafted, in addition to turning away more than $100,000 in grant funding.
Council members Colleen Baker and Drake Davis were absent on Tuesday. Both those council members have also voted against moving forward with the grant.
“I don’t think this council is looking at selling pot at this time,” McCoy said. “I think what we’re looking at is a staff that’s overburdened.”
Unlike surrounding cities Weed, Mount Shasta and Dunsmuir — which allow cannabis dispensaries offering safe, legal and regulated products for the recreational and medical markets — Yreka has maintained a “just say no” position, forgoing the tax revenue the businesses can generate.
In the first quarter of 2023, for example, Mount Shasta reported $581,888 in taxable cannabis sales. In 2022, the city rang up more than $3.1 million in taxable cannabis sales, according to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Those sales translated to $121,047 in tax revenue for Mount Shasta.
Last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended easing restrictions on marijuana and downgrading it from a Schedule I drug — which includes heroin — and reclassifying it as a Schedule III drug available by prescription.Skip Descant is a freelance journalist. He’s written for newspapers in California, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana. He lives in downtown Yreka. he can be reached atedescant@me.com
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