Medical Marijuana Dispensary May Return to Livermore

LIVERMORE, CA — The Livermore City Council on Monday agreed to discuss the possibility of allowing a medical cannabis dispensary to return to the city in 2017.

"The first thing that the City will do is solicit community input regarding a medical marijuana dispensary,” Mayor John Marchand told Patch. “There will be a balance between meeting the needs of our residents and avoiding any adverse secondary impacts. Ultimately, my hope is that medical cannabis will eventually be distributed through pharmacies so that patients could receive all of their medications in one stop."

According to city documents, the closest dispensary is located in Hayward, as they are prohibited in Dublin, Pleasanton and San Ramon. Workshops would be scheduled inform and garner input from the community as part of the process of creating new guidelines and rules for any prospective dispensary. Dates for the proposed workshops have not yet been set. An additional dispensary would not be considered until the first was able to operate successfully within the new guidelines.

The last dispensary in Livermore, Ahmed’s Tree of Life, was shut down in 2015 in the wake of criminal allegations of money laundering and illegally opening a pot operation.

Photo via Shutterstock