Delivery-Only, Medicinal-Cannabis Applicants Seek OK

MARIN COUNTY, CA – Four businesses, hoping for approval to operate delivery-only, medicinal-cannabis operations in unincorporated areas, have until May 7 to turn in site-review applications for approval to the County of Marin.

The Marin County Board of Supervisors approved the Medicinal Cannabis Delivery-Only Retailer, dubbed MCDORe, or “McDory," licensing ordinance in November 2017 and followed in February 2018 with a county fee schedule for applicants.

Businesses turned in applications for the first phase of review in spring and early summer 2018, and several fell short of the requirements. A lottery took place on Jan. 7, 2019, and four businesses are moving to the site review application round, county officials said.

The companies are:

• Marin-based Buttercup and Spring, doing business as Ona.life
• Marin-based Elite Herbs, Inc., doing business as E-leaf
• Marin-based Express2You, Inc., doing business as Canna-fly
• Arizona-based Mohave Distribution

The board may approve up to four retailers. The site-review application will pinpoint proposed locations for the delivery-only businesses.

The county ordinance prohibits such businesses from being closer than 600 feet to a school, daycare center, youth center or playground, officials said. To qualify, a proposed site must be within an area zoned for commercial, office or industrial uses and signage outside the businesses will be limited, county officials said.

“Although the deadline is May 7 for the site review applications to be submitted, we could move forward earlier if they are all submitted earlier,” said Inge Lundegaard, the cannabis program manager for the Marin County Community Development Agency. “The Board of Supervisors would like to agendize this as soon as we’re ready.”

Lundegaard estimated that the CDA staff would need approximately six weeks to review proposals and handle the required public notices for public meetings.

The MCDORe ordinance requires retailers to be closed to the public and dispense medicinal cannabis exclusively by delivery, the department said.

Applicants paid a $3,000 fee for the initial review phase, and the four qualified applicants paid an additional $7,000 fee, according to the county. The fee structure assures that taxpayers are not responsible for subsidizing county costs in selecting the best-qualified operators and sites for the businesses, officials said. Applicants awarded a license would pay an annual license of $7,000 that would cover costs of monitoring compliance of the business.

The county will not assess a local tax for medicinal cannabis retailers at this time, officials said, but noting that retailers are required to collect state sales and excise taxes for medicinal-cannabis sales in unincorporated Marin.

Other medicinal-cannabis, commercial activities are prohibited in unincorporated Marin, with towns and cities creating regulations in their own jurisdictions, the county said.

Although cannabis is considered an illegal drug by the federal government, state legislation ensures Californians have rights to obtain and use cannabis for medical purposes upon receiving recommendations from physicians. Learn more at www.marincounty.org/cannabis.

• ALSO SEE: Suicide Prevention: Marin Co. Launches Online Survey

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