Fast-food giants outnumbered by pot clubs Supervisor wants a cap on dispensaries
By Justin Jouvenal
Staff Writer
Published: Thursday, June 30, 2005 10:17 PM PDT
You may not be able to find a Big Mac in your neighborhood, but chances are good you will stumble across a medical marijuana club. In a comparison of the green leaf versus the Golden Arches, it's no contest in San Francisco.
There are two medical marijuana clubs for every McDonald's in The City â?? that's roughly 40 clubs to only 20 restaurants. Even adding the number of Burger Kings leaves fast-food franchises short of cannabis dispensaries. Only the ubiquitous Starbucks chain tops pot clubs, with a total of 71 coffee shops.
The figures may be amusing, but Supervisor Sean Elsbernd had his staff crunch the numbers to illustrate what he sees as a serious problem: the proliferation of pot clubs in The City.
"Unfortunately, the demand for fast food evidently isn't as high as it is for cannabis," Elsbernd said. "We have a problem and we need to address it."
Elsbernd is considering legislation that would cap the number of clubs in San Francisco at eight. His constituents have complained in recent months because there were three clubs on Ocean Avenue alone, including two that were nearly across the street from each other, leading Elsbernd to quip there were more pot clubs in the neighborhood than Starbucks. One of the Ocean Avenue clubs was shut down during a drug-trafficking raid by federal officials last week.
Supervisors Ross Mirkarimi and Gerardo Sandoval have proposed their own legislation to regulate medical marijuana clubs but have not proposed a cap on the number of dispensaries.
http://www.sfexaminer.com/news/20050701_ne09_clubs.txt