The city council of Berkeley has approved an ordinance stating that the three marijuana dispensaries in the city will probably have to offer pot to low-income members and homeless people at no charge.
The East Bay Express first revealed that the ordinance requires the dispensaries to donate 2% of the marijuana they sell every year to people in the low-income bracket. The ordinance commands that the pot be at least as good as what is normally dispensed, not a cheap rip-off, writing that the “medical cannabis provided under this section shall be the same quality on average” as marijuana “dispensed to other members.”
Sean Luce with the Berkeley Patients Group defended the ordinance, saying, “It’s sort of a cruel thing that when you are really ill and you do have a serious illness…it can be hard to work, it can be hard to maintain a job and when that happens, your finances suffer and then you can’t buy the medicine you need.”
Eligibility is based on the recipient having an exemption from local taxes and fees, amounting to making less than $32,000 a year for one person and $46,000 a year for a family of four.
The ordinance will not become law until final approval in August.
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