Hello Members,
Of the over 200 members of our Sonoma Valley Cannabis Group, how many of you are part of the industry? How many of you are cultivators? How many are consultants? Or attorneys or real estate agents? How many of you are members of other industry groups and organizations? How many own, or are employed by, cannabis businesses or ancillary businesses that benefit from the industry? We know the number is relatively small, but it's also far from insignificant.
Isn’t it in the industry's best interest to support its supply chain? Retail plays a major role in its survival, but it is struggling under jurisdictions' local control.
How many in our group consider themselves recreational consumers? How important is product choice and availability for you? What about price? When you visit a dispensary, are you looking for an experience that is tailored to your age and lifestyle? Are you looking for educational services or great customer service? Would you have the confidence that just one retail outlet could deliver 100% on all of the above?
Finally, how many of you rely on cannabis for medical reasons? If you’re used to purchasing a particular product at a local dispensary that you know works really well for your insomnia - or your arthritis - or the pain in your newly reconstructed knee - or your chemo-therapy side effects, and then you go back next week and find that the dispensary no longer carries it, what do you do? Get back in the car for the long round trip to Santa Rosa? Pay that extra fee to have it delivered to you from out of town?
The point is, we’re all connected in this issue. Everyone pays a price when we are limited to doing business with just one local provider. We all lose - industry, rec consumers and, most importantly for those who we brought this advocacy group to life, medicinal patients.
If any of this is important to you, this is the time to make an impression on the city council and staff to follow through on their commitment to a second dispensary process.
We have three options.
Before this Monday night's city council meeting, Aug 2,
1) Send an email to the city council with the Subject line “Please move forward on the second dispensary process”. Address: publiccomment@sonomacity.org
Or
2) Join the City Council meeting via Zoom to make a comment. Meeting starts at 6pm and Public Comment starts soon afterward. Visit: https://zoom.us/j/94943925973 and either sign-up for a
free Zoom account or continue as a guest.
3) Or we can do nothing. But, without public pressure, the city could ignore and delay. If that becomes the case, we should be prepared to be at the mercy of one single provider that, without the pressure of competition for likely the next 2-4 years, may not work for our best interests.
Personal stories are the best, but if you need talking points:
•A second dispensary will provide more jobs, greater tax revenue and additional community benefits
•A competitive market results in better prices, more product choices and innovative services
Let’s provide a space in which everybody wins, the city and consumers!
Thanks for your support...
Gil Latimer
Ken Brown
Sonoma Valley Cannabis Group
http://www.sonomavalleycannabisgroup.com