Committee advances ordinance to allow multiple temporary extensions for Article 33 dispensaries

The Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee on June 13 recommended an ordinance that would let the Department of Public Health grant successive 90‑day temporary extensions to Article 33 medical cannabis dispensaries (MCDs) converting to adult‑use retail, rather than limiting them to a single 90‑day extension.

Vice Chair Supervisor Hilary Ronan called the item and invited Eugene Hilsman, deputy director of the Office of Cannabis, to explain the proposal. Hilsman said the change would help dispensaries remain open and comply while the Office of Cannabis builds its regulatory framework and a digital application system. He told the committee the measure could affect roughly 55 Article 33 MCDs, of which an estimated 38 are retail storefronts; 28 operators had already received temporary authorizations as of the hearing.

Hilsman said the temporary authorizations are tied to equity commitments by permit holders and pointed to services—mentoring, training, business‑planning assistance and community resource events—that the Office of Cannabis and private partners have provided to verified equity applicants. He said private sector supports have filled gaps where the city has not appropriated additional funds for equity services.

Supervisor Aaron Peskin moved to advance the ordinance to the full Board with a positive recommendation; the motion passed without objection. The committee did not adopt changes to the text at the hearing and heard no public speakers on this agenda item.

Next steps: the item will appear on the Board of Supervisors agenda for further consideration and a final vote; the committee’s positive recommendation forwards the ordinance for that process.