In San Jose, some voters can score free weed

SAN FRANCISCO— Selected California voters can expect to receive free weed from some pot clubs in the city of San Jose for casting ballots in state primary elections on Tuesday that include local races and battles for governor and secretary of state.

The city’s cannabis collectives, which also have offered a voter’s guide to the races, are offering free marijuana and discounts when members show a ballot stub or an “I Voted” sticker on Tuesday.

“Primary elections tend to have much lower turnout because people don’t even know there’s a vote that day,” said Dave Hodges, a cannabis-club owner. “We want to help people know when to vote and who to vote for.”

A spokesman for San Jose, David Vossbrink, said the offer appears to be illegal under federal law, which he said bars inducing voters to register or vote in elections that include a federal contest. Tuesday’s elections include congressional primaries.

The group’s voters guide, which focuses mostly on local races and backs Democratic candidates, promotes politicians who director John Lee describes as “friendly to the cannabis movement or at least better than the alternatives.”

The city of San Jose estimates that 80 cannabis clubs operate in the city, and the organizers of the “Weed for Votes” effort said about a dozen of the 40 shops in the collective had agreed to participate.

How much marijuana might be distributed and in what form is for each club to decide, Lee said. Only club members would be eligible for the promotion.

The pot clubs also are encouraging voters to attend a San Jose City Council meeting on Tuesday for an expected debate on proposed regulations for medical-marijuana dispensaries that they say amount to an effective ban on pot collectives.

The regulations would prevent collectives from working together to sell products, require them to accept only state medical-marijuana cards, bar cash transactions and require all marijuana to be grown indoors at one location.

Storefronts would need to maintain a distance of 1,000 feet from churches, schools, parks, libraries, community centers and day-care centers. Dispensaries would need to be 500 feet from drug-rehabilitation centers and 150 feet from homes.