Cannabis clubs may be a thing of the past if new legislation in San Jose and Washington are any indicator of the future. Lawmakers are taking steps to make it more difficult for marijuana clubs to stay in business, and they’re using zoning regulations to do it.

An All American Cannabis Club in San Jose, California was forced to close down its second location thanks to new strict zoning requirements in the city. In the summer of 2014, San Jose passed an ordinance that, essentially, wiped out nearly 80% of the marijuana clubs in the city. Under this new ordinance, these clubs cannot be within a certain proximity of schools, churches, homes and other dispensaries.

The ordinance has forced Dave Hodges, owner of the All American Cannabis Club, to close his first location on Stockton Avenue after having been in business for six years. His second shop was located on Pass, Avenue, and it’s been open while he fought San Jose in court. However, in early October, a judge sided with the city. Dave was forced to shut down his second weed shop because it was too close to a church.

With that said, the city noted that they never actually applied for zoning code verification, nor did he pay the marijuana business tax. A city spokesman stated that the council gave Mr. Hodges ample time to find a site that met the city zoning requirements and extra time to relocate his business in order to comply with the ordinance.

Although he was forced to close down his second location, Hodges says that he will keep his lease and turn the former collective into a headquarters for a grassroots legalisation campaign. The new organisation will be known as Americans for Policy Reform.

Meanwhile, in Washington, lawmakers outlawed the establishment of marijuana clubs. While patients can still visit a local dispensary, clubs are now illegal in the state. The move was a surprise to legal pot advocates.

In the final days of the legislative session for House Bill 2136, designed to tweak the state’s budding marijuana industry laws, lawmakers slipped in an amendment that would ban the establishment of cannabis clubs.

While the bill simplified marijuana taxes and eliminated some of the restrictions on the location of pot businesses, Sect. 1401 strictly prohibits private marijuana clubs. And it’s not just illegal to set up such a business – it’s a felony.

Private cannabis clubs provide a safe place for patients to use marijuana. For tourists or renters whose landlord do not allow the use of cannabis, these clubs were the only place patients could go to consume marijuana.