SF names new cannabis director to guide growth of budding trade

Marisa Rodriguez, new director of the San Francisco Office of Cannabis Marisa Rodriguez, new director of the San Francisco Office of Cannabis Photo: Courtesy San Francisco Office Of Cannabis Photo: Courtesy San Francisco Office Of Cannabis Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close SF names new cannabis director to guide growth of budding trade 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Former San Francisco Assistant District Attorney Marisa Rodriguez has been named San Francisco’s new director of the city’s Office of Cannabis.

Rodriguez’s first day on the job was Monday. As cannabis director, she’ll oversee the permitting process for businesses along each step of the pot trade — from cultivation to distribution to retail sales.

City Administrator Naomi Kelly, who oversees the Cannabis Office, highlighted Rodriguez’s recent involvement with the rest of the district attorney’s office to retroactively wipe out more than 9,000 marijuana-related convictions.

The unprecedented move followed the state’s voters legalizing recreational cannabis in 2016.

Rodriguez worked at the district attorney’s office for nine years, according to her LinkedIn page.

Kelly said Rodriguez would focus on “fostering equitable participation in the cannabis industry and creating business opportunities for those most impacted by the war on drugs.”

The Cannabis Office has a stated goal of giving a leg up to cannabis entrepreneurs hurt by outmoded antidrug policies.

In addition to her work around equity, Rodriguez said Tuesday she’d work to educate the city about marijuana to help erase the “stigma” still surrounding it in San Francisco.

Despite a generally permissive attitude toward pot, some areas — like Chinatown and the Sunset — have been historically resistant to marijuana businesses.

In certain neighborhoods, “people start to feel differently, and that’s because they’re not necessarily well-informed,” she said.

She fills the vacancy created by the departure of Nicole Elliott, the Cannabis Office’s first director.

She left last month to join Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration.

— Dominic Fracassa

Email: cityinsider@sfchronicle.com, dfracassa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfcityinsider @dominicfracassa