With another cannabis workshop scheduled for Tuesday, the Lake County Growers Association has hopes — and concerns — for their industry.
The association’s president, Michael Green, said discussions since the legalization of recreational marijuana have brought understanding to many people, but the subject remains touchy.
“We’re in an awkward phase,” Green said, referring to the current legislative process that will decide how Lake County cannabis will be grown, cultivated, and traded. “We have a rough draft in place.”
The history of cannabis in Lake County proves messy, and current political, social and economic implications might be just as tangled. Green said Proposition 64, which legalized recreational marijuana in November of last year, ended the hotly debated topic of recreational use. Since then, legislature has struggled to decide how the plant should be treated as a legal commodity.
“It gets very complicated, very quickly,” he said.
Green said if the growers had their way, the plant would be treated as any other crop; zoning, production and distribution would closely resemble any other farm practices. But based on recent workshops and proposals, it may be difficult for Lake County to accept the plant and the industry surrounding it.
A proposed zoning map was distributed at the board of supervisors’ meeting indicating proposed “grow sites,” or areas where small cannabis farms could take root. Green said his association believes the map proves far too exclusionary. District 5 supervisor Rob Brown elected to keep growers out of his district completely.
“It’s basically a big red spot covering most of Lake County,” he said. “We don’t support all these exclusive zoning ordinances treating cannabis like this radioactive, scary plant.”
Though he may disagree with attitudes hostile toward the new crop, Green said suspicions aren’t unwarranted. Lake County has something of a history with illegal cannabis growth, and many are worried new crops will welcome more illegal activity.
“We’re not talking about the farms in the past, which were really sketchy,” he said. “And these are not large farms.”
Contrarily, he believes the legal farms will encourage current growers to responsibly engage in the industry.
“People are already involved in the trade and want to come out of the shadows,” he said. “They want to be good citizens in Lake County. Unless we get some zoning, we won’t be able to hand out permits and gain tax revenue.”
As a whole, Green believes the county has accepted discussion about the idea, specifically Sheriff Brian Martin. Granted, many discussions will need to take place before Lake County can carve ordinances in stone.
The cannabis workshop was originally scheduled for Feb. 21, but has been rescheduled for March 7. The Lake County Growers Association will present amendments, as well as a compilation of comments, to the Board of Supervisors for discussion.
“The goal of the workshop is to hit the high points and then send it back down,” Green said. “It’s OK for people to be concerned, but we need to talk about it.”
