Santa Barbara discussing cannabis farm licenses

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The county may seek to introduce odor control measures

Tomorrow, the Board of Supervisors of Santa Barbara County in California to talk about several changes to the county’s marijuana policies. Among the list of items to be discussed is whether or not county officials should introduce measures to force marijuana farms to use some type of odor control system, a requirement that is not currently in place. The solution might seem beneficial to some community members, but marijuana farmers are going to have to risk a lot without a guarantee of rewards.

Complaints have surfaced over the past couple of years by certain members of the county that the cannabis odor is revolting. No action has been taken until now because it hasn’t been a big enough issue to warrant attention. However, that is changing now, with Deputy County Executive Officer Dennis Bozanich admitting that the board is considering the change because of “public comment.” Bozanich is submitting the odor control proposal, which would require businesses to have the systems in place before being issued a license.

This is where one of the issues regarding the odor systems comes in. In order to receive the license, a farm has to have the solution in place, but having it doesn’t guarantee that the license will be issued. The farms could spend money on expensive equipment without any assurances that the investment will pay off.

There are already 100 operators with applications in the works in Santa Barbara and a large percentage of these have been allowed to operate while waiting for the permitting process in the county and the state to be completed. If Santa Barbara implements the changes, they could be forced to halt their operations until the systems are in place.