It is official: Adelanto now expands marijuana cultivation zone. The medical cannabis cultivation and production zone of the city was expanded this December, 2016. Mayor Rich Kerr was strongly opposed to opening the cannabis industry to recreational purposes and leaders presented talks that would permit hiring a tax audit organization after Measure R was voted in. The trio of moves and discussions on matters related to medical cannabis came up during the last meeting of the City Council this year. From the dais, the medical marijuana growing, distribution, manufacturing, testing and transportation zone can now take place in 160 acres that will be marked “light industrial”. Following the approval of the second reading of the law passed in December 2016, the city council added more zones to bring to a total of 500 acres that will be used for marijuana-related activities. The new extension of 160 acres is bounded by Yucca Road, Air Expressway, Koala Road and Racoon Avenue, just north in an already existing growing region marked “manufacturing/industrial”. This area is between 300-350 acres.
The discussions by the city officials included whether they agreed to extend the ordinance of the city and the 5% excise tax approved by the voters as Measure R. other issues discussed included commercial activities on recreational marijuana, following the passing of Proposition 64 in California, which decriminalized recreational marijuana. Since California legalized medical marijuana 20 years ago, licensed patients have been able to buy marijuana for consumption without much hassle. With these latest developments, cannabis dispensaries may hypothetically sell marijuana for recreational purposes along with other things. Councilman, Charley Glasper made suggestions to incorporate commercial recreational operations into the medical marijuana provisions of the city. This proposal was staunchly opposed by Kerr. However, there is a high chance that recreational weed users will turn to the already established medical marijuana dispensaries to seek guidance on how to use cannabis. Most importantly, marijuana recommendation doctors have in recent times been receiving calls from recreational users to make enquiries about the same. Therefore, these matter needs closer scrutiny required to establish better measures to manage the situation.
Marijuana delivery services have been operating with well-defined regulations and laws and recreational weed is expected to have similar requirements as provided through Proposition 64. According to Kerr, every vote that he casts on recreational pot to cultivate in the city for commercial purposes would be opposed to it. He did not buy to the idea. He expressed his concerns that Adelanto was out to aid ailing cancer patients, assist those suffering from Type 2 diabetes and also help those with certain seizures. The main issue has been on how Adelanto city seeks to regulate the two cannabis uses effectively. He said that city officials should expect to see two varying sets of individuals endeavoring to do medical and recreational. In that case, Kerr’s concern was those who would also want to say that they are going to do medical weed when ideally they are doing recreational.
The City Council assented to bring the issue to a workshop for further deliberations in the near future. Additionally, the Adelanto Council also presented a plan with intends to hire an organization that will watch over the taxation of medical marijuana businesses. The hire would come before the completion of the city’s tax law that should be established to permit the city to impose tax from its budding marijuana industry. However, there are concerns from a group of the entrepreneurs concerning excessive fines. They believe that the hiring of the firm may potentially signal an absence of trust between the cannabis businesses and the city, partly ignited through the Council’s push back on any decision being made. The Adelanto Growers Association led by Jerry Davis made suggestions for the city to make use of its yet-to-be found oversight committee, with assistance coming from cultivators, to be the watchdog for tax collections. Basically, there are a lot of changes coming with the continued reforms on marijuana. The case is not different in California after Proposition 64 was passed during the 2016 December elections. Different counties and cities are now aligning themselves with this new law. Definitely, there are a number of issues that should be ironed-out before full weed benefits can be attained.
