Marijuana Businesses - Says No to Outdoor Cultivation

The Camarillo City Council assented to prohibit all marijuana businesses and outdoor cultivation of cannabis within city limits at a meeting held earlier this month.

Like other cities in the state of California, Camarillo is seeking to adopt an ordinance before the state law that legalizes marijuana takes effect. The state law will take effect as from march 1 for cities and counties that do not have rules that will regulate commercial medical marijuana.

The city approved an ordinance Nov. 15 that continues the restrictions the council put forth last November after the passage of Proposition 64, which legalized the recreational use of marijuana in California. 

Under Proposition 64, all California residents may cultivate up to six cannabis plants indoors as well as use marijuana recreationally in private. However, when it comes to commercial marijuana ventures, such as cultivation or manufacturing, the law leaves each city to regulate within its own jurisdiction.

The restrictions within the Camarillo city ordinance include banning all commercial marijuana sites. That means no medical marijuana dispensaries will operate in the city.

It also extends limits on indoor cultivation; any individual planning to do indoor cultivation will require written consent from the property owner, compliance with the building code and forbidding the use of gas products.

In addition, Camarillo restricted medical marijuana delivery to the hours between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m., and deliveries can only be done at private residences between caregivers and qualified patients.

The city seeks to put these measures into use in order to avoid the secondary impacts such as criminal tendencies at these medical marijuana facilities as they tend to attract criminals looking to rob. This ordinance will seek to provide and ensure public safety and to do so the city has to put in place the ban.

Although currently the city allows the growing of six mature plants or twelve premature plants, there is still some confusion in interpretation of the ordinance as to who will be allowed to grow and who will not be allowed.

Most councilmembers support the ordinance as they view it as an opportunity for the council to have control over the issue. That is to put in place laws that seek to address the unique challenges faced in their city in regards to legalization of marijuana.

The ordinance will go into effect in Camarillo as from Dec. 15.

The 58 counties in California State are establishing ordinances to regulate the cultivation and sale of marijuana within their city and county limits. These ordinances vary from county to county.

Regulations on commercial marijuana facilities vary greatly throughout Ventura County. In most counties the ordinances are still underway while in others there is none.

Last year medical marijuana was legalized in Calaveras County seeking to tax the hundreds of farms that popped up in the region after a 2015 wildfire destroyed more than 500 homes.

However some voters are fighting the legalization of marijuana in their county. Last January they replaced four of the five supervisors who were supporting legalization of marijuana another main challenge is the increase in the number of farmers who are operating illegal farms and those that have applied for licenses and are operating before they are given the go ahead.

Last week, the Thousand Oaks City Council introduced an ordinance to allow for both a medical marijuana retailer and an experimental testing facility the ordinance will be voted on by the council next Tuesday.

Fillmore city however bans all commercial cannabis operations even deliveries, but earlier this month the city has indicated it may relax its stance on deliveries.

Oxnard and Ventura have banned all commercial cannabis sites within their city limits, but both have allowed the operation of medical marijuana delivery from dispensaries in other cities. 

Port Hueneme has approved two medical marijuana dispensaries set to open next year, with at least two more in the process of being authorized.

Ventura County’s first medical marijuana dispensary opened at the beginning of the month in Ojai, where another two dispensaries are set to open in coming weeks.

Despite the fact that the state has legalized medicinal marijuana for recreational use it is facing both support and resistance at equal measure.