Locals urge to move forward to regulate marijuana

The Imperial County Board of Supervisors held the first of three workshops to get a better understanding of the possible actions that can be taken locally regarding the Adult Use of Marijuana Act passed by state voters last fall.

A handful of the people that spoke to the board did so to express their support for the county to move forward in establishing regulations to allow marijuana to be cultivated locally. Others didn’t have a position on the matter and none of the speakers voiced opposition.

The workshop began with a presentation given by Planning and Development Director Jim Minnick and Agricultural Commissioner Carlos Ortiz, which summarized the most important components of the recently passed Adult Use of Marijuana Act.

Minnick explained that the guidelines for the 13 different types of licenses for various activities surrounding cannabis are still being developed and are expected to be set in place sometime in 2018.

Tammy Thomas who is a cannabis consultant who is also working with the Cancer Resource Center of the Desert, urged the board to move forward at the very least with medical marijuana.

She said that working with cancer patients she’s seen first-hand the benefits of the plant and how it has helped local patients.

“I recommend that this is something the community opens up to,” Thomas said. “I believe you’re in a position in which you can set the bar for what the marijuana industry should look like.”

She added that the county has the authority to add a special tax which they can use in a variety of ways including medical research and clinical trials.

“I see a lot of suffering from a lot of people in this community who are on their deathbeds, in which marijuana would be absolutely the only thing that would help them get out of the misery and agony that they’re in,” she said.

During the initial presentation, Minnick pointed out that under Prop 64 or the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, the state adds an excise tax of 15 percent on retail sales of marijuana but still gives local jurisdictions the authority to impose additional taxes in medical and non-medical marijuana.

However, those taxes need voter approval. A simple majority for a general tax and two-thirds majority for special tax in which those monies are earmarked for a specific purpose.

Francisco Andrade, founder of the Imperial County Hemp and Cannabis Coalition asked the board that if it moves forward in setting regulations to set reasonable taxes and permits that it would allow smaller operations to be part of the cannabis industry.

On a similar note, James Irwin, chief executive officer and founder of Trinity Farming & Manufacturing, the company who is in the process of building a $7.5 million cannabis cultivation facility in Calexico also urged the board to take reasonable tax approach to incentivize farmers who want to participate in the industry to do so.

Seth Morgan, a Brawley farmer said he has been contacted by the cannabis industry who he says has a strong interest in Imperial County and believes is an opportunity to put Imperial County at the forefront in this new industry.

“We have a strong agricultural background and there is going to be a huge demand for this product,” Morgan said. “In terms of recreational use in building an industry around it feels the county is poised to have a strong competitive advantage opposed to other competitors in neighboring areas.”

Toward the end of the workshop, when asked about how federal agencies would likely approach the industry, US Border Patrol Assistant Chief Patrol Agent David Kim said that the bigger concern involves having marijuana transported out of the county across Border Patrol checkpoints and they are required to uphold federal law which labels marijuana as a controlled substance that is subject to seizure, however, for local enforcement over cannabis he said the agency has “other priorities that come way above that.”

The next scheduled workshop will take place on April 24 at the Del Rio Community Center in Brawley. A workshop was previously scheduled at Calexico for April 20 but will be moved to a later date.