PWD trustees oppose lifting of pot grow ban
PALMDALE — The Palmdale Water District Board of Directors will endorse a letter to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors opposing any attempt to lift the ban against commercial cultivation of marijuana in the unincorporated areas.
The action, unanimously agreed to by the Board, on Aug. 23, was requested by Gailen Kyle, a third-generation farmer on the Valley’s east side.
Kyle asked for support in opposing lifting the ban, as the water-intensive crop can not be sustained by local supplies and would require importing water from elsewhere, which may not be reliable.
“This begs the question, why build up a new farming industry in the unincorporated portion of Los Angeles County, when that industry would depend 100% on replacement water, that might not be easy to replace?” Kyle wrote to the District in requesting their support. “Lifting the ban on commercial growing of marijuana in unincorporated Los Angeles County would be disastrous.”
The Antelope Valley has seen an explosion of illegal marijuana operations in recent months. The illegal cultivation sites have been tied to water theft, human trafficking, murder and environmental contamination.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and US Drug Enforcement Administration conducted a joint operation in July to take down multiple illegal sites in Lake Los Angeles, destroying hundreds of millions of dollars in
infrastructure and product.
In July, the Board of Supervisors unanimously agreed to instruct the county’s Office of Cannabis Management to revisit the ban on commercial marijuana production and distribution in the unincorporated areas and return with recommendations in 120 days.
The ban was enacted in 2017, shortly after recreational use of marijuana was legalized by voters.
One reason given to reconsider the ban is that it may help stop the illegal grows by providing a legal pathway.
Kyle disagrees with this reasoning, and Palmdale Water District General Manager Dennis LaMoreaux said he concurs.
“We don’t see that helping (fight) these illegal operations up here,” he said.
If the ban is lifted, legal cultivation would be subject to regulations and enforcement.
“My guess is the people running these grows right now wouldn’t comply with that,” LaMoreaux said.
“What we would probably want from the Board of Supervisors is it’s more important for the enforcement to happen out here,” he said.