Salinas cannabis dispensary sues Santa Cruz County
A Salinas cannabis dispensary is suing Santa Cruz County after they were barred from making product deliveries in to that county.
They are accusing the county of ignoring current state law that allows for companies to deliver anywhere in the state.
The co-founder of East of Eden Cannabis Company on Work and John Street in Salinas, Gavin Kogan, says they filed the lawsuit to defend their rights as a regional business. He says these types of regulations are crippling the growth of the industry.
East of Eden stocks products made from all over the Central Coast, including brands from Santa Cruz manufacturers. Businesses like this can sell imported items at their dispensaries, but delivering products outside of their main county is a lot harder.
“Threats of intimidation, criminal sanction, civil sanction and possibly revocation of our permits,” said Kogan, referring to what he says Santa Cruz County is responding with to their deliveries.
Kogan says his company is losing about $1,000 a day in gross revenue because Santa Cruz County is barring them from delivering merchandise to that area – a ban Kogan says is illegal.
“The California law is very explicit in that any cannabis delivery company can deliver to any county,” said Kogan.
Santa Cruz County spokesperson Jason Hoppin tells KION they are aware of that state law. But it turns out they county is currently suing the state’s Bureau of Cannabis Control over that rule, on the grounds of 2016’s Proposition 64, which made marijuana legal in the state.
In a statement over the phone, Hoppin said, “Proposition 64 promised Santa Cruz residents local control over local cannabis operations. Allowing deliveries into a community without local input not only undermines local control, but also local businesses who are trying to play by the rules.”
“That’s a lawsuit that they’re bringing, that’s not the current law,” said Kogan. “The current law allows for cannabis operators like East of Eden to distribute or do delivery within the County of Santa Cruz explicitly by law.”
Kogan says they have two reasons for their lawsuit against the county: to protect their economic interests and to advocate for what they believe is an industry under stress.
“So the local control effectively is crippling the growth of the cannabis industry, effectively crippling the tax revenues for the state and effectively eviscerating the wishes of the Prop 64 voters,” said Kogan.
East of Eden filed their lawsuit last Friday, which could be affected by what happens with Santa Cruz County’s own lawsuit against the state. That one is currently pending in a court in Fresno.
