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Cannabis lounges may move forward in Santa Cruz County

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SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION-TV) -- Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors voted on a motion that will potentially welcome cannabis lounges in Santa Cruz County.

The option voted on would only allow cannabis lounges to be within existing cannabis retailers or adjacent buildings. Despite an option chosen, this is not a vote for a final ordinance.

Supervisor Manu Koenig added an amendment to the motion which would ask for feedback from health agencies in the creation of a cannabis lounge ordinance once.

"The reality is that laws can't stop people from making bad decisions. What we can do is create a framework that does the least harm, that reduces the negative outcomes as much as possible population wide," Koenig said.

At the meeting proper, Santa Cruz Public Health spoke on the health impacts cannabis lounges could have on the community with three concerns for the community. Those ranged from lounges potentially normalizing cannabis use for the youth, secondhand smoke, and the impacts to drivers leaving cannabis lounges.

"The more protective we can be in terms of cannabis-related policy, our youth are more protected," Public Health division director Emily Chung said.

The option was chosen after a 3-2 vote with Supervisors Kimberly De Serpa and Monica Martinez voting against the motion. The next step will be to develop a final ordinance.

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Sergio Berrueta

Sergio Berrueta has been in the news for quite awhile going from studying print media to entering the realm of broadcast.

Originally from Bell Gardens, California, in Southeast Los Angeles. Berrueta started his professional news career in Eureka as a newscast producer for North Coast News (now The Northstate’s News) at KAEF ABC 23 in 2022. He pivoted a year later in 2022 going from behind-the-scenes to in front of the camera as a multimedia journalist for Redwood News Channel 3 (KIEM/KVIQ) also in Eureka.

Berrueta studied journalism at Humboldt State University (now Cal Poly Humboldt) earning his Bachelor’s Degree. Berrueta was a staff writer, page editor, social media manager and editor-in-chief of the university’s El Lenador, the only bilingual publication in all of Humboldt County.

Before moving to the North Coast, Berrueta had earned his Associate’s Degree at East Los Angeles College in 2019 after beginning his educational journey in 2012. He also was on staff for the ELAC’s publication, ELAC Campus News, having been a staff writer, page editor, and online editor.

Outside of news experience, Berrueta has also been in education as an AmeriCorps tutor in East Hollywood from 2017 to 2019 and served in a government role as a National Hometown Fellow for Lead for America with the City of Arcata in 2021.

When not focusing on news, Berrueta is an avid amateur cinephile having written about films in free time. He also writes poetry, attempting to get through a backlog of video games, enjoys visiting new places along the California Coast, and trying to keep up with the latest music and podcasts.

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