Santa Cruz County green lights cannabis lounges and on-site smoking at farms
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Calif. (KION-TV) -- Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors are moving forward with plans to allow pot lounges to open up, but supervisors are making some changes.
Pot lounges will still be allowed to open at existing dispensaries. Yet, under the approved amendments, dispensaries that overserve their customers could have their business licenses revoked.
Supervisors also moved to include an education component, so staff will be trained to recognize signs of impairment and know when to cut customers off.
"They're aren't safeguards or conditions in our ordinance that clarify we will, or we can revoke a permit if there is a bad actor. If one of the lounges is over-serving and causes harm to the community," District 5 Monica Martinez said.
This proposal passing means the lounges are set to be legal in the county's unincorporated areas but not its cities.
People will also be able to buy marijuana at cannabis farms in Santa Cruz County. The Board of Supervisors gave plans the green light today in a close 3-2 vote.
Robert Kitayama, the President of KB Farms, a prominent cannabis grower in Santa Cruz, shared his excitement about the change.
"I've been involved with cannabis in Santa Cruz for about seven years, and I’ve seen firsthand how many legal growers have had to exit the market. About 60% of the original legal growers are no longer producing or have stopped doing so legally. If we want to keep the legal cannabis industry strong here, we need to find ways to promote it," Kitayama said.
This new three-year pilot program allows farmers to apply for a new business license to sell their products on-site.
It allows participating farms to sell cannabis as part of their farm tours.
"Visitors come to see the farm and our growing processes," Kitayama said. "The idea of selling directly to them is something people are really excited about, they want to buy from the source, and we want to promote Santa Cruz grown."
New amendments allow a farm's license to be revoked if they overserve their customers and require a similar educational component to the cannabis lounge ordinance, training staff to recognize signs of impairment.
"What this offers us is an opportunity to bring people from the Bay Area to Santa Cruz, see the farms, and take advantage of being able to purchase directly from the growers," Kitayama said.
Santa Cruz Supervisors are exploring new safeguards that would allow them to revoke permits for cannabis lounges that over-serve customers and cause harm to the community.
