A new Grand Jury report questions how well Santa Barbara County has handled the legalization of cannabis, saying that instead of taking a balanced approach it simply opened the floodgates to the industry.
It says there’s an excessive amount of cannabis production for a county it’s size. It asserts the county failed to adequately address how production is impacting the health and welfare of county residents.
The report claims Santa Barbara County Supervisors failed to give adequate consideration to one of the biggest public complaints about the industry, which is the smell from the operations.
Additionally, the Grand Jury thinks growers and lobbyists had unfair access to board members. The report says the county was less than cooperative in supplying requested documents. Grand Jurors say the situation shows the need for the county to establish an independent Ethics Commission.
