The Santa Cruz Senitenel reports………SANTA CRUZ — A turf war over cannabis delivery rules pitting Santa Cruz County against California regulators is escalating, with the state now seeking to join a pot company’s lawsuit against the local government.
Filed in Santa Cruz County Superior Court by Salinas-based retailer East of Eden in July, the suit aims to prevent the county government from enforcing an ordinance barring out-of-area retailers from delivering cannabis within its borders.
Per state regulations, licensed cannabis retailers can deliver their wares almost anywhere in California — regardless of local prohibitions.
Santa Cruz County was among a number of local governments to cry foul after the state’s delivery rules were finalized in January. Its critics claim the regulation undermines the local authority promised under Proposition 64, the voter-approved initiative that legalized the recreational sale of cannabis in 2018.
In April, Santa Cruz County was joined by 24 California cities in a lawsuit challenging the state’s delivery rules. The case is ongoing in Fresno County court, with a trial date set for April 20.
But rather than wait for that case to play out, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra is now taking the offensive against Santa Cruz County’s local ordinance on behalf of the state Bureau of Cannabis Control.
Becerra filed a petition to join the East of Eden case in November, seeking an injunction against enforcement of the county ordinance and a declaration from the court that the state’s rules are valid.
California’s delivery regulation “is critical to the state’s commercial cannabis market and valid,” Becerra wrote in a proposed complaint. The Office of the Attorney General declined a request for comment on the filing, referring the inquiry to the Bureau of Cannabis Control.
Santa Cruz County spokesman Jason Hoppin said the state’s decision to side with the commercial cannabis retailer’s challenge is “beyond the pale.”
