It’s an age old story but we have to say it is great to see that legal reasoning is being based around environmental concerns. It is a good narrative to educate the general public about black market grows.
The Los Angeles Daily News reports
Barger introduced a motion seeking to crack down on illegal cannabis dispensaries in unincorporated areas and take a long list of steps to push back against commercial growers of hemp and cannabis.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger warned on Tuesday, June 22, that “massive” cannabis grow operations in the east Antelope Valley are using dangerous pesticides, stealing water from fire hydrants and frightening neighbors into silence, but agreed to postpone a vote on pushing for tougher criminal penalties.
Barger introduced a motion seeking to crack down on illegal cannabis dispensaries in unincorporated areas and take a long list of steps to push back against commercial growers of hemp and cannabis.
“These bad actors are seizing private property, operating hundreds of illegal grows, stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in water from the Fifth District community, significantly damaging local ecosystems and habitats and steamrolling anyone who gets in their way,” Barger told her colleagues.
“Many private property owners have had their land stolen out from under them with threats of violence levied if they dare to push back.”
In addition to amending state health and safety codes to increase penalties for certain cannabis offenses, Barger’s motion contemplates advocating for a handful of other changes to state law, the majority of which focus on water theft.
Barger also recommended shifting $250,000 from her district’s Consumer Protection Settlement fund to the sheriff’s department for continued targeted enforcement.
The motion would require four votes in favor from the five-member board. Barger said other supervisors had raised some concerns with the motion as drafted, and she preemptively agreed to postpone a vote to the board’s next meeting, set for July 13.
Supervisor Holly Mitchell said she was sympathetic to concerns about water theft and environmental damage, but balked at statewide changes to solve a local problem.
