From the west end of the unincorporated town of Sutter wafts a strong smell, familiar to many and scorned by some.
In recent weeks the odor from a nearby hemp grow, which smells just like marijuana, has subsumed parts of the small town that borders farm land surrounding the Sutter Buttes, and even lingered in the air outside of the town’s high school.
The smell inundating parts of the Sutter County town as its harvest neared is one way in which the maturing hemp and marijuana industries in California have created unintended, and subsequently unplanned for, consequences.
“It’s like there’s a skunk in your backyard spraying constantly,” said Kathy Ripley, Sutter resident.
California’s embrace of recreational marijuana, and federal legalization of hemp farming, has put a number of decisions on how to enforce the growth, processing and sale of the cash crops on local governments.
“It’s really, truly a local issue,” said Hilary Bricken, corporate and regulatory cannabis and hemp lawyer.
The hemp issue in Sutter first arose during a 2020 harvest, prompting the creation of a county ordinance in early 2021 that set guidelines and fees in place for hemp growers. Until this year, Sutter residents said that the smell hadn’t returned.
Issues of local control have arisen over cannabis more often than hemp, Bricken said, such as allowing delivery between cities and whether to permit consumption lounges.
As for odor, that’s for locals to decide.
“If they tried to control odor levels and mitigation, they might be overstepping their authority anyways and getting into the constitutional obligation of cities and counties to set these limits,” Bricken said of the state.
That’s because managing odor, among other health, environment and safety impacts, are typically left for local governments to control, she said.
“The state typically doesn’t want to touch those things essentially to avoid jurisdiction friction with local governments,” she added.
