Last week, one cannabis professional emphatically declared that just four acres of marijuana plants could generate $85 million in annual gross revenue. That was just one dramatic — and perhaps overstated — tidbit that emerged out of two public hearings held in North and South County.
As Santa Barbara scrambles to regulate the looming recreational cannabis industry, every topic seems to open a new can of worms. “This is going to be a lot more complicated than people think,” South County resident Ken Wolf told county planners who were gathering direction for an environmental impact report (EIR). Santa Barbara County is one of the only jurisdictions in the state to initiate the more-than-yearlong study.
Already, about 215 cannabis cultivators grow on nearly 400 acres in Santa Barbara County, according to the county’s voluntary registry. County officials have no idea how many of these operations meet current laws.