There Will Be Bud: Santa Barbara Edition

If the devil’s in the details, Santa Barbara County will need to conduct at least a couple of exorcisms before its supervisors figure out what kind of ordinance they want to pass to dictate where the area’s burgeoning recreational marijuana industry can develop. Although there was significant disagreement over specifics at this Tuesday’s board meeting, it was clear that four of the five supervisors were committed to passing a county-specific ordinance.

When state voters approved Proposition 64 last year legalizing recreational marijuana, they gave local officials throughout California the latitude to pass enabling regulations of their own. If the supervisors stumbled along in congenial disharmony for about four hours, it’s in part because that task is dauntingly complex. It’s also the first time that all five supervisors collectively mulled the matter over.

In recent months, supervisors Das Williams and Steve Lavagnino have met behind closed doors as an ad-hoc task force no fewer than 13 times. That process aroused the procedural ire of fellow Supervisor Janet Wolf, the most wary of the pot industry of any supervisor. Giving the discussion a sense of urgency is the tight, state-imposed deadline the board is facing to get something approved. They’re shooting for a fleshed-out ordinance by February 2018. Adding fuel to the fire are the revenues the supervisors and county bean counters are expecting the cannabis trade to generate. Although no reliable numbers currently exist, some supervisors are privately salivating at the thought of $20 million–$30 million a year from the recreational pot trade.