Pot Fears Grow in Carpinteria
Smell of Buds in Bloom and Quantity of Cash Worry Neighbors
At 7 p.m. on Mondays, during Zumba class at Carpinteria’s Boys & Girls Club, an unmistakably fresh stench of cannabis flowers can be whiffed from the greenhouse next door. At the high school across the street, teachers must show up early to air out their classrooms. One teacher said the odor is pungent three days a week. “It’s like someone is smoking in the classroom,” she said. “It’s very distracting.”
Cannabis crops have increasingly augmented Carpinteria greenhouses, which had become less profitable in recent years. Growers estimate 20-30 acres of weed plants are currently cultivated in greenhouses out of 280 acres total “under glass.” As more cannabis is grown, the smell of ripe buds has become more pungent. Created by the plant’s essential oils, known as terpenes, the odors are strongest when cannabis flowers are budding, which happens virtually all the time because planters stagger growth cycles.
In the first week of May, there were 12 odor complaints in Carpinteria logged with the county’s planning department. By contrast, from January to May, there were zero. A small group of women affiliated with the Carpinteria Valley Association (CVA) are likely the root of this recent spike. Longtime community activists Anna Carrillo, Sally Eagle, Sandy Kuttler, and others are gearing up to push back against marijuana odors drifting throughout their neighborhoods.
