Cannabis Regulation

Since we last offered our position regarding cannabis, the issue of unlicensed cannabis grows in Siskiyou County has continued to be a regular agenda item with the supervisors and planners. The county allows no commercial (defined by the county as more than 6 plants) cultivation on county lands. This has not stopped the massive growth of unlicensed cultivation sites in the unincorporated lands.

As of June 2021, there are thousands of unlicensed greenhouses grouped mainly in 3 general areas- The Shasta Vista and Little Shasta Valley, Butte Valley, and Scott Valley. While we had hoped that the county would eventually turn to licensure of cannabis, ushering in the very strict state regulatory/fee structure, our county counsel, district attorney, and new sheriff have instead continued to craft/update anti-cannabis ordinances. We have seen no meaningful effect from these ordinances in either the number or size of unlicensed cultivation sites in the county.

At the May 18th county supervisor meeting, the supervisors passed an urgency ordinance that outlawed the use of water trucks on certain county roads. The cultivation and use of water on cannabis plants has been declared a nuisance and a waste or unreasonable use of the natural resource in violation of the California State Constitution. Sheriff patrols of the listed roads have increased and water trucks (outside of emergency or fire service) can be cited or even impounded.

There have been reports on social media that sheriff deputies have also been involved in the direct removal of greenhouses. While there are numerous residents of the areas applauding the efforts of the sheriff, the growers, some of whom are Asian American, have claimed that the patrols are singling them out because of their race/ethnicity.

At the June 1 county supervisor meeting, a representative of the Asian American growers told the Board of Supervisors that a federal lawsuit was to be filed. The details of the lawsuit are not at this time available to us, but when the information is made available we will update this story.

At MSBEC, we still support legal cannabis operations as this is the best route ecologically speaking and contributes to our economy. We believe that the best way to regulate cannabis is through the state system of licensure. One of the barriers of the state system, is that local authorization is required before the state will accept applications. This stipulation was part of the concession made by the state to allow for the local control of cannabis at the community level. This system allows cities and counties to “opt-in”. Locally, the cities of Mount Shasta and Weed, both have state licensed cannabis businesses. Outside of these municipalities, cannabis remains unlicensed, unregulated, and unmanaged.