Sign up for our daily Newsletter and stay up to date with all the latest news!

Subscribe I am already a subscriber

Sign up for our daily Newsletter and stay up to date with all the latest news!

Subscribe I am already a subscriber

US (LA): Cannabis growers in Santa Barbara County gain political clout

For two years, pot has divided Carpinteria as Santa Barbara County officials allowed it to be surrounded by the densest concentration of cannabis farms in the nation. Residents complain the farms saturate their homes and children’s schools with the skunky smell the plant is famous for. Growers counter that they are providing jobs and paying taxes, while installing state-of-the-art odor control systems.

Now debate has turned to the influence the cannabis industry is wielding. Flush with capital from multimillion-dollar harvests, cannabis cultivators have become local philanthropists and political donors. While critics say their money is corrupting, growers say they are simply being good citizens.

“A lot of the cannabis farmers are longtime cut-flower farmers here, and the donations are clearly in line with what they’ve been doing for 30 years,” said Graham Farrar, owner of Glass House Farms and president of the industry association CARP Growers that made the donation to the middle school.

Read the full article at sfchronicle.com

Publication date: