The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (Board) voted 5-0 to support a proposal authored by County Supervisor Janice Hahn and co-authored by Supervisor Hilda Solis to reconsider the county's current ban on commercial cannabis cultivation in unincorporated areas in LA County.
The proposal came after law enforcement seized $1.2 billion of illegal cannabis in Southern California.
According to a news article posted on Hahn's website, the Board enacted the ban following the passage of Proposition 64, the "Adult Use Marijuana Act," in 2018; however, the ban was intended to be temporary until proper regulations were established.
When California passed Proposition 64, the Board established the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) who assembled a 'Working Group' to provide recommendations on how to regulate cannabis in unincorporated areas in LA County, according to the article.
Following assessment, the Working Group provided 64 recommendations to the Board on regulating cannabis in unincorporated areas, but the Board did not take any action.
At the time, Hahn said the Board did not remove the ban because there were too many uncertainties; however, three years later, the Board has agreed to revisit the recommendations report provided by the Working Group, the article states.
"It has been three long years since we decided to keep the cannabis ban in place in the unincorporated area, and a lot has changed," Hahn said. "We've seen how legalization has played out in cities in our county, and we have seen states across the country move in the direction of legalizing, taxing, and regulating cannabis. It may be time for us to join them."
The Board has now directed the OCM and other county departments to make changes to the original recommendations and provide the Board with the updated report in 120 days.
