Will the city of Compton reverse their ban on marijuana? The last regular city council meeting agenda included an item to allow for a presentation on the “Marijuana Adult Use Initiative” headed to the November 2016 ballot. A public hearing is scheduled for September 13, 2016, when the council comes back from their August break, to obtain community input. Residents are rightfully concerned that their voices will fall upon deaf ears.
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Residents and members of the Compton School Board of Trustees were assured the mayor and city council were moving to shut down illegal dispensaries in the city of nearly 100,000 residents. With proposed legalization on the statewide ballot, there is a huge opportunity for the measure to pass.
In April 2015 the Compton Unified Board of Trustees filed a lawsuit against the city of Compton for allowing the opening of marijuana dispensaries within close proximity of several school sites. A collaborative meeting took place, that included representatives from the District Attorney’s office, LA County Sheriff, city and school officials, and it was decided the city would move expeditiously towards shutting them down. The lawsuit was withdrawn and the city backtracked on their position to shut the dispensaries down. All remain open.
Chris Brown, former mayor of the city of Hawthorne, now marijuana lobbyist, sees the benefits of Compton allowing marijuana cultivation, not dispensaries.
“I totally understand where the community is coming from in terms of dispensaries,” said Chris Brown. “Cultivation is different. It creates both farming and manufacturing jobs.”
Cultivation works the same as Beauchamp Distributing Co. operates.
Beauchamp was the first Black-owned Miller brewing company distributor, and is now one of the largest and most modern beer distributorships in the country. Currently operating in the city of Compton, Beauchamp provides NO direct sales of their product to the public. They simply manufacture and supply product to local vendors.
Related: Colorado Raised More Tax Revenue From Marijuana Than From Alcohol
Residents have started to weigh in on their position by submitting opinion pieces to the local newspaper.
Related: LOCAL VOICES: Council, don’t sellout Compton regarding medical marijuana
The city of Adelanto is now accepting applications for both cultivation and dispensaries, with an application fee of $7,000.
The Foxx Firm helped the city attorney of Adelanto write an ordinance, as well as came up with a tax structure, that would fill the city budget deficit within the first year. At $10 a square foot, the city is looking at nearly 1 million-square-feet of cultivation and manufacturing; they will bring in nearly $10 million in revenues for the city budget and infrastructure.
Given the amount of potential revenue, the city could generate, should the city of Compton maintain the ban on marijuana dispensaries and allow cultivation instead?
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No way a city full of traumatized citizens needs Maria Juana to help ease their troubles and pain from DECADES of backwards thinking “leadership.”
So, as it goes in the city, who cares what those in office think.