California’s Calaveras County Board of Supervisors has unanimously voted to allow its constituents to decide whether to enact a ban on commercial cannabis cultivation in the region, according to a Calaveras Enterprise report. The mail-in election is scheduled for May 2.
Many activists and opponents expected the board to move forward with a planned ban on the industry in the county; however when the measure was proposed by Supervisor Dennis Mills it was not seconded – preventing the ban from being enacted on the spot. The move to put the issue to voters was proposed by Supervisor Jack Garamendi and seconded by board chairman, Supervisor Michael Oliveira. The board then passed the proposal unanimously.
According to the report, the meeting was tense on both sides of the issue as it was expected that the board would simply enact the ban – Calaveras Cannabis Alliance Executive Director Caslin Tomaszewski said as such during a break in the public comment period – but by the end of the meeting his fears did not come to fruition.
CBS 13 reports that the county, one of the poorest in the state, has already reaped some of the benefits of the regulated cannabis market – collecting nearly $4 million in application fees from prospective cannabis business operators.
Bill McManus, who led the efforts to ban commercial cultivation, called the decision “a huge victory for the people.”