California has been in the news for marijuana reform a lot recently. Just days ago, the state announced that it would be voting on recreational marijuana in November, and now they’ve made the news once more. The Coalinga City Council voted 4-1 in California on Thursday to allow commercial cannabis growth within the city’s limits. Councilman Ron Lander was the one person to vote against the idea, but unluckily for him, the measure needed at least four yes votes in order for the measure to become law. In addition to that, the council approved the transaction of the city’s vacant prison, Claremont Custody Center, to Ocean Grown Extracts for $4.1 million.
Ocean Growth would like to turn the prison into a medical marijuana oil extraction plant. This sale is going to immediately bring Coalinga’s general fund down into the black. City Manager Marissa Trejo stated that Coalinga was already $3.3 million to $3.8 million in debt. All thirty-three public seats in the Coalinga City Council chamber were full as the council voted on the measures. After half a year of fierce debate among the council and the city’s residents, the crowd did not say a word when Coalinga Mayor Ron Ramsey asked for any input from the public.
“It’s like the Grateful Dead said: ‘What a long, strange trip it’s been,’ ” Coalinga Mayor Pro Tem Patrick Keough stated in an interview. “We listened to the citizens and created a package that was reflective of our population.”
Keough thinks that all of the hard work gone into teaching the state about medical marijuana and its benefits has changed the town’s thought process.
“You can never do anything that satisfies everyone,” Keough added, “but we were pretty darn close to doing that.”
The vote ends a long battle for medical marijuana legalization in Coalinga.
MAPH Enterprises, LLC | (305) 414-0128 | 1501 Venera Ave, Coral Gables, FL 33146 | new@marijuanastocks.com
