{"id":8265,"date":"2018-05-11T03:58:35","date_gmt":"2018-05-11T03:58:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com?p=3048604&amp;preview_id=3048604"},"modified":"2018-05-11T03:58:35","modified_gmt":"2018-05-11T03:58:35","slug":"whats-that-smell-california-flower-towns-shift-to-pot-creates-stink","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/whats-that-smell-california-flower-towns-shift-to-pot-creates-stink\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s that smell? California flower town\u2019s shift to pot creates stink"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/whats-that-smell-california-flower-towns-shift-to-pot-creates-stink\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>CARPINTERIA, Calif. \u2014 This picturesque coastal town cradled by mountains and sandy shores is a scene out of a Southern California postcard. Residents of Carpinteria say they feel lucky to live in what they consider a slice of paradise.<\/p>\n<p>But change is in the air. And sometimes, they say, it stinks.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s because marijuana has become a new crop of choice in the farmlands surrounding this tight-knit community of 14,000, which has long helped fuel the U.S. cut flower industry.<\/p>\n<p>Residents say a thick, skunk-like odor from the marijuana plants settles over the valley in the evenings and before dawn. To keep out the stench, they have tried stuffing pillows under doors, lighting incense and shutting windows, a reluctant choice since it also keeps out the cool ocean breezes that are part of the town\u2019s allure.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t want a marijuana smell,\u201d said Xave Saragosa, a 73-year-old retired sheriff\u2019s deputy who was born and raised in the town and lives near a greenhouse that grows marijuana. \u201cWe want fresh air.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Saragosa said the odor pervades his hillside home at night and keeps his wife up coughing.<\/p>\n<p>Carpinteria, about 85 miles (137 kilometers) from Los Angeles, is in the southeast corner of Santa Barbara County, a tourist area famous for its beaches, wine and temperate climate. It\u2019s also becoming known as a haven for cannabis growers.<\/p>\n<p>The county amassed the largest number of marijuana cultivation licenses in California since broad legalization arrived on Jan. 1 \u2014 about 800, according to state data compiled by The Associated Press. Two-thirds of them are in Carpinteria and Lompoc, a larger agricultural city about an hour\u2019s drive to the northwest.<\/p>\n<p>Virtually all of Carpinteria\u2019s licenses are for small, \u201cmixed-light\u201d facilities, which essentially means greenhouses.<\/p>\n<p>The result is a large number of licenses but small total acreage. Only about 200 acres of the county\u2019s farmland is devoted to marijuana, compared with tens of thousands sown with strawberries and vegetables, said Dennis Bozanich, who oversees the county\u2019s marijuana planning.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"related right\" \/>\n<p>The area\u2019s greenhouses have their roots in Carpinteria\u2019s cut flower industry, which was sapped after the U.S. government granted trade preferences to South American countries in the 1990s to encourage their farmers to grow flowers instead of coca, the plant used to make cocaine.<\/p>\n<p>In an ironic twist, some California flower growers weary of import competition have started trying to grow cannabis, a plant that, like coca, is deemed illicit by the federal government. Others have sold their greenhouses to marijuana investors.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have literally no carnation production in the United States any longer because South America grows them so cheaply,\u201d said Kasey Cronquist, chief executive of the California Cut Flower Commission. \u201cFarmers had to move crops, and that is what we have seen happen over time \u2014 they\u2019ve gone to crops that are more valuable or more difficult for Ecuador and Colombia to ship.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Domestic cut flower growers saw their share of the U.S. market drop to 27 percent in 2015 from 58 percent in 1991. Sales of imported cut flowers grew to more than $1 billion during the same period, according to data compiled by the commission.<\/p>\n<p>Greenhouses that once produced flowers are seen as ideal for marijuana. In Carpinteria\u2019s climate, the greenhouses heat and cool easily and inexpensively, and the plants thrive. It takes only about three months to grow cannabis in pots of shredded coconut husks, so farmers can get multiple harvests each year.<\/p>\n<p>In the hills of the so-called Emerald Triangle of Northern California, where most of the state\u2019s pot is grown, there is a single harvest each year.<\/p>\n<p>Some farmers see cannabis as a plant that can help preserve the area\u2019s farming culture, said Mollie Culver, a consultant for the Cannabis Business Council of Santa Barbara County. Many growers live locally and welcomed the county\u2019s recently crafted regulations requiring odor abatement, she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSanta Barbara isn\u2019t like cannabis run amok,\u201d said Jared Ficker, a partner at advocacy group California Strategies who consults with local cannabis growers. \u201cIt is actually the most compliant market we\u2019ve seen in the state.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some residents said the stench has decreased in recent months as some growers installed systems aimed at reducing the smells. Others said the problem persists.<\/p>\n<p>The county passed rules in February requiring growers to submit odor abatement plans and designate a representative to handle complaints. They are expected to take effect in some county areas this year and in Carpinteria following a review by state coastal regulators.<\/p>\n<p>Californians voted to legalize marijuana in 2016, but counties and cities have a say on whether they allow cannabis production, distribution or sales.<\/p>\n<p>Even before the ballot measure, Santa Barbara County recognized a number of farmers were growing marijuana to supply the state\u2019s medical market. So officials started looking at establishing odor, security and other rules.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have a lot of people who are interested in being compliant and getting into the regulated market,\u201d Bozanich said. \u201cIf we can continue that kind of relationship where they\u2019re going to stay in the regulated market,\u201d it will be easier to target and eliminate black market growers, he said.<\/p>\n<p>All of the county\u2019s licenses are to grow medical marijuana, Bozanich said, though the state allows some crossover into the adult market.<\/p>\n<p>In Carpinteria, some residents worry property values will fall if the town keeps reeking of pot. They hope the smell will fade as more growers install odor control systems and those who don\u2019t are shut down.<\/p>\n<p>Toni Stuart, an 80-year-old retired Episcopal priest, said the odor doesn\u2019t creep into the area near the beach where she lives, but she worries about the community changing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would not like Carpinteria to be the \u2018cannabis capital\u2019 of Southern California. I like it the way it is. It\u2019s a very quiet, unpretentious beach town,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf people want to grow cannabis instead of flowers or avocados or macadamia nuts \u2014 I suppose that\u2019s their right. But they\u2019ve got to think about their neighbors.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>This picturesque coastal town cradled by mountains and sandy shores is a scene out of a Southern California postcard. Residents of Carpinteria say they feel lucky to live in what they consider a slice of paradise. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5062,45,52,201,116,7321,6970,7322,6813,499,77,5577,56,9,6833,5019,5236,1,3,61,1736],"tags":[5063,2628,2632,2779,2694,7324,6972,7325,6818,3073,2655,5580,2636,6835,5022,5238],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8265"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8265\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}