WATSONVILLE — The Watsonville City Council overturned its previous decision Tuesday and allowed the city’s existing medical marijuana facilities to cultivate and manufacture the product for recreational use.
The council voted 6-1, with Councilwoman Rebecca Garcia dissenting.
In December 2016, the council prohibited the sale and manufacturing of recreational marijuana in the city by passing an emergency ordinance, meant to allow city staff time to come up with regulations.
Community Development Director Suzi Merriam said the move will allow the existing licensed medical facilities to compete for business throughout the state.
As it became legal to purchase marijuana for recreational use in California on Jan. 1, she added that the medical market will be shrinking as the adult-use market grows.
While dispensaries are still prohibited in Watsonville, it is unknown when, or if, the council will consider them.
Watsonville currently has six marijuana facilities permitted, yet only one of them is fully up and running, according to Merriam. Electrical upgrades are one of the major holdups, she said, as Pacific Gas & Electric is behind schedule due to the fires across the state.
Pat Malo, co-founder of Green Trade Santa Cruz, urged the council to remove the term “medical” from the city’s ordinance to allow for Watsonville’s existing facilities to survive.
“This is about being able to give the businesses you invested in the ability to do what they need to do to stay in business and make money,” he said.
After Councilman Felipe Hernandez made a motion to support the proposal, Garcia cited studies in Denver that show an increase in DUI crimes and hospital visits, among other things, since recreational marijuana became legal in Colorado.
She said she was willing to support the motion if it was amended to add that if dispensaries come to the council in the future, they be only for medical use.
Hernandez rejected the amendment.
“I don’t think that would be economically feasible for a business,” he said.
