County Cannabis Compliance Continues Community Outreach with March 4 Virtual Event
Executive Director of The Cannabis Alliance, Diana Gamzon, spoke out in support of the 2021 Board of Supervisor’s priorities at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting where the 2021 Objectives were unanimously approved. The comments, presented in full below, reflect supporting cannabis as a board priority and the continued collaboration between local business and county staff working to build a safe and sustainable cannabis economy for Nevada County. “This is an ongoing effort and we can’t be successful without good communication and commitment to a complex process. We appreciate The Alliance for taking the time to comment and encouraging others to do the same. Every year, we build upon the work of the previous year and look forward to more in 2021,” says Nevada County Director of Cannabis Compliance, Craig Griesbach.
Even with the challenges of coronavirus, county staff continues to work with the community to learn about ideas to improve this evolving industry. On March 4 from 5:00-6:00PM County Staff will partner with Yubanet.com to host a virtual event to discuss a Cannabis Equity Program. Guests are invited to consider questions regarding specific ways to help more to become permitted and help with business sustainability. Participants can register at: https://bit.ly/GTGEquity. Questions and comments may be submitted prior to the meeting to townhall@yubanet.com. There is also an opportunity to share feedback on the Equity Program via a confidential survey: http://bit.ly/GTGEquitySurvey.
Public Statement by Cannabis Alliance ED, Diana Gamzon (edited for context & clarity):
Nevada County Cannabis Alliance is a trade association representing over 300 cannabis farmers, businesses and supporters. Over 90% of all licensed businesses in the county are members of the Alliance. The mission of the organization is to provide education, advocacy and opportunities for connection to support a thriving local cannabis industry. As an organization our values are steeped in economic development, environmental stewardship and craft cannabis cultivation and production.
On behalf of the Alliance Board of Directors and members, we support for the proposed cannabis priority which shows a commitment to continue to improve the permit process and enforcement program while exploring the next steps for licensing.
When the cannabis ordinance was adopted in May 2019, it was with the understanding that we would take a start-small approach and continue to build to the ordinance overtime in small bites. As proposed, the board priority allows staff to do just that by investigating additional incense types to add to our cannabis ecosystem. The highly regulated cannabis industry is constantly evolving and the market will be a very different place in 2 years from today. In 2023, the state will allow for unlimited acreage of cultivation. Counties such as Lake and Santa Barbara are already permitting farms as large as 80 acres. We must be proactive to consider how we can develop policy that will continue to support a craft industry.
We support the adoption of the cannabis board priorities and commend staff for presenting a 2021 objective that is based on data and allows time to explore what license types make sense for our community. We believe the cannabis goal directly correlates to the proposed economic development goal
