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Santa Clarita City Council OKs Temporary Marijuana Ban

In November, California voters approved Proposition 64, legalizing the sale, use and cultivation of recreational marijuana. The law allows for local governments to regulate cannabis in their jurisdiction, according to city officials.


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The City Council decided to pass a memorandum calling for temporary restrictions on marijuana during the Dec. 13 regular meeting, while they evaluate options for permanent regulation.

The memorandum noted “Marijuana cultivation is associated with illegal construction, haphazard and unsafe electrical wiring, electricity theft, fires, mold and fungus problems, diversion of public water, pollution of waterways and excessive water use.”

This “emergency ordinance” will ban the manufacturing, distribution and retail sale of recreational pot within city limits. Non-medical marijuana delivery services will also be prohibited.

The city already bans the manufacture and retail over-the-counter sale of medical marijuana. Medical marijuana delivery services currently operate within city limits.

Personal cultivation will be limited to six plants under Prop 64. The plants must be grown in a private residence with written consent from the property owner. The structure must be fully enclosed and secured against unauthorized entry. The personal grows also have to abide by health and safety regulations.

City officials learned Tuesday the law allows local jurisdictions to ban private outdoor marijuana cultivation, but not the complete ban private indoor cultivation of six marijuana plants or less, according to the city attorney.

“I was so very, very disappointed that the voters passed Proposition 64… the action being proposed here, is the best that we can do to protect this community,” said Councilmember Bob Kellar during the Dec. 13 meeting.

The ordinance will be in effect for 45 days from the City Council meeting Dec. 13. After providing notice and holding a public hearing, the council may extend it for 10 months and 15 days.

Proposition 64 allows individuals over the age of 21 to possess, use and cultivate recreational marijuana in certain amounts. An individual may possess up to 28.5 grams of non-concentrated marijuana or eight grams of marijuana in a concentrated form.

Federally, marijuana is still considered a Schedule I narcotic, making it illegal to possess on federal property; however, as an enforcement priority, the drug has been largely ignored by the Obama administration.

The Drug Enforcement Agency also recently declared certain extracts of marijuana, including CBD, Schedule I drugs. This new rule does not create any new substantive regulation or law regarding the legal status of marijuana or marijuana extract. Instead, it creates a new tracking code number for “Marihuana Extracts,” according to the DEA.

Under the proposition, the California Department of Consumer Affairs, Department of Food and
Agriculture, and Department of Public Health are responsible for issuing state licenses to
commercial recreational marijuana businesses.

Based on the latest information from the state, these agencies will not be ready to issue any state marijuana licenses until January 2018.

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Santa Clarita City Council OKs Temporary Marijuana Ban

37 comments

  1. Oh Bob. We see through your thinly veiled attempt to subvert the will of the voters of California, as usual.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO3x9oxFFE8&feature=player_embedded

    • I don’t believe your view, Mr. Jeffords, comprises the views off all the California voters, mine being one. Although Proposition 64 was passed, it certainly wasn’t passed with the blessings of every voter. I would be happy if it had never reached the voting platform. Having said all that, do you think Bob Kellar runs the council single handedly? And, like Prop 64, Mr. Kellar, too, was placed in office by the voters.

      • Yes, YOU may not have personally wanted prop 64 to pass, but the majority of Californians DID. So, yeah, Keller and the other incumbents (who we cannot get voted out of the council no matter how hard we try because so few SCV residents actually vote and of course the other policies and procedures the incumbents have approved throughout the years to make it difficult for them to be voted out), ARE attempting to subvert the will of the MAJORITY of voters.

      • The people of city of Santa Clarita have spoken and it is not up to old school council members…THANK GOD…..It will be legal to sell in Santa Clarita sooner than later….I do agree that we do not need one on every corner, ….Just hand pick a couple of retail locations and monitor it like alcohol…..easy enough….or is to much for the city to handle….A Mom and Pop store would be perfect…..clean, neat and first class…..Much better than buying from unlicensed drug dealers on the corner….If you want a better city, and the tax dollars, do it right the first time…
        Its time to grow up and realize that alcohol is much more addictive and harmful that weed….

    • Once more the smug, hypocritical, controlling, all-knowing, Santa Clarita Republicans subvert the rule of law and do what they damn well please. Prop. 64 PASSED by We The People whether YOU LIKE IT OR NOT.

  2. This is a sad. The people have spoken. The city should listen….. but it’s ok to have a brewery and wine bar almost every corner you turn…. but alcohol in your opinion is good ??????…… hummmmmmm

    • Currently there no viable method to measure a toxic level of impairment for marijuana. Too bad the voters of California didn’t understand this as fact. Both Colorado and Washington have seen a considerable increase in traffic injuries due to passing legalization laws.
      I’m not against legalization but am very much against impairment. Would you wish your child to be on the bus with the casual marijuana user who just smoked a joint of today’s high content product and got behind the wheel? I know you wouldn’t. Unfortunately he can without a single repercussion based on the current laws. He’s got THC in his bloodstream, so what? If he had alcohol beyond a set limit, he is held liable.

      Until we can provide an effective measure of impairment, for everyone, marijuana will never be a safe bet for our community. Who gives a rats backside whether it’s legal or not. Safety is a greater concern

      • Please provide evidence of your comment. I’ve been in both Washington and Oregon for the past 2 years and there’s been no major news on the uprising in weed related accidents and also, yes, scientifically you can measure THC.

        SCV is about money regulation and not safety. 28 years in SCV and they prefer safety hazards everywhere.

      • Then ban alcohol..there are far more danger associated with liquor

      • Grandma Pearl Snugglebug

        Oh, Jerry, you hit the nail on the head!!!! You are so right!! I mean, bus drivers?!?! They’re the worst! They think they are so high and mighty with their federal background checks, and Department of Homeland Security clearance, and all that special training… It’s like they are trying to ensure a dangerous, drug filled, murderous rampage like all those times before when all the bus drivers killed all the innocent people in the Great High Content Drug Product School Bus Battle of 1868.

        I didn’t know bus drivers weren’t held liable for killing kids when on pot, but are held liable for killing kids on booze. I really am glad I could find an expert like you on the internet!! 🙂 I really think we should impose Federal Department of Transportation random drug testing on these drugged up psychos as well as alcohol testing and impose a zero tolerance for positives!

        I mean, Jerry, if you weren’t able to shine such a bright light on how dangerous these pots are these days, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself!

        Do you think those new types of black magic called “technology” and “science” might be able to fix these problems with impairment testing? I know you have all the answers, Jerry, because you’re my hero!

  3. The people of Santa Clarita have not spoken. If put to a vote here in the city, it may be voted to be banned. Good job Bob Kellar. Stand up to B.S. like Trump !

    • LOL…I am pretty sure Keller voted for Trump.

    • Sheryl….I think you hit your head a few to many times on your wine bottle…..Get with the real world….Its happening with or without you and your sad opinion……Santa Clarita needs to stand up to the old habits of the city councils way of doing business…..Lets move forward and make Santa Clarita an example of how it should be done.

    • But you LIVE IN CALIFORNIA !!!! Santa Clarita is in California……. again, the people have spoken!!!

    • YOU are sadly you mitsken ……. there are far more people in Santa Clarita that voted for this Prop than you know . This will bring revenue to our city, and keep illegal sales out.

  4. For those not reading the article in detail, city ordinance does not take away the recreational use of marijuana, only mass production and sales. I am totally fine with that. I like it not easily being available to the kids. I don’t mind driving to SF if I need it for myself.
    However, on another note, if city is concerned about health, how about joining other progressive cities in banning smoking on all public properties.

    • I 100℅ agree with you, I’m not against smokers or anything but I like that the city of Santa Clarita won’t be having weed shops in every corner i don’t smoke but know people that do but if I did I wouldn’t mind driving to another city to purchase it.

  5. Ban marijuana while our kids snort crushed prescription drugs from your medicine cabinets, inhale glue, shoot heroin, while the parents need their alcohol before going to bed or right after a long day at work. Yes, we in Santa Clarita are saints. We are the conquerors of all that is bad. Go get them Bob. Kick out us bad voters who pass these new horrific laws. And let’s just keep our old drug habits.

    • You are so right Dr. Watanabe! You hit on the nail! There is definitely a drug problem here in Santa Clarita, bigger than most people even realize. And same goes for alcohol, insane!

  6. Excellent work by the city council. I hope they can make the ban permanent.

  7. Sam resident for over a decade

    You can try to ban marijuana but all that does is take revenue out of the city of Santa Clarita. You can go 20 minutes away and run into 10 marijuana shops. I think it’s hypocritical to think alcohol being sold in gas stations and grocery stores in Santa Clarita are some how the lesser drug to marijuana. Now I’d be ok with limiting the amount of weed shops but banning it all together is putting your head in the sand. Marijuana has been in Santa Clarita for decades. You can pretend it’s not and let other cities capitalize on the revenue or you can continue to have people buy from illegal dealers. So it’s here, has been for years, you want to make money off of it or let the dealers get all the green.

    • THANKS SAM….A man with a brain……Our city council would rather cut their own throats before giving in to progress….trying to stop shops from coming here will get their own children onto the streets to buy it anyway….Lets see….getting shot on a street corner or walk into a safe and legal store….THATS A TOUGH ONE…..

    • SAM….You have the right idea. Finally an intelligent answer…..It would be sad if your child was found shot in an alley trying to buy pot when they could have gone to a safe and legal store…..Not a hard decision to make is it.

  8. Bob, is this how we make America great again?

  9. We have a good city council here. They are making decisions with wisdom and care for our community. Bob Kellar is a good man and we are blessed to have him on the council. There are problems in every town. If you want to criticize someone in this, pick on those parents who are not raising responsible kids in relation to drugs. A city government can only go so far in protecting people from themselves.

    • They are overstepping their bounds. Santa Clarita is already wound tight enough. The fact that Marijuana is still considered a schedule 1 is Ludacris and needs to be taken off the list. The medical benefits far surpass the stigma around it. 90% of the soccer moms out here are pill poppers and half the kids are are getting into heroine let’s concentrate on some real problems. Not a plant that has the potential to save lives. With endless cures for so many different illnesses

  10. “I was so very, very disappointed that the voters passed Proposition 64… the action being proposed here, is the best that we can do to protect this community,” ~Bob Keller. Time to leave office Mr Keller if the majority of constituents “disappoint” you. The demographics of Santa Clarita are changing and you do not represent us.

  11. This is disgusting. Since the state wont even be ready to issue licenses for cultivation and sales of cannabis until 2018, this is just you showing what a waste of space they are. This protects nobody, deal with real issues.

  12. So people who have cancer have to drive to another city for relief. Having a family member who is suffering… I find your self centered audacity uncomprehendable. Ban scotch or bourbon or your noticeable alcohol use of choice banned as well.

  13. Adults should be able to freely grow, use and share Marijuana in private. But I’m against the sale of MJ except by pharmacies for medical purposes. I would feel the same way about selling alcohol or tobacco if they were as safe and easy to distill or grow. However, I do feel that alcoholic and tobacco companies should be much more heavily regulated, taxed, and prevented from monopolizing market shares. But that’s just me… I’ve never smoked weed.

    Cigar Dave 😉

  14. As someone who has worked with kids for the past 40+ years, the passing of Prop 64 will greatly affect these young people. Whether you believe it or not, we’ve just told them its cool to smoke it and trust me they will get their hands on it much easier than before. Not all, but many people who voted for the passing of the Prop were only looking at it for themselves. “The Me Generation” sometimes doesn’t consider that some of the things they do will influence the younger ones. Of course it does. Instead of checking your social media site take a few minutes to read the article in Philadelphia Magazine by Nick Vadala entitled, “Hey Mom and Dad, Thanks for All the Pot.” Responsibility is a huge and much bigger than you or me.

  15. What a joke. The State passes a law– the City says no. If the roles were reversed who wins? The fact is comparing alcohol to pot is a useless diatribe of political correctness. Pot does not kill anyone. Yet, Santa Clarita has taken the provocative step of banning what the people already want. This is a strange time to be alive where the majority and the people do not win, but are instead guided by archaic rules of politics. Its time to vote these dinosaurs out of office. This way the will of the people is actually followed. For nearly a hundred years Pot has been outlawed since there was no way to tax it. Its the same for making your own liquor in a bath tub. The fact is this is all about money. When Santa Clarita starts to lose its share of the pot pie, they will listen to the will of the voters and it will have nothing to do with the voters themselves.

  16. I don’t understand why they can’t pass an ordinance that says something like, “1 license to sell per every 50,000 residents” or something. Allow the city to collect some of the tax revenue while ensuring every other store in every strip mall isn’t a weed shop. *shrugs*

  17. This is way to long a comment. So is the amount of time our city council has spent blocking the will of the people of California…
    We are more than halfway through 2017. SCV city council needs to work towards implementing the will of the people of CA. Sort out licensing, regulate brick and mortar stores so that they operate with security, compliant with the same laws that allow every gas station to sell the most highly addictive drugs known to man by fortune 500 companies not consisting of opiates. Nicotine and alcohol. Our SCV Sheriff’s dept. when confronted with suspicion of DUI marijuana should have access to the Stanford researchers potential solution. Officers apply magnetic nanotechnology, previously used as a cancer screen, to create what could be the first practical roadside test for marijuana intoxication. Led by Shan Wang, a professor of materials science and engineering and of electrical engineering, the Stanford team created a mobile device that uses magnetic biosensors to detect tiny THC molecules in saliva. Officers could collect a spit sample with a cotton swab and read the results on a smartphone or laptop in as little as three minutes.

    Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2016-09-potalyzer-roadside-saliva-marijuana-intoxication.html#jCp

    Supervisors call their meeting to an end. Mr. Bob Kellar engages in some small talk. The council members all depart and head for home. Some will pour a glass of WINE. Others may stop at a BAR with a fellow committee member. Maybe another, who knows, may even have a MANHATTAN WHISKEY and smoke a CIGARETTE. There is one thing they will ALL have in common, as they relax at home with their loved ones, sitting down to watch the late news. They have PROTECTED our beloved SCV from the scourge of MARIJUANA (sarcasm). The second is they have successfully denied the majority of Californians that voted to make marijuana legal, first medical and now recreational, that live here in the SCV valley, the constitutional right to freedom, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Meanwhile hidden away in some of these members own mirrored medical cabinets in every bathroom and pantry are alcohol, tobacco, diazepam (valium), opiate pain medicine, extraordinarily strong anxiety medicines. Products so dangerous tobacco manufacturers, faced with solid science, had to print labels exclaiming their product MAY cause horrendous sickness and illness leading to death. Medicine so unpredictable that pharmaceutical manufacturers are REQUIRED, to protect them from LIABILITY, to place WARNINGS on the medicine that it may cause thoughts of SUICIDE! But these few members of the SCV city council have decided they know best for us, the residents of SCV. Part of the California population that was a percentage of the votes that legalized the weed! We the adults in SCV, who live in a state where the voters legalized marijuana, are to be denied a safe place to buy, sell and socialize with an intoxicant of our choosing. If I want to stop at a cafe to have a coffee and go outside for a smoke it is my RIGHT. It is also my responsibility to obey societies laws of acceptable behavior. Not to drive, endanger others, cause harm to innocents. EXACTLY how the majority of U.S. citizens operate EVERYDAY. Distribute the licenses to sell and collect the tax. Allow businessman cigar stores, liquor stores and marijuana stores. End the ‘Nanny’ council!!

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About Devon Miller

Devon Miller was born and raised in Santa Clarita. He joined KHTS Radio as a digital marketing intern in September of 2017, and later moved to news as a staff writer in December. Miller attended College of the Canyons and served as the Associated Student Government President. Miller is now News Director for KHTS, covering breaking news and politics across the Santa Clarita Valley.