Since its legalization on November 8th, 2016, cannabis has turned Carpinteria, the former “flower basket of California” into a cannabis hotspot, and locals are trying to regulate the uncharted territory.
The heart of the issue is odor. While property value, image, and legal implications are also concerns, its odors impact on quality of life that community members are primarily concerned about. Among the activist groups in Santa Barbara County are the Coalition for Responsible Cannabis, a Santa Barbara-based organization whose mission is to “encourage cooperative and neighbor-friendly cannabis businesses”, and Concerned Carpinterians, a neighborhood group in Carpinteria whose objective is to “unify to save our air quality, property values, community charm and safety.”
Sandi Pierce, a member of Concerned Carpinterians, got involved with the issue after frustration with the cannabis odor on Cate’s campus. She said that early on in her investigation into the issue, “it became evident that the ability to shut them down, that was not gonna be a reality”. The group instead pivoted and she that their goal became, “to find a pathway that they operate and they don't impact those who are around them.”
Speaking to representatives from both groups, the consensus was that the cannabis industry was here to stay, so rather than elimination, their goal was to ensure that there were regulations. The vice President of the Board of the Coalition for Responsible Cannabis, Jules Nau, echoed this sentiment saying, “Let's be good neighbors, let's be responsible growers and not impact the community and your neighbors”.
Mature cannabis plants release odors called terpenes, which many equate to a skunk-like odor. Sandi Pierce said on the Cate campus, “You couldn't walk outside of a building without being struck by it ''. The cause of her discomfort is likely wafting up from Valley Crest Farms which sits just below the mesa at 5980 Casitas Pass Road.
After over 3,000 odor reports filed in Carpinteria by 2018, all but two farms in Carpinteria Valley farms banded together in an effort to work with the community, calling themselves the Cannabis Association for Responsible Producers Growers (CARP Growers). Peter Dugre, a consultant for the group since its inception, said, “There was a need for better, clearer communication between concerned members of the community and the cannabis industry”. When cannabis was legalized in 2016, 35% of the voters in California still believed that all the farmers should be in jail for growing a product that used to come with a prison sentence. This sentiment was “a steep hill to climb” says Dugre.
In interviews, the opposing groups still had contradictory thoughts on the issue of odor. Anna Carrillo claims that, “All we knew is that people were getting sick from and, and unpleasant odors” while Peter Dugre says, “I think that we know from being the people on the farms every day swimming in plants, that there's no effect of a cannabis plant odor on health.” These fundamentally differing views can make issues hard to reconcile.
In August of 2021, the two groups reached an agreement with the Coalition for Responsible Cannabis to, “continuously employ the best available control technology” regarding odor control in exchange for the Coalition to stop blocking their permitting.
Problems ensued because the “best available technology” was ambiguous, and many farms opted for the cheaper method of odor control: vapor-phase systems. These systems spray solutions in the air around the property to reduce odor. The problem with this technology is that it often creates a new odor around the farms, which is not the solution that the Coalition was hoping for. Jules Nau, speaking for the Coalition, said, “We don't believe in spraying things in the air to mask the odor… This is a product that's used to cover the odor of landfills in non-urban environments”.
The other option is carbon scrubbers that remove the odor from the air before it escapes the greenhouse. Nau says that the Coalition is, “focused on the technology that's behind carbon scrubbers because they are proven”. Anna Carillo of Concerned Carpinterians agreed, citing a study conducted by SCS Engineers at a farm at 3684 Via Real, Carpinteria.
The study concluded that the scrubbers had an efficiency of approximately 95% on average and reduced the emissions of odor-causing compounds. In contrast, the vapor phase systems only treat emissions once they have left the greenhouse.
According to Mr. Dugre, the farmers believe that “if there is an odor issue, correcting it is the goal” and the best abatement technology is “case by case depending on the environment”. He clearly distinguishes between rural and urban set farms, saying that the odor solutions will not be the same for both.
The County Board of Supervisors still accepts the vapor phase systems as the “best available technology”, not requiring the greenhouses to adopt the newer carbon scrubbers.
So while the greenhouses are technically compliant with the legislation, the activist groups are continuing to push for higher regulations.
Aside from odor, another hot topic in the industry is income. One of the primary arguments for the legalization of cannabis back in 2016 was the money to be made in taxation. However, it is the already stiff taxes on marijuana that allow for a strong market for illegal cannabis. 2 out of 3 cannabis purchases in California are on the illicit market which undermines the tax revenue of the legal industry. Cannabis is the only crop where the tax rate is based on sales. With shrinking sales over the last few years, the tax income has also shrunk, falling short of project values.
Despite the high taxes causing the illegal market to thrive, the Coalition for Responsible Cannabis continues to push for higher taxation. Nau emphasized, “I'm clearly stating that the taxes are not enough, the taxation is not enough”. It is yet to be seen if the industry can weather competition from the illegal market and opposition from the community.
While regulatory issues persist over odor abatement technology and permitting, Dugre explains that “it's not the same environment of controversy that it was in 2018 when we set up”. Cannabis is becoming integral to Carpinteria, and the opposition is beginning to understand that. This sentiment is reflected by Anna Carillo, one of the strongest voices for regulations, who says, “We need the agriculture, we want the agriculture, just without the odor”.
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