Election 2020 results: Greenhouse cannabis measure headed for victory

Voters were passing a measure to allow commercial production of marijuana in greenhouses in unincorporated areas of Ventura County, the latest returns posted Thursday show. 

With all precincts reporting, 57% voted in favor with 193,405 votes counted while 43% were opposed with 145,952 votes. 

"It looks good," campaign spokesman Jared Ficker said late Tuesday after the first results came in for the initiative called Measure O. "We're cautiously optimistic."

Cannabis measures were also passing in other areas of the nation. Voters in Arizona, New Jersey, South Dakota and Montana legalized adult recreational use of marijuana, USA Today reported. South Dakota and Mississippi passed initiatives to allow medical marijuana, the newspaper said.

California voters legalized medical use of marijuana in 1996 and adult recreational use in 2016, but the Ventura County Board of Supervisors has not allowed businesses to grow the crop commercially in the unincorporated areas. The board has no choice now under the constraints of the measure. 

The initiative allows the commercial cultivation, processing and distribution of cannabis in agricultural and certain industrial areas. Sales could be made between licensed distributors but no retail sales would be permitted to the general public in the unincorporated areas.  

Glass Investments Projects, Inc., sponsored the measure as a business venture and provided almost all the money to finance the campaign. The Camarillo company plans to incorporate its patented climate-control technology in the greenhouses that will grow the crop.

The initiative allows up to 500 acres of cultivation of cannabis in existing greenhouses and 100 acres in nurseries in certain unincorporated areas.

More:County treasurer's concerns on cannabis initiative axed, but sheriff's added to study

A study by an Orange County consultant estimates that only 220 acres or a third of that 600 acres would materialize because of the restrictions in the measure and existing land use.

A consultant's study found no significant effects on crime, housing, employment and infrastructure. The study, though, cautioned that even though the initiative requires growers to prepare an odor prevention plan using the best available technology, there is no requirement that smells be eliminated.

Treasurer-Tax Collector Steven Hintz has stated that he is unwilling to collect tax revenues from the production of cannabis because he feared it could expose the county's assets to federal criminal penalties. But Hintz's remarks were stricken from the study based on the advice of then-county counsel Leroy Smith, who considered Hintz's comments speculative.

Gross receipts from cannabis production could exceed $70 million annually, estimates show. The businesses would be charged taxes that could bring $2.92 million to the Ventura County government each year, the study estimated.

To read results from other races in Ventura County, visit vcstar.com/elections.

Kathleen Wilson covers the Ventura County government, including the county health system, politics and social services. Reach her at kathleen.wilson@vcstar.com or 805-437-0271.