Gardens will bloom

The “soft opening” for local 2018 elections has given voters a look at pols and prospects that may be on the ballot this November, for ours as well as county level elected office, and heard their views on cannabis sales in Benicia. Some are supportive of regulated cannabis activity, others are still not convinced regulated is far better than unregulated.
It is important to reaffirm to the community that regulated activity is endorsed by the League of California Cities, the California Police Chiefs Association and the California Medical Association. Still, some with a possible eye toward being a winner this year continue to rail against regulation, often citing “too fast” after nearly a year of discussions and outreach, or that the feds might raid Benicia, and the often repeated warnings of greater availability to youth that cannot buy it legally anyway. Most of us don’t get that. A Benicia Youth Action Coalition sponsored study indicated cannabis was “sold openly” on the campuses of Benicia and Liberty high dchools, so regulated points of sale appear irrelevant. As one of our elected officials expressed during public hearings, specifically responding to a speaker’s comments that local sales will lead to greater youth access, cannabis will be growing all over the city, a right now guaranteed by law in our state.
Adults 21 and older can grow up to six cannabis plants at their residence, in some cases contingent on landlord approval. City officials are crafting rules for outdoor-only grows, a wise move that will eliminate potential hazards of jury-rigged lights, fans and apparatus used for indoor growing. This is not to say that nobody in our town will still grow indoors, or for that matter grow more than six plants, but the aroma of ripening cannabis flowers will become commonplace all over our little town in the summer and fall. Be assured that the aroma of ripening flower does not indicate the presence of the psychoactive component of cannabis. The molecules responsible for the aroma and taste of different varieties begin to evaporate at room temperature, while the molecules responsible for the psychoactive response require a temperature in excess of 300 degrees. Your neighbors are entitled to grow cannabis in their yards and smoke it in their homes if they so choose, so you may smell the smoke once in a while. I have long been an advocate of smokeless consumption, but some aficionados prefer the ritual of smoking the flowers.
I am looking forward to thousands of Victory Gardens growing all over Benicia beginning this spring. I will provide guidance for an all-organic cannabis garden, complete with a lady bug colony for pest control, in the future.

Stan Golovich,
Benicia

Sharing is caring!