Oakland Approves Pot Factories
Oakland, California approved a measure to create four marijuana factories that could initially only sell to medical cannabis dispensaries but would put town at the vanguard of pot production should the state legalize marijuana in November. The measure still faces a second, final vote. If passed Oakland could be “the first city inside the nation to license wholesale pot cultivation.”
Smaller growers are angry in regards to the decision, as the pot factories would chop into profits. However, the measure’s sponsors have stated that regulations can be passed to “qualify small and midsized growers for city permits.” Nonetheless, the factories would largely replace other grow ops. Midsized growers feel betrayed by the chance of being cut out of the pot trade after years of risking federal prosecution to produce city dispensaries.
One potential industrial pot grower, AgraMed, envisions turning empty buildings into factories the scale of two football fields. The business estimates producing 58 pounds of pot a day. Most engaging for town, AgraMed expects to create 371 jobs and drop $1.5 million in taxes a year into the town’s coffers.
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