Marijuana boom was no boon for SLO County’s California Valley
The Tribune’s Nov. 12 article by Matt Fountain entitled “How the marijuana boom has changed the landscape of California Valley” painted a pretty accurate picture of the mayhem the gold rush of cannabis grows has caused in California Valley.
It’s true, we had growers from all over the country and many from the Central Valley. The odd thing is it all appears to be orchestrated. Millions of dollars left San Luis Obispo County this year, yet the county did not get one dollar of that money other than a few dollars in fines for code violations, but it spent many thousands of taxpayer dollars on law and code enforcement.
The current urgency ordinance is a joke, having been gutted of any real regulatory authority or enforcement.
As far as having a “positive effect on the community (of California Valley) by stimulating the local economy,” that didn’t happen. What the community did receive was damaged roads, a stressed water basin, a lot of garbage, trashed cars left behind and the prospects of another growing season on the horizon.
Patrick McGibney, California Valley
This story was originally published December 8, 2016 at 8:34 PM with the headline "Marijuana boom was no boon for SLO County’s California Valley."