Los Angeles County has long been home to illegal cannabis endeavors, and now the Board of Supervisors has approved the introduction of an ordinance that could charge illegal cannabis operations tens of thousands of dollars per day.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday to introduce an ordinance to start fining illegal cannabis businesses. Any cultivation or dispensaries operating without a permit in unincorporated areas of the county could soon be charged $30,000 every day. Although the introduction was approved, the ordinance still needs to be voted on by the Board for formal adoption.

The official motion text describes the “nuisance abatement ordinance” that could be approved in a future meeting. “The unpermitted commercial cannabis activities including illegal cannabis cultivation are incredibly profitable and in particular, cannabis cultivation has continued to proliferate due to the ease of establishment in more remote and rural locations,” the motion reads. “Therefore, the penalties contained within the draft ordinance should, consistent with State law, be adjusted and increased to ensure that they act as a deterrent to the continued operation of illegal commercial cannabis operations.”

The motion was written by Supervisors Kathryn Barger and Sheila Kuehl. “The County Code currently prohibits all commercial cannabis activity within the County’s unincorporated areas, including the establishment, maintenance, and operation of any commercial cannabis business activity, and the renting or leasing of, or allowing property to be used for that purpose in all zones,” the motion states. “However, the County continues to be inundated with unpermitted cannabis dispensaries in the unincorporated areas. Despite the efforts of numerous County departments, the growth of unpermitted cannabis dispensaries continues to outpace enforcement.”

Barger presented the motion with the hope that it could help cull illegal cannabis operations, noting that water supplies that contain chemicals pose both a threat to public safety, among other concerns. She states that even though the county’s work against illegal cannabis is steadfast, a lack of “legally enforceable options” puts the efforts at a disadvantage.

In a press release, Barger summarized how these illegal cannabis businesses are harming the county. “Unpermitted commercial cannabis cultivation is profitable and has thrived in the rural Antelope Valley because of how easy it is to stand up operations. Communities in the desert continue to report illegal large scale cannabis grows that have been accompanied by water theft, trespassing, trash and the use of dangerous pesticides and fertilizers, putting residents’ health and safety at risk.”

Supervisor Sheila Kuehl also agreed that something needs to be done. “California voters legalized recreational cannabis in order to create a system that assured consumers of product safety while prohibiting cannabis access to minors,” said Kuehl, “but illegal cannabis operations continue to  undermine the will of the people. This motion puts teeth in enforcement and ensures that unpermitted dispensaries face stiff penalties in the future.”

Supervisor Janice Hahn confirmed that strengthening and protecting the region’s legal cannabis businesses is also a way to tackle the illegal businesses head-on.

“I do know that providing a legal pathway for people to grow, produce, sell cannabis can help in some way to tackle the illegal market,” Hahn shared. “Hopefully, we’re going to be voting soon on the idea of legally providing options for cannabis businesses in unincorporated county [areas].” A news release on Barger’s website confirms that a study is being conducted to determine recommendations for legal cannabis businesses, such as retail, manufacturing, distribution and more.

In October 2021, Los Angeles County set aside $5 million to fund the effort to combat illegal cannabis in Antelope Valley. A press release states that $2.4 million will go to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and $1.2 million toward the department’s Marijuana Eradication Team, while $503,000 will go toward Lancaster Sheriff Station overtime patrols and $707,000 will be used to buy trucks that can traverse tough terrain in these investigations.

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A bill proposed by a bipartisan pair of Wisconsin lawmakers could result in a spike in fines for marijuana possession in some of the state’s most populous and diverse cities.

The legislation seeks to “set fines statewide to no less than $100 for possessing 14 grams or less of marijuana and no more than $250,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported, which would require “many communities like Green Bay to lower minimum fines for the misdemeanor.”

That could carry significant implications on communities such as Milwaukee, by far the largest city in Wisconsin as well as its most diverse, where, as the Journal Sentinel noted, “fines for marijuana possession of 28 grams or less are currently $1.” 

The proposed bill “would increase fines for having 14 grams or less to $100 but allow county officials to keep fines $1 for convictions for more than 14 grams,” the Journal Sentinel reported.

“Under current law, a person convicted of possessing marijuana may face up to $1,000 in fines and up to six months in prison on the first offense,” the newspaper said. “On subsequent offenses, the crime becomes a felony.”

Unlike in neighboring Great Lakes states Illinois and Michigan, recreational pot use remains illegal in Wisconsin. For years, Badger State lawmakers have proposed variations of legalization bills, all of which have gone up in smoke. There are signs, however, that change could be on the horizon.

Wisconsin Proposes Legal Cannabis

Earlier this year, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, a Democrat, announced that his budget proposal for the years 2021 to 2023 seeks to “[regulate and tax] marijuana much like we do alcohol.”

“States across the country have moved forward with legalization, and there’s no reason Wisconsin should be left behind,” Evers said in a statement at the time, adding that regulating and taxing pot like alcohol “ensures a controlled market and safe product are available for both recreational and medicinal users and can open the door for countless opportunities for us to reinvest in our communities and create a more equitable state.”

For now, legalization advocates in Wisconsin will have to grapple with the bill aimed at standardizing marijuana fines throughout the state.

The legislation was proposed by state House Representative Sylvia Ortiz-Velez, a Democrat, and state House Representative Shae Sortwell, a Republican, who detailed the bill at a news conference on Tuesday at the statehouse in Madison.

“Part of the problem is people in Milwaukee, if they leave the county and they’re in another county… they don’t really know that the rule only applies to this county,” said Ortez-Velez, who represents Milwaukee, as quoted by the Journal Sentinel. “When people are confused about how the laws apply, within patchworks, that makes it harder.”

But some of Ortiz-Velez’s Democratic colleagues in the legislature are not on board with the proposal.

State Senator Melissa Agard, a Democrat, said it is “important as legislators that we honor the work that is being done at a local level… to address cannabis policy in the best way they can given our state’s laws,” and that she is “concerned there are provisions in this bill that would undo some of that work.”

Agard represents Madison, the second-largest city in the state and the home to Wisconsin’s flagship university, where “there is no fine for possessing up to 28 grams of marijuana on private or public property with permission,” according to the Journal Sentinel.

Another lawmaker from Madison, Democratic state Senator Kelda Roys, echoed Agard’s concerns.

“For communities like Madison and Milwaukee, which are very diverse communities that have large populations of people of color who are disproportionately targeted by the criminal justice system, this would be worse,” Roys said, as quoted by the newspaper.

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