By Patric Hedlund with Jill Neptune Turner, TME

Kern County’s marijuana measure mash-up on election day left some a bit stunned.
“We are really surprised,” said Lisa Walter of the Mountain Communities Coalition Against Substance Abuse. Measure K, Measure J and Measure O were all placed on the ballot to try to get Kern County voters to figure out what to do locally about California’s legalization of recreational and medical marijuana use in the state. All three proposals failed to pass.

“In the city of Arvin, Measure M passed. I read that they hope to make almost $300,000 a year on taxes,” Walter explained.

New Senior Deputy James Money (newly transferred to the Kern County Sheriff’s Frazier Park substation) provided more information about marijuana dispensaries in Kern County: “At this time, there is no legal or permitted [commercial] marijuana inside the county of Kern in the unincorporated areas, with the exception of Arvin.

“These [dispensaries] are now operating illegally. There are some that were (at least for some time) operating legally. Those folks have been given time to recuperate their investments from their legal business, which has now been made illegal,The most recent news is that [the county is] going to give them about six months. ” Money said….  To see full stories with photos, please purchase a copy of the newspaper at many locations (click this link for a list) throughout the Mountain Communities.

This is part of the November 30, 2018 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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