To lift its drooping marijuana industry, Port Hueneme is making changes to the city’s cannabis program.
The City Council recently directed staff to implement six strategies aimed at helping local cannabis businesses stay competitive as dispensaries pop up throughout the county. The plan would lower fees and roll back some regulations.
The items will need to be brought back individually before the council for formal adoption.
“Some of these little changes will definitely help and are appreciated,” said Paula Brunelle, licensing director with Tradecraft Farms, a dispensary in Port Hueneme.
Port Hueneme was the first city in Ventura County to welcome recreational marijuana, with officials courting a fledgling industry that has since become relatively commonplace in the area. The city’s first medicinal marijuana dispensary opened in early 2018 and its first recreational shop opened later that year.
Tony Stewart, the city’s community development director, said at the Nov. 20 council meeting local cannabis businesses were prospering until about a year ago. Revenues have since been stagnant or falling.
The city has nine dispensaries, seven delivery-only services and one microbusiness.
A microbusiness participates in at least three types of cannabis activities, Brunelle said. Tradecraft is a microbusiness that conducts cannabis retail, cultivation and distribution, she said.
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