Oakland's City Council passed a resolution late Tuesday night, which could make it the first city in the state to give official permission to the industrial marijuana production. The move is considered groundbreaking as it will ensure commercialization of a crop that is mainly cultivated in hidden gardens. "This is a monumental step forward," said Dale Gieringer, an Oakland resident and the longtime head of California NORML, which backs the legalization of marijuana. "It really means moving into the era of industrial-scale operations, and Oakland means to do it big."
According to reports, the state would give licence to four potentially enormous pot factories. These factors will be operated under close city supervision. The move has certainly added pressure on the government to commercialize pot cultivation. Experts say that move shows an effective measure to control marijuana cultivation. Berkeley, Oakland's neighbor, is the only other California city to take similar initiative. Berkeley has called upon the city residents to approve as many as six industrial operations.
Oakland has been taking a cutting-edge approach on pot cultivation issue for a long time and it’s being speculation that the new resolution will have the strongest impact. The city's own attorney advised in a confidential memo that the move was not legitimate as per the state law. He also highlighted that federal drug agents have continued to bust growers in spite of Obama’s hands-off policy on medical marijuana
Prior to the monumental 5-2 vote, a testy debate of almost two hours took place between the pot growers who said that the move would dent their livelihood and possible marijuana businessmen who argued that the move will transform the city into the Oakland into the Silicon Valley of weed.
