Articles Tagged With ‘Cannabis’




Santa Maria man charged with selling black market cannabis

By KAREN VELIE Santa Barbara County sheriff deputies arrested a Santa Maria man on Thursday while also seizing nearly 100 pounds of black market cannabis flower from a home on S. Smith Street. During the early morning raid, detectives seized... (Continue reading)

SLO County votes to allow marijuana retail shops

By KAREN VELIE San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 on Tuesday to move forward with permitting marijuana retail shops in county areas as a way to recharge the county’s failing cannabis industry, with supervisors Debbie Arnold and... (Continue reading)

SLO County’s cannabis program more than $1 million in the red

By KAREN VELIE San Luis Obispo County tax payers will pay more than $1 million during the current fiscal year to fund the county’s failing cannabis industry, according to the Sept. 27 Board of Supervisors agenda. During the 2022-2023 fiscal... (Continue reading)

Collapse of Goleta-based cannabis business shows need for reform

OPINION by HIRSH JAIN The recent collapse of HERBL is a warning signal to state policymakers about how urgently reform is needed to prevent a collapse in the California cannabis market. HERBL is a leading California cannabis distributor based in... (Continue reading)

Goleta based cannabis distributor in receivership, auction in August

By KAREN VELIE Goleta based Herbl was once the largest pot distribution company in California, though now it is in receivership with its assets set to be auctioned on Aug. 28. [Pacific Coast Business Times] With a staff of over... (Continue reading)

San Luis Obispo seeking applicants for third retail cannabis store

By KAREN VELIE Amid what some are calling a bust in the cannabis market, San Luis Obispo is seeking applications for a third pot shop, cultivation facilities, manufacturing, testing and delivery services. The city will accept applications through Aug. 15.... (Continue reading)

Lawsuit accuses Central Coast retailer of trafficking cannabis

By KAREN VELIE After years of whispered allegations, a recently filed lawsuit accuses the owner of five cannabis retail stores in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties of being the largest, or one of the largest, black marketeers of... (Continue reading)

Paso Robles man guilty of trafficking cannabis, gets probation

By KAREN VELIE A Paso Robles man on Thursday pleaded guilty to trafficking black market cannabis on Interstate 44 in Missouri and received five years supervised probation. Silvestre Avila Villanueva, 31, pleaded guilty to delivery of a controlled substance in... (Continue reading)

Grover Beach cannabis shop closes, industry in crisis

By KAREN VELIE A Grover Beach cannabis shop that opened in 2018, 805 Beach Breaks, is now closed. It was the first pot shop in San Luis Obispo County and it’s the first to shut its doors. Trulieve, a Florida-based... (Continue reading)

San Luis Obispo changes pot shop rules

By KAREN VELIE In an apparent attempt to curtail marijuana mogul Helios Dayspring’s involvement in the cannabis industry, San Luis Obispo recently tweaked its rules for pot shop applicants. During the city’s previous pot shop application process, applicants were required... (Continue reading)