An ordinance approved by the city council will allow large-scale marijuana farms in industrial areas of Oakland, Calif., a city council member said.
Larry Reid, who co-sponsored the ordinance, said it calls for the licensing of four large farms to supply the city's four dispensaries with medical
marijuana, the Oakland Tribune reported Wednesday.
The plan was approved despite the objections of small growers who complained the large farms would put them out of business and flood the market with
inexpensive and fast-growing strains of diminished quality.
"Mega-growers will go for big, fast, cheap, so maybe it's not the best strain for people and their particular illness," said Terryn Buxton, a
small-scale patient-farmer.
Reid said small growers or collectives can band together to apply for one of the four cultivation permits.
The city said it won't enforce the new ordinance until the cultivation permits are issued in January.