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SoCal pot growers sued over smell

'We've been breathing this brew of chemicals,' plaintiff tells TV station

Farm Press Staff

March 2, 2020

1 Min Read
Cannabis plant
A cannabis plant is displayed.Tim Hearden

Residents in Carpinteria, Calif, are suing a handful of area cannabis growers, claiming the smell of marijuana permeates the community and that chemicals used to mitigate the odor are causing eye irritation and breathing problems for those nearby, a local television station is reporting.

The class action was filed Thursday morning by a Santa Barbara attorney, KEYT-TV reports.

“We’ve been breathing this brew of chemicals for the last two and a half years,” Greg Gandrud, one of the plaintiffs, told the ABC affiliate. “Burning eyes, a lot of respiratory issues. My spouse has asthma that’s been made much, much worse. Sore throats, headaches, coughing. I have difficulty breathing, sometimes.”

The complaint asks growers to seal their greenhouses and use "carbon-based filtration methods," according to KEYT. Some of the plaintiffs have windows less than 100 feet away from the greenhouses, which used to be used for flowers before marijuana was legalized by California voters in 2016, the station noted.

Gandrud told KEYT his house has been on the market for two years but he's been unable to find a buyer.

A representative of the growers told the station they had yet to be served with the suit as of late last week and declined to comment further.

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