Calexico City Council votes to approve cannabis facility

Medical and recreational marijuana will be grown and distributed out of Calexico by the end of September.

Last week the city council approved for a cannabis facility to operate in Calexico.

The facility will manufacture, cultivate, and distribute marijuana but will not sell anywhere in Imperial County.

Officials said it could bring up to $700,000 in tax revenue to the city.

“It will have a certain economic boost that will give the city the added revenue that they desired to move forward to do things more for the community,” said Ben Horton, Calexico Economic Commissioner.

Trinity 341, the marijuana commercial company who will be growing and manufacturing the cannabis made sure the facility wouldn’t harm residents or the environment with their environmental impact report.

James Irwin, Founder, and CEO of Trinity 341 said, “So we didn’t need to do it. It did cost a lot of money and it did set us back a ways. But it’s something we thought was the right thing to do. “

While the city doesn’t allow the sale of marijuana, it could change in the future.

Calexico City Council Member Bill Hodge said, “There is a real possibility that later we will be able to have dispensaries and sell.”

If that does happen, one resident is concerned that more drugs on the street mean more law enforcement will be needed.

Joong Kim, former Mayor of Calexico said, “So we might collect more, but we have to spend money on enforcement if we want to conserve our community safety.”

But if the right steps are taken by the city, residents won’t have to worry about their safety.

“If it’s done right, and keenly overseen, and processed and run, we mitigate any criminal elements,” said Hodge.