San Diego Missing Out On Cannabis Tax Revenues And More Local News

December 16, 2019 at 2:45 AM PST

Speaker 1: 00:00 Speaker 2: 00:17 Speaker 1: 00:24 Speaker 2: 00:26 Speaker 3: 00:33 Speaker 4: 01:15 Speaker 3: 01:24 Speaker 5: 01:44 Speaker 1: 01:59 Speaker 5: 02:05 Speaker 1: 02:10 Speaker 5: 02:20 Speaker 3: 02:33 Speaker 5: 02:51 Speaker 6: 03:00 Speaker 3: 03:43 Speaker 6: 05:09 Speaker 7: 05:49 Speaker 6: 06:04 Speaker 2: 06:36 Speaker 6: 06:39 Speaker 2: 06:59 Speaker 6: 07:07 Speaker 2: 07:29 Speaker 6: 07:45 Speaker 2: 08:05 Speaker 6: 08:21 Speaker 7: 08:31 Speaker 6: 08:39 Speaker 7: 08:52 Speaker 3: 09:02 It's Monday, December 16th I'm Deb Welsh and you're listening to San Diego news matters from KPBS coming up. What the new U S MCA trade agreement means for San Diego and California's cannabis taxes are starting to fund programs to treat addiction. It's very prudent for our local governments to take out the moral judgment of whether or not cannabis is right or wrong. That more coming up right after the [inaudible], right. The new United States Mexico Canada trade agreement called the U S MCA includes $300 million to help combat Tijuana sewage spills. KPBS as Sarah [inaudible] says, if approved by Congress, the U S MCA would replace the North American free trade agreement, Democrats and president Trump agreed to the U S MCA trade agreement last week. The $300 million set aside for sewage spells would be paid out over four years. This is a victory for the San Diego area where raw sewage regularly flows across the border from the Tijuana river San Diego. Congressman Scott Peters told KPBS mid day addition. There is still work to be done to make sure that the money gets to the right places, but it's a huge win. It's still more of an opportunity than a result. But what a big step forward it is for all of us who are concerned about the conditions, uh, uh, on the border. To hear the complete interview, go to kpbs.org and listen to the mid day edition podcast. Sarah Gaziantep KPBS news. A group of activists rallied in San Diego Sunday afternoon to support the pending impeachment of president Donald Trump. KPBS reporter Steve Walsh says it was one of many rallies being staged around the country, a collection of groups including indivisible rally outside the County building in waterfront park, calling on president Trump to step down. People watching were three sisters from San Diego, including Diane Mar and he's a criminal. He has definitely broken the law with the Ukraine, but he's done other things too. Her sister Kathy Meyer was asked if the gravity of impeachment was getting through. Well. Everybody needs to think and and be active and and go out and support the constitution in our country and don't let criminals take over. The democratically controlled us house is widely expected to vote this week to impeach Trump, but it's highly unlikely that the Republican controlled Senate will vote to remove him from office. Steve Walsh KPBS news, a 35 year old Salvadoran man who was sent back to Mexico after seeking asylum in the U S was murdered in Tijuana. KPBS reporter max Rulon Adler says, this is what critics of the Trump administration's remain in Mexico program have been warning about. The 35 year old had applied for asylum in September with his wife and two children. They were sent back to Mexico under the controversial remain in Mexico, which makes asylum seekers wait in Mexico while their claims are processed. In mid November, the father went out to work and never came home. His wife identified his mutilated body. Two days later, Richard Sturger is the immigration attorney for his wife and children. These people came and they, they asked us to be safe and we told them you will be safe in Tijuana while you await the U S government has argued that the migrants are being protected by the Mexican government. They're remain in Mexico. Program is currently being challenged in court. The ninth circuit is set to rule on its legality in California and New Mexico in the coming weeks. The family has since been allowed to continue their asylum case from inside the U S max Riverland, Adler, K PBS news. Millions rely on California's complex system of highways, freeways and rail lines. Capitol public radio is Ezra David Romero reports climate change is already threatening them. Caltrans recently moved three miles of prime beach views from highway one inland near st Louis Obispo. Waves were slowly swallowing the highway. Sea level rise, more extreme fires. Drought and flooding are all in the cards for California when it comes to climate change across the state. We're already working on projects, but we're more in a reactive phase. Caltrans is Lindsey Hart says the agency is completing 12 climate change vulnerability assessments with help from scientists around the state. What this is looking at is in the longterm where are we going to see additional impacts and where is it going to hit hardest and where is it going to hit first? Caltrans wants to alert each part of the state of where to begin by addressing immediate threats from climate change. A second round of what to do type reports could come out as early as next year in Sacramento. I'm Ezra David Romero. Two years ago, California legalized the purchase and sale of recreational marijuana. Since then, the state has collected hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes from the cannabis industry as part of our series, high hopes California's pot experiment. KPBS Metro reporter Andrew Vaughn examines where the money goes and why San Diego gets less than other big cities. So how are you feeling? I am doing well today. Thanks so much for coming. David Mancala is meeting with a counselor at family health centers of San Diego. He's in their intensive outpatient program for drug addicts. Do you currently have a sponsor? Yes. How did you meet him or her? A few years ago, Mancado was a homeless meth user who frequently got arrested. Things changed when someone from family health centers visited him in jail. They convinced him to enroll in a program run by the city attorney's office, focused on breaking the cycle of incarceration for low level drug offenders. When he was released, Moncada got a ride directly from jail to the health clinic. He says from there they made it easy. Their access was centralized, so they made my, uh, appointments with my therapist. They made my appointment with my psychologist. They made a point to get a physical. I started getting back into the health plan. There's no way I would picked up the phone at the time and been like, I need to make an appointment and I'm not going to stay on hold. It's this kind of intense handholding that Moncada says helped him stick with his recovery and it's the kind of work, family health centers will soon do more of thanks to a $300,000 grant funded by California's cannabis taxes. The grants were promised as part of the 2016 ballot measure that legalized pot. And they're prioritized in communities, most harmed by the nation's decades long war on drugs. But despite sales of recreational pot being legal for two years, many of these programs have been delayed because of lack of funding. The state is missing out on tremendous amounts of tax revenue. Dalen young is political director for the association of cannabis professionals. The industry estimates up to 80% of California's pot retailers are unlicensed and untaxed young says the main reason for this are the bands or severe restrictions on legal sales imposed by local government. So right there, that creates a lot of access deserts. So patients cannot get access to to any of these products because their jurisdictions don't allow them. Cannabis shops are notoriously difficult and costly to open. In San Diego, the city has fewer than 20 licensed retailers open for business. Denver has more than eight times that number with less than half of San Diego's population. Young says, if San Diego wants more cannabis tax revenue, it has to allow more businesses to participate in the legal market. So I, I think that, uh, it's, it's very prudent for our local governments to take out the moral judgment of whether or not cannabis is right or wrong, good or bad, and focus on the benefits that could be gained from this type of revenue that th that the state is going to be given to these communities about that grant program that San Diego County didn't compete very well. It received 1.2 $5 million. Meanwhile, other large Metro areas including LA, Sacramento and Oakland got between three and seven times as much money per capita and young says local officials could have done more to drum up interest in the program. We haven't seen quite the leadership that we need, um, throughout the entire County to really inform, uh, the nonprofit groups that are doing the work that, uh, that grant program would facilitate with their not communicating with them. I don't feel like, and they're not really pushing them to up to, um, apply for those grants. This person for San Diego county's public health department said the agency considered applying for the grants but opted not to because of restrictions on how the money could be spent. As soon as I took that first hit of marijuana, I knew I was an addict because it helped me, uh, with the struggle of losing my dad when I was a young kid. It's a little ironic that David Mancado, his path to addiction started with marijuana and now the legal pot industry is funding programs to help people like him stay off drugs. But non cotta is fine with it. The funding should be there. You know, once people get into recovery and they get stabilized, they're less likely to, uh, be, uh, offensive cause to get them incarcerated tomorrow for a look at cannabis equity programs, which aimed to help disadvantaged populations share in the profits from legalized cannabis. Andrew Bowen KPBS news each day. This week we'll be bringing you a new story about the impact of cannabis legalization. Does he, all of the stories in our series go to kpbs.org/pot that's it for San Diego news matters today. Consider supporting this podcast by becoming a KPBS member today. Just go to kpbs.org/membership.

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Two years ago, California legalized the purchase and sale of recreational marijuana. Since then, the state has collected hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes from the cannabis industry. As part of a weeklong series, “High Hopes: California's Pot Experiment,” KPBS examines where the money goes and why San Diego gets less than other big cities. Plus, Rep. Scott Peters (D-San Diego) helped secured $300 million to help combat Tijuana sewage spills in the new United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement includes. If approved by Congress, the USMCA would replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. And, despite urgent calls to boost California's housing supply, the state will likely produce fewer new homes this year than last. Hear why.