Resolving Cannabis Odor Issues in Carpinteria

The Santa Barbara Independent published five stories in the past few weeks covering various cannabis developments all in Carpinteria Valley. As president of CARP Growers, our local cannabis farmers group, I wanted to share the farming industry’s perspective on the state of local cannabis farming.

Locally, the biggest challenge we have faced is controlling odor. CARP Growers has been working in partnership with the Santa Barbara Coalition for Responsible Cannabis for over a year as we use data, science and technology to advance how cannabis odor is eliminated in Carpinteria Valley. 

We are excited to share that continued investments by CARP Growers and member farms have led to the most detailed cannabis odor studies conducted to date. We know more about cannabis odor now than ever before, and new technology created for greenhouses has now been validated in third-party studies. In order to resolve odor impacts, the local industry has provided the investment and cooperation to advance new odor abatement products and technologies.

Not every farm will have identical approaches to eliminating odors as part of their Odor Abatement Plan (the name of county-approved plans to treat cannabis odors, also referred to as OAP). However, all member farms are committed to responding to all neighbors who have concerns about odor and must act upon receiving a valid odor report from the community.

To this end, a new Community Odor Observation Portal is operational at carpgrowers.org. Anyone who experiences cannabis odor can log onto the website and enter information about when, where, and for how long they observed the odor. Data from the portal will help farms learn more about neighbors’ experiences and to address odor impacts in real time. If impacts persist, CARP Growers member farms will make changes to odor abatement strategies until the issue is resolved. 

CARP Growers deployed a network of weather stations in Carpinteria Valley early this year to help determine how meteorological conditions influence cannabis odor and to establish if there are wind and weather patterns that correlate to when and where cannabis odors are most prevalent.

Carpinteria Valley has been a hub for cannabis odor science and technology, and we look forward to broadening the way we work with community members to address odor and to deliver results in the new year.