Residents urge caution on storefront cannabis as commission receives public materials

At a Redondo Beach Youth Commission meeting, public commenters urged commissioners to research and oppose allowing storefront cannabis sales in the city and provided written materials that the commission agreed to place in the public record.

Tim Mueller, a community member who spoke during public comment, told the commission, "You have a substance abuse, subcommittee, I believe. And, I think it might be a good thing to also think of it as a substance awareness committee because awareness is the first defense of a young person to keep away from the danger of substance abuse." He warned about local smoke shops, saying there are "6 shops selling habit forming smoking products between Aviation and Englewood Boulevard on Artesia Boulevard."

Jonathan Svertko, identified himself as a District 1 resident and a professional who has worked in the cannabis industry. He said the industry and regulators have failed to keep products safe, and that reporting has shown testing results the industry relied on are unreliable. "The testing that the industry does has now been proven by the local newspapers by the LA Times...to actually be false and that there's actually high levels of pesticides and high toxins in there," Svertko said. He said he no longer believes the product can be introduced "responsibly" in the city and urged commissioners to consult the City Council when it considers cannabis licensing later this month.

Melissa Deshaun, a District 1 resident who said she wrote a resolution for the California State PTA on cannabis, told commissioners she found peer-reviewed and public-health research showing risks for youth and said recent California Department of Public Health data show increased youth use near storefront dispensaries. "Anywhere that we have storefront cannabis dispensaries, cannabis use increases for youth by at least 26 percent," she said.

Commissioners voted to accept three documents provided by Deshaun into the meeting record after a motion and second. The second was identified in the meeting as "Chelsea." The staff liaison said the documents would be scanned, emailed to commissioners, and listed on the meeting agenda on the city's website.

Discussion only: the public comments focused on awareness, youth brain development, product testing, and local retail density; there was no commission vote on a policy about cannabis licensing during this meeting.

The materials accepted into the record will be distributed to commissioners and posted online; several public speakers urged commissioners to share findings with the City Council when it addresses licensing.