Vapor Madness…Squid's mind isn't as sharp as it used to be, but Squid blames age for that, not pot. The good sativa's hard to come by in Squid's neighborhood these days.
Seaside, like most other local cities, has banned marijuana dispensaries, forcing the county’s medical pot users to drive to Santa Cruz or call delivery services to fill their scripts. Now, the city’s posturing to temporarily ban vape shops, too—because you can put your weed in there.
Last month, the Seaside City Council adopted a 45-day ban on vape shops, smoke shops and head shops. This Thursday, July 17, they’ll consider whether to extend it to a full year. (Scroll alllll the way to page 305 for the staff report.)
According to the report, there are already 12 Seaside businesses, mostly gas stations and liquor stores, that sell disposable e-cigs along with other tobacco products. The city’s only bona fide smoke shop, Discount Cigarettes, sells pipes and bongs too.
So what’s the problem with vape shops? Apparently, it’s still pot. Seaside police tell staff the nicotine cartridges in e-cigs can be modified to contain “controlled substances” (let Squid guess: weed oil?), but yummy vape flavors like apricot and vanilla make the weed hard to smell. So staff need time, they say, “to address the appropriate procedures and zoning regulations.”
Steb Montez, who owns First City Vape in Marina, was at the June 19 meeting where the council first approved the ban 4-1, with Councilman Dave Pacheco dissenting. Montez says it felt more like an announcement than a debate. “Clearly the whole thing was angled toward e-cigarettes," he says.
Seaside doesn’t have any vape shops yet, but there are lots popping up in neighboring cities, including Smokestacks Vape Bar in Monterey, Vape3One in Marina and V-Luxe in Salinas.
One more would like to come to Seaside. On the Beyond Vape Seaside page, launched in mid-May, the chain announces it’s moving onto Fremont and Francis avenues, right by Lee’s Liquor, this summer.
Squid wouldn’t be surprised if a permanent vape-shop ban appears on a Seaside council agenda next June—these temporary moratoriums have a way of settling in like old cigarette stink in a carpet.
But Squid has a hard time accepting it on moral grounds. As Montez notes: “Seaside seems to have a pretty good hold on the liquor market.”