Pubdate: Wed, 16 Mar 2016 Source: Orange County Register, The (CA) Copyright: 2016 The Associated Press Contact: http://www.ocregister.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/321 FORMER JAIL IN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY MIGHT BECOME CANNABIS OIL FACTORY COALINGA - A Southern California company has proposed using a vacant San Joaquin Valley prison for growing marijuana and producing cannabis oil. Ocean Grown Extracts made the proposal last month to the mayor and city manager of Coalinga, which owns the shuttered Claremont Custody Center, The Fresno Bee reported Monday. The 77,000-square-foot facility was closed several years ago when the California Department of Corrections did not renew its contract. City Manager Marissa Trejo detailed the economic benefits of the proposal at a City Council meeting this month. Lease and tax payments would bring nearly $2 million annually. The cannabis oil would be sold wholesale to dispensaries. The company also would bring 100 full-time jobs to the city of 13,000 that is running a $3.3 million budget deficit. "One company could take us out of the red in three years," said Mayor Pro Tem Patrick Keough. Trejo said the company agreed to work with the police chief, link security cameras to the police dispatch center, perform background checks on all employees and license its activities with the city. The former prison has gates, barbed-wire-topped fences and surveillance equipment. Councilman Ron Lander recommended that the city sell the complex to Ocean Grown so that "the city's name is not attached." The Legislature last year created the state's first comprehensive licensing scheme for medical marijuana businesses. California voters are expected to vote in November whether to legalize recreational marijuana use and sales for adults 21 and over. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom