A plan to prohibit medical marijuana cultivation and delivery within Santa Barbara County’s unincorporated areas could move forward Tuesday if the Board of Supervisors follows a staff recommendation to do so.

“Several California cities and counties have reported negative impacts from marijuana cultivation, processing, and distribution activities, including illegal sales and distribution of marijuana, trespassing and theft,” said Supervising Planner Allen Bell, in a county staff report. “In addition, marijuana plants can produce strong odors that may be offensive to some people.”

The staff recommendations follow a new state law known as the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act, enacted by the Legislature in September and signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown.

The act creates a state licensing system for cultivation, manufacture, retail sale, distribution and testing of medical cannabis.

Cities and counties have been pushed to determine their own regulations on medical marijuana by March 1 or yield responsibility to the state, whose laws are to be applied to regions without regulations.

“The (law’s) short statutory deadline does not allow the county sufficient time to develop a comprehensive ordinance to regulate medical marijuana cultivation,” Bell said. “Staff recommends that the county retain local control by immediately adopting an ordinance to prohibit medical marijuana cultivation and delivery within the unincorporated areas of Santa Barbara County.”

Local control is important in this case because it allows the county to enact medical marijuana regulations at a later date, according to county staff.