Where the Grass is Greener: Sespe Creek Collective is committed to sourcing regeneratively grown cannabis
April 18, 2024 — Ojai-based Sespe Creek Collective has always been a trailblazer. The first licensed cannabis dispensary and delivery service in Ventura County, it has sailed the often stormy seas of marijuana legalization and regulation since 2011. Its success can be attributed to ship’s captain (so to speak) Chelsea Sutula, who officially took the helm in 2013 and helped navigate the business through the many ups and downs the industry has faced since California made marijuana legal for medical use in 1996 and recreational use in 2016.
WOMEN OF THE OJAI VALLEY 2023: CHELSEA SUTULA
May 11, 2023 – Chelsea Sutula, CEO of Ventura County’s first permitted cannabis dispensary — Sespe Creek Collective — celebrated her business’ five year anniversary in Ojai late last year. For Sutula, Sespe Creek is more than a business: it’s a way to connect with the community, normalize cannabis consumption, and support social justice…
Ojai seems ready to support cannabis lounges
April 27, 2023 – …Dispensary owners and most residents who spoke at the meeting were in favor of the lounges. “To non-consumers, it may seem like a crazy, risky idea but to the rest of the people here in our town that consume cannabis, it’s just not a big deal,” Sutula said. “It’s a welcome alternative to the same old bar scene.”…
SESPE CREEK HELPS SHIFT THE CANNABIS INDUSTRY TOWARD A CLEANER, HEALTHIER, AND MORE ETHICAL FUTURE
Nov 22, 2022 – Meet Chelsea Sutula, the owner of Sespe Creek Collective in Ojai, CA – a dispensary going above and beyond to set a high standard for the cannabis industry. Chelsea has been on the frontlines lobbying for safe access to cannabis and is a leader in reducing the cannabis industry’s carbon footprint. Heather Dunbar from Sun+Earth Certified sat down with Chelsea to learn more about her journey with cannabis and Sespe Creek Collective…
THE SAGA OF SESPE CREEK | Ojai’s first cannabis dispensary traveled a rocky road to community acceptance
July 27, 2022 – The promise of safe access to medical marijuana was a big reason Chelsea Sutula moved to California in 2009. It ended up being the right move, since she’s now finding success as the owner and CEO of Ojai’s first cannabis dispensary, Sespe Creek, and is formulating plans for a cannabis lounge where people can gather together to enjoy the products she sells.
But Sutula’s journey had some major ups and downs, including an arrest by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, ultimate exoneration, and a loving embrace by the city of Ojai…
Ojai looks to allow new cannabis lounges for on-site consumption
June 16, 2022 – Cannabis lounges where customers could partake on site may be coming to the small Ventura County town of Ojai, a popular Southern California retreat and vacation destination.
The Ojai City Council this week signaled interest in moving forward with a proposal to allow three cannabis dispensaries in the city to open lounges where customers could smoke, vape or consume edibles.
Why Police Should Be Held Liable For Destroying Legally Grown Cannabis
Nov 14, 2021 – For those of us who have been smoking cannabis long enough, our relationship with the police is not the best. However, this distrust is not unwarranted. You can simply take a look at arrest records over the past 20 years to see how cannabis users were targeted and charged with simple possession.
Marijuana lounges in Ojai? City extends hours of cannabis businesses, ponders further expansion
Nov 10, 2021 – Ojai cannabis businesses will soon be able to extend their hours following a City Council vote on Tuesday.
The city is also considering other changes to cannabis businesses, including allowing on-site cannabis consumption, expanding areas within the city in which businesses are allowed and permitting cannabis cultivation in certain indoor nurseries. These issues will be sent to the Planning Commission for further study.
Why Police Can Ruin Confiscated Marijuana, Even If It’s Legal—And Why They Don’t Have To Pay For It
Oct 31, 2021 – Last week, the sheriff’s office in Ventura County, California—a mostly rural stretch of rugged mountains and coastal plains directly north of Los Angeles bisected by two major freeways—delivered 25 pounds of what was once cannabis to Chelsea Sutula.
Court orders return of seized Cannabis to Ojai dispensary
Oct 30, 2021 – Years after the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office seized at least 25 pounds of cannabis from an Ojai dispensary, a court order prompted deputies to return the product this week.
2021 Earth Day Panel for Sun + Earth
Spring Earth Day 2021 Discussion – Building a Truly Green Cannabis Economy
David Bronner – Brother David’s @ 5:24
Tina Gordon – Moon Made Farms @ 13:36
Paul Roethle – Chemistry @ 23:04
Chelsea Sutula – Sespe Creek Collective @ 30:51
Mason Walker – East Fork Cultivars @36:35
Pot Lifers: The Ultimate Run-on Sentence
Summer 2020 – The day after Chelsea Sutula’s cannabis business was raided in November 2016, she experienced a moment of magic. Mutula friend Ellen Komp, of CA NORML, introduced her to Deedee Kirkwood, aka The Pot Fairy…
Sespe Creek Collective Saves Its Compassionate Care Members Nearly $15k
May 15, 2020 – “We’re an essential business for a reason,” noted Chelsea Sutula, Sespe Creek Collective CEO. “With Covid-19, not only are our Compassionate Care patients more vulnerable due to pre-existing conditions, they’re now facing added financial hardship. We’re grateful and humbled that we can give qualifying patients access to affordable or free medicine through this program.”
Meet Chelsea Sutula of Sespe Creek Collective in Ojai
Jan 8, 2020 – “…It was eye-opening to see the inside of the criminal justice system in our country. As soon as you are arrested you are treated as if you are guilty in jail. I had never been arrested before so it was pretty traumatic to open your office door to a fully armed SWAT team…”
Congresswoman Tours Marijuana Dispensary In California
Nov 8, 2019 – “Recently, I had the opportunity to visit Ventura County’s first licensed cannabis dispensary, Sespe Creek Collective, in Ojai. Not only is Sespe female-owned and operated, but this small business is working to change the stigma and misinformation around cannabis use.”
Pot Lifer Museum
April 25, 2019 – While Californians have enjoyed many freedoms since cannabis was legalized for adult use, in other parts of the country, people are still serving life sentences for cannabis-related crimes…
District attorney office drops charges against Sespe Creek’s Sutula
Jun 1, 2018 – Nineteen months after Chelsea Sutula’s Sespe Creek Collective and Ventura home were raided by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office (VCSO) and Oxnard Police Department, all charges against her were dropped in Ventura County Superior Court.
420 Warrior Of The Month: Chelsea Sutula
May 30, 2018 – … During the raid police took many of her personal possessions and trampled on her hard work and dreams. She did not shed tears, or crumble under the pressure. Instead, she rolled her sleeves up and kept moving forward…
County’s first legal medical pot dispensary opens in Ojai
Nov 3, 2017 – Almost one year to the day after authorities raided her medical marijuana cooperative in Oxnard and shut it down, Chelsea Sutula opened the doors this week to the county’s first legal medical pot dispensary.
Sespe Creek Collective Becomes First Licensed Cannabis Dispensary to Open in Ventura County
Nov 2, 2017 – “This is the culmination of many years’ worth of community education and advocacy work, lobbying our elected officials, and participating in study groups to help get commonsense legislation passed”
A new leaf on life
Dec 2, 2016 – Ojai City Manager Steve McClary confirmed Dec. 1 that he is working with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office (VCSO) and the city attorney to develop guidelines for medical marijuana delivery services and walk-in dispensaries. He aims to have the guidelines and applications ready by Jan. 3, the first business day of 2017.
Ojai Takes steps to approve medical marijuana dispensaries
Nov 18, 2016 – Users of medical cannabis could patronize a walk-in dispensary within the Ojai city limits — if such a dispensary existed. They can’t consume marijuana products in public, though, and they can’t grow the stuff outdoors — not for a while, anyways.
Ojai OKs delivery, pickup of medical marijuana
Nov 17, 2016 – Ojai will become the first city in the county to license the delivery and pickup of medical marijuana. “We feel it’s a moral obligation to support people getting their medical preparations,” Councilman Bill Weirick said after the meeting. “In light of events recently, a lot of people have been deprived of their medicines and had their health compromised as a result.”
Impact of Prop. 64 on local, high-profile cases unknown
Nov 11, 2016 – The Adult Use of Marijuana Act, Proposition 64, was approved by popular vote in California Nov. 8, but its impact on two regional prosecution cases — those of the Shangri La Care Cooperative (SLCC) and the Sespe Creek Collective — remains uncertain.
Cannabis Policy “Disjointed” and Ruthless
Nov 5, 2016 – Some think Sutula may have been targeted for her support of Proposition 64, the measure to legalize the recreational use of marijuana that will appear on the November 8 ballot in California. Local law enforcement officials oppose the measure, although one of them told her he expected some communities in the region would see the wisdom of licensing cannabis businesses in the wake of the vote. That the raid happened five days before the election may represent a last-ditch “smash and grab” by the cops before licensing finally happens in California.
Ventura medical pot delivery business busted, CEO arrested as Prop 64 passes
Nov 28, 2016 – Days before California voters legalized marijuana, one of the Ventura County’s largest medical marijuana providers was raided. Its CEO, Chelsea Sutula, was arrested and now awaits trial. Sutula had been running the Sespe Creek Collective, a medial marijuana delivery service that’s been operating for six years.
Episode #131 – Chelsea Sutula, Sespe Creek Collective
July 14, 2016 – Chelsea Sutula runs the Sespe Creek Collective out of Southern California. As it’s California, delivery is a thing, which Chelsea discusses. But she also discusses the vast difference between Southern California and Northern California…or any other active cannabis economy for that matter. Chelsea and SoCal are making their way out of the shadows through the new MMRSA regulations and slowly but surely into the sun grown light.
THE BLEAK FUTURE OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA IN VENTURA COUNTY
Mar 10, 2016 – “Legitimate delivery services are eager to work with the city and county officials and law enforcement in order to operate safely. A drug dealers main objective is to avoid any traceability or transparency to his dealings; they aren’t showing up to City Council meetings asking for more regulation,” said Chelsea Sutula, industry committee chair with the Ventura County Cannabis Alliance (VCCA)