Locals React to California's New Medical Marijuana Rules With a motion of his wrist, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law this month a broad set of regulations designed to rein in the state's massive, unruly medical marijuana industry. The regulations have been 20 years in the making, since California voters legalized medical marijuana in 1996 with the Compassionate Use Act, better known as Proposition 215. That act led to a fragmented and complicated set of local rules, uncertainties for regulators and law enforcers, continuing interference from the federal government, and a green rush in our own Emerald Triangle that has fragmented timber lands, damaged watersheds and built an important, albeit shadowy, economic driver for Humboldt County. [continues 3032 words]
If you haven't read this week's cover story yet, an expanded "Week in Weed" of sorts looking at local reactions to new state weed regulations, I urge you to take a look at it. A lot of smart people involved in the marijuana industry are saying a lot of smart things. Among those players is Paul Gallegos, the sometimes-embattled former district attorney, who for 12 years was the top law enforcer in America's most famous marijuana-producing county. The tl;dr version of his thoughts on the cover is: Get legal now. In private practice now, Gallegos is advising marijuana businesses on how to get compliant so they can get on a priority list when the state begins issuing licenses. He also had some fascinating insights that couldn't fit in the cover story, so we've highlighted some of his other thoughts about the state of the industry. [continues 381 words]
As Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom's Blue Ribbon Commission on Marijuana Policy's 90-plus page report continues to make the rounds, the rave reviews keep piling up. For those who haven't been paying attention, the Gav spent months filling the commission with diverse stakeholders - including our own former Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos - and holding about a half dozen community forums and fact-gathering sessions throughout the state. The result is a massive report that outlines how a regulatory system for legalized marijuana could be designed and implemented in California. [continues 547 words]
Time's running out for Humboldt County to influence the direction of this state before its voters decriminalize marijuana. There are 526 days left before the 2016 election. For Humboldt County - "a region that is somewhat involved in the marijuana industry," in the words of its former district attorney and present master of understatement Paul Gallegos - this will mean monumental change. Luckily, the path to decriminalizing marijuana is not uncharted. California has the recent experiences of Colorado and Washington to help prepare us for the days ahead. [continues 398 words]
Pot's on a lot of minds in Sacramento these days. Our own state senator, Mike McGuire, announced on 4/20 that his proposed medical marijuana bill received the unanimous approval of the Senate Business and Professions Committee. The bill would create a Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation under the state's consumer affairs department, which would "license and regulate dispensaries, cultivation sites, transportation systems and manufacturers of all marijuana products," according to a Press Democrat article. "The state would have jurisdiction over how doctors advertise medical marijuana recommendation services and quality assurance testing for edibles and other products," the article continues. "Fees and penalties collected through the license program would go into a Medical Marijuana Regulation Fund that would support the program and its enforcement." [continues 401 words]
The drought blame-debate has brought out just about every political whipping boy you can imagine. Farmers, developers, politicians, environmentalists, almonds and, yes, that crazy little madcap, the Delta smelt. Even unauthorized immigrants have been hauled into the finger-pointing gallery in some quarters. Now a new water-abusing villain emerges: legal marijuana. A panel met in Los Angeles on Tuesday to consider what legalizing marijuana would mean to California. Voters are expected to weigh in on legalization next year. Discussion focused on the issues of taxes, crime and the environment - - particularly how much water pot plants require. Quite a bit, it turns out. [continues 439 words]
A unique Mendocino County program aimed at reducing court backlogs by offering marijuana defendants lesser criminal charges in exchange for sizable restitution payments is at the center of a growing debate over its fairness and legality. The program has piqued the interest of a federal grand jury, which is investigating the $3.7 million in payments generated from defendants to local law enforcement agencies since District Attorney David Eyster created the program soon after taking office in 2011, according to a grand jury subpoena recently leaked to The Press Democrat. [continues 2377 words]
OFFICIALS SAY 'HIGH INTENSITY DRUG TRAFFICKING AREA' DESIGNATION TO BOOST SHARED INTEL, RESOURCES The Office of National Drug Control Policy on Thursday designated Humboldt County as a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, opening the door for more federal dollars and officers. Humboldt County Sheriff Mike Downey, who has long lobbied for the designation, said Humboldt County's new status should open up some new funding opportunities, bring new resources to the table and generally foster a deeper partnership between local and federal agencies. Other local officials agreed, saying they are hopeful the designation will aid efforts to get the county's drug problems under control. [continues 478 words]
As marijuana legalization advocates prepare another statewide ballot measure, the question remains: Will Humboldt County get on board this time? The latest legalization effort comes on the heels of legalization in Colorado and Washington state and amid a rising backlash against the environmental damage being caused by large grows. Often in public forests or on private timber land, sometimes connected to Mexican cartels, stream diversions and heavy use of pesticides and fertilizers, clear cutting and soil grading at massive outdoor grow sites are being cited by more than one side in the legalization debate. [continues 638 words]
A first-of-its-kind academic institute focused strictly on marijuana issues is taking shape at Humboldt State University this fall semester. The interdisciplinary institute, made up primarily of HSU faculty, is hosting a series of lectures that are open to the public and digging into marijuana-centric research in several academic fields. "They finally tapped into something that's a big local concern and part of the identity here," said politics professor Jason Plume, who hosts a talk on marijuana regulatory reform Tuesday night at 5:30 p.m. in HSU's Native Forum. [continues 1039 words]
Amid Federal Activity, Many Still Support Oversight, Regulation of Pot Industry When he looks across Humboldt County, District Attorney Paul Gallegos can't say he's surprised with the proliferation of marijuana growing operations or with the environmental damage they bring. "It's the same sort of thing you would get if you suddenly deregulated any other commercial endeavor," Gallegos said. "If we had fishing without limits, there'd be no fish in the ocean. Imagine what the forests would look like if we had timber harvesting without oversight or regulation. [continues 1240 words]
Editor's note: This is the first story in a three part series looking at marijuana issues on the North Coast. The proliferation of large scale, outdoor marijuana grows in Humboldt County has law enforcement agencies sometimes feeling like they're fighting a forest fire with squirt guns. Consequently, agencies are trending toward collaboration as this growing season hits full swing, with federal and local police looking to work together to take out some of the most egregious operations. "It's one of the most beautiful parts of this country, but it's just being destroyed by marijuana cultivation," said Randy Wagner, the U.S Drug Enforcement Agency's special agent in charge of Northern California operations. "I can tell you, we're going to be hot and heavy in Humboldt County from here on out." [continues 731 words]
One evening last October, I met with Anna Hamilton in the Northern California town of Garberville. A singer-songwriter with a barbwire voice, Hamilton is known locally for her radio show, Rant and Rave, Lock and Load and Shoot Your Mouth Off -- which, it turns out, is a pretty good description of her approach to life. "I'm a little gutterballer from the beach," she said. "And I get nervous around too much normalcy." [continues 5347 words]
ARCATA - The pot market is crashing in California's legendary Emerald Triangle. The closure of hundreds of marijuana dispensaries across California and a federal crackdown on licensing programs for medical pot cultivation are leaving growers in the North Coast redwoods with harvested stashes many can't sell. Some pot cultivators who sought legitimacy through the medical market are fleeing to the black market. So much cheap weed is getting dumped in the college town of Arcata, some local dispensaries say business is down 75 percent. Even the region's itinerant and colorful bud trimmers are going broke. [continues 1099 words]
If life was a movie. Opening Scene for "A LEAP of Faith" A green-and-white Border Patrol vehicle is cruising a primitive road along the international border between Mexico and California. It throws up plumes of dust as the occupants scan the horizon. The sun at high noon is an angry ball in a clear azure sky. Stretches of dirt turn into occasional strips of blacktop melting in the extreme heat. The patrol car disappears in a cloud of dust. [continues 660 words]
Pressure from California Northern District U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag has led to the closure of an Arcata medical marijuana dispensary, changes in Arcata's landmark medical marijuana ordinance and a swirl of fear in Humboldt County's medical marijuana community. As a result, Humboldt County 3rd District Supervisor Mark Lovelace met with Haag on Thursday afternoon to express his disappointment with the recent federal crackdown. In an interview with the Times-Standard on Friday, Lovelace said the U.S. attorney's actions "showed incredible disrespect for local governments." [continues 677 words]
An International, Countercultural Labor Force Prepares Pot on Its Path to Market. Trimmers Can Make $200 a Day Plus Lodging, Sometimes 'With a Crazy Guy in the Middle of the Woods With an AK-47.' Reporting from Sebastopol, Calif. -- In an old, shingled house not far from the center of town, the trim crew hunkered over trays in the living room, snipping away at the strain of the day, Blue Dream. Its pungency knifed the air, like a medley of French roasted coffee beans and roadkill skunk. [continues 1848 words]
SACRAMENTO - Wearing a black cocktail dress with a low cut back and maroon high heels, Jessica Ryan balanced a check-filled leather bound guest book in one hand and a mojito in the other. A secretary for one of the top medical marijuana lobbyists in Sacramento, Ryan flashed a smile as she greeted each of the roughly three dozen people who gathered in a private penthouse loft in Midtown Sacramento on Wednesday evening. Some came dressed in suits, while others wore jeans and short-sleeve checkered shirts, but all were there for the same thing -- to donate money to Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos and celebrate medical marijuana and its exciting future in California." [continues 1296 words]
EUREKA, CALIF. - Joey Burger was 14 when his naturalist parents moved from Santa Cruz to settle in the coastal forest of Humboldt County. Local hippies and homesteaders welcomed the new kid in the woods. They schooled him in the regional art - growing marijuana. "It was never looked upon as a bad thing," Burger said. Except before the fall harvests, when helicopters full of narcotics officers whipped through the sky. Neighbors rushed "to call their friends to make sure they were okay," he said. [continues 1168 words]
EUREKA Joey Burger was 14 when his naturalist parents moved from Santa Cruz to settle in the coastal forest of Humboldt County. Local hippies and homesteaders welcomed the new kid in the woods. They schooled him in the regional art growing marijuana. "It was never looked upon as a bad thing," Burger said. Except before the fall harvests, when helicopters full of narcotics officers whipped through the sky. Neighbors rushed "to call their friends to make sure they were OK," he said. [continues 1186 words]
