Distrust Grows as State Officials Conduct No-Notice, Armed Inspections of Legal Cannabis Farms in Southern Humboldt
Marijuana flower. [Stock image created by Kym Kemp]
Early last week we received information that legal cannabis cultivators in Benbow and Dean Creek were subjected to no-notice inspections. Frantic phone calls were initiated inquiring what prompted them, legal cultivators worried what the latest move may mean in the perilous process to “go legal”.
Licensed cannabis cultivators agree to inspections of cultivation sites and buildings used in cannabis production when they enter the regulated commercial cannabis industry, one of the scarier hurdles legacy cultivators agree to after decades of not trusting government officials. Although the state is legally allowed to conduct no-notice inspections based on code 17800-4(d) which states, “Prior notice of an inspection, investigation, review, or audit is not required,” many cultivators believe state officials have to give them at least a 24-hours notice before an inspection. Most local cultivators have previously been given notice of an inspection; the recent no-notice inspections have come as a shock to the cannabis community.
In 2018, the DCC, previously Cal Cannabis, notified cultivators of upcoming inspections both through broad announcements such as the one below, and with direct communication with cultivators prior to the inspections. At that time they stated,
We are notifying licensees through email or a phone call of their scheduled inspection date and four-hour appointment window.
Please note that, per Title 3 of the California Code of Regulations section 8501, we have the right to inspect your site any time between 8am and 5pm, Monday through Friday. Although not required, we are providing advance notice of our visits as a courtesy. Future inspections may not be announced. Failure to allow access for an inspection is a serious violation, with fines ranging from $1,001 to $5,000 per incident.
In addition to the surprise element of the inspections, the number of state officials and scope of their inspections have many in the community questioning whether these are inspection visits or enforcement operations. KMUD News Director, Lauren Schmitt was able to confirm with one of the CDFW agents performing inspections, that he was in fact, armed.
We spoke with a licensed cultivator on Elk Ridge Road in the Redwood Creek watershed who received a call first thing yesterday morning from state personnel informing the cultivator that they were at the gate to the resident’s property.
The cultivator was dismayed and fearful though they knew that their farm was in compliance with state regulations. The cultivator arrived to find five vehicles at their gate, with officials telling the cultivator that they had to give permission for the SWRCB and DCC agents to come on the property. The cultivator complied although concerned as this inspection felt reminiscent of a raid compared to the much less invasive two inspections they had had already just this year, the last being just three weeks ago.
The presence of a CDFW agent in full gear also concerned the resident, a legacy farmer who has lived in the Emerald Triangle throughout the War on Drugs era that pitted law enforcement against cannabis cultivators. The cultivator, although a legal cannabis cultivation license holder, chose to remain anonymous for fear that speaking with the media may result in harassment from state officials.
The cultivator said that although they could show that they had no violations on their site and were not engaged in any water theft or diversion, it felt to them that the officials “were trying to catch us doing something wrong.”
Notably, the cultivator said that three weeks ago during a routine visit, the inspectors had marked water levels on the site’s water storage tanks. During yesterday’s visit, officials compared those marks against the current water levels, presumably to make sure the water levels had not risen as cultivators are not allowed to divert water this time of year. Additional water levels marks were made to the storage tanks with an ominous, “expect a call,” from the DCC official.
Water levels in Redwood Creek seems to be the impetus for these inspections. We reached out to the DCC asking why local cultivators were receiving no-notice inspections. The DCC responded to our questions with a statement written by the Deputy Director of Public Affairs, Maria Luisa Cesar:
In partnership with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and the State Water Resources Control Board, DCC staff conducted compliance inspections on Aug. 24th and Aug. 25th. While these inspections did not include notice to licensees, our intent is to work with cultivators in the area to identify opportunities for water conservation methods and conduct routine compliance checks.
These followed the cannabis technical assistance workshop and community presentation on the Redwood Creek Watershed on Aug. 18, 2022 hosted by the CDFW, DCC, and the State Water Resources Control Board. The technical assistance workshop offered cannabis cultivators, consultants, nonprofits, and local tribes an opportunity to speak to cannabis regulatory agencies about projects, request technical assistance, and learn about CDFW’s cannabis grant program opportunities to assist cultivators in pursuing sustainable cultivation practices.
The Redwood Creek watershed is home to many threatened and endangered species and is, unfortunately, experiencing severe drought conditions. Many aquatic species in this watershed need cold clear water in the late summer months for survival. Compliance with state laws is more important than ever to protect our natural resources and we are working proactively with licensees to help ensure that outcome. We are grateful for licensees who see compliance as a shared goal toward protecting natural habitats and are working cooperatively with our inspection teams.
However, many believe that licensed cultivators are being unfairly targeted for the decreased flows in Redwood Creek when other agricultural operations within the Redwood Creek watershed are also not privy to no-notice, armed inspections. Additionally, there does not appear to be any efforts to determine if illegal cultivation sites are pulling water from Redwood Creek, a move that feels punitive to some licensed cannabis cultivators that have to adhere to strict regulations regarding water diversion and storage.
A cannabis cultivator we spoke to said this move by state officials makes them believe that they would be better off if they had chosen to remain in the traditional cannabis market.
Others spoke of growing mistrust after stepping out of the green closet, one saying, “I’m frustrated and sad for the people [including myself] that have gone through all of [the hoops and fees] to be treated like this.”
For many, this feels like an insult to the efforts they have made towards building relationships with state officials, unburying deep-seated mistrust of state officials planted in the decades long War on Drugs that witnessed family homes raided in early-morning hours by armed law-enforcement; Livelihoods were destroyed, properties seized, and cultivators were imprisoned. With the passage of legalized cannabis in California, many hoped to end the trauma perpetuated during the War on Drugs, choosing to become license cultivators to spare their children the same traumatizing experience they endured themselves growing up in the Emerald Triangle.
Reminiscent of days past, one cultivator in an interview with KMUD News, said that she left her home early in the morning to avoid any possible visit from the state officials. Although she would be required to return or face hefty fines, old habits and fears die hard. It was common practice by many cultivators, pre-legalization, to leave their homes for the day if marijuana eradication efforts were focused in their area.
Phone trees are actively buzzing with the whereabouts of the convoy of state officials, gates are being locked and cultivators are making themselves scarce as the feelings of being targeted churn in the soured bellies of a community already facing financial hardships due to the economic collapse of the cannabis industry.
As the no-notice inspections continue in Southern Humboldt, frustrations and distrust of state officials grow among the licensed cannabis cultivators. As one cultivator said, “We are legal and we’re vulnerable.”
Earlier: Convoy Headed Up Perry Meadow West of Redway
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Please define “legal” and “licensed” cultivators as used in this article.
Do they have State certification or County only, and were they verified by RHBB?
These cultivators are being inspected by the state and are in the state’s permit program. However, in order to cultivate cannabis legally, a farmer must have, at the least, a temporary permit from Humboldt County AND from the State of California.
Note: “In partnership with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and the State Water Resources Control Board, DCC staff conducted compliance inspections on Aug. 24th and Aug. 25th.” The state is self-reporting these are permitted farms.
Great coverage Kym! RHBB is easily the best news source in the triangle.
Lisa Music is a wonderful addition to the team.
Oh my gosh I feel so sad for the dope
Growers….
Thanks Kym, I just wanted to hear that these weren’t simply County permitted farmers.
I imagine that within 6 years this type of behavior by armed officials at legal pot grows will abate itself.
Pfffttt… legal pot grows are gonna be no different than a tomato farm in 6 years, (with real similar yields and returns) but you’d best reconsider why you voted Democrat for these vermin to tax the &[email protected]! out of you one year and then be raiding you the next.
It get a bit convoluted as I recall, but the state and Trinity call the cultivation permission slips licenses. Humboldt, SWRCB and CDFW call them permits.
In any case, licensed or unlicensed, the water in question is on these properties. Unlike your toilet/hot tub/hydroponics water that was diverted from the Mad River. You see, the Mad River water is magical! It doesn’t count like Redwood creek in silly So-Hum. If Redwood creek water didn’t want to be bad, it shoulda fallen to the East closer to Ruth.
Umm, inchoate and nearly incoherent. Please try again in full sentences.
Uum (sp?), [Your sentence structure is] inchoate and nearly incoherent. Please try again in full sentences.
There can be no doubt that these agencies want to punish the legal farms for the past sins of other farms. Coming back three weeks after the last inspection is not a coincidence and coming back with armed goons shows they are expecting to find or make trouble.
Of course the true problem, if you want to believe the agencies, is the low water levels in the creeks. Since they can’t actually prove who is taking all the water, might as well start with the easiest targets: licensed farms they recently inspected whom are unlikely to physically fight back.
Why aren’t they also going to the unlicensed farms? What about the other large water users like vineyards and orchards? Oh that’s right cannabis is so much more harmful than those ag endeavors.
CDFW and NCRWQCB have both conducted instream flow studies to determine if licensed cultivation is impacting water levels. Guess what they found? Nothing, because they don’t know what all the other (the vast majority) parcels are diverting.
Yes that’s right: they know full well the issue is predominantly not coming from licensed parcels. But since they don’t have easy (no warrant needed) access to those parcels, well they will just focus on the farms who actually pay for these enforcement activities with license/permit fees and excise taxes.
In Hayfork the NCRWQCB conducted a in stream flow study around 2017. It found cannabis cultivation which was allowed to still divert during the growing season (this was pre-state waterboard general order with forbearance) was statistically insignificant compared to other diverters.
Who were the other diverters? Oh, the Rourke and Murrish properties which grow alfalfa and raise cattle. And the best part is the study was never officially released for some reason… hummm maybe because it didn’t fit the agency goals? I still have a copy of the study somewhere in my files.
Why aren’t they also going to the unlicensed farms?
They are. I think you know about the 40 search warrants in S. Trinity.
But there were also cut downs in the Pines, AND little known but verified cut downs in Douglas City, near Top o the Grade on 299.
There was the idiot property right next to B Bar K on Highway 3, they got the get-out notice too.
Saxon has been on it.
Incorrect. There were zero cut downs in the Pines this year, only a few abatement notices handed out. Business as usual.
To Hayforker, say it where it matters like at a BOS meeting.
Great point about the BOS meeting!!
The 40 search warrants in southern Trinity were led by DFW WET team, the sheriff rides along on their operations on private property. The citations on Post Mtn were nit chop down, but civil fines. And give me a break, Saxon has done almost nothing since his election, not to say previous seriffs were more effective.
The few code violations issued on Post Mtn represent about 5% of the illegal grows. Damn near every parcel is happening, except for the few where the folks walked away this year, leaving an ungodly mess.
The 40 search warrants in southern Trinity were led by DFW WET team, the sheriff rides along on their operations on private property.
I didn’t remember that being the case, but I frankly don’t remember the case specifically.
There were quite a few cuts in the Douglas City area though, led by TCSO.
lets not forget that cdfw have been involved in many armed & extremely hostile raids that were actually robberies for profit.steve white for example.sounds extreme but in reality they are it happened to me in 2017.thanks steve white your a great example of why theres no respect or trust in your fake jobs.water diversion,money laundering send the product aqquired during raid to hawaii,buy real estate to get money on mainland.warrant sign it when were there nandor vandos lets us use his name we’ll use an impound sheet for the inventory sheet.if they holler we’ll have the feds prosecute there dopers.meanwhile county officials running multi million dollar extortion&embezzlement vices.what a solid foundation of leadership.adults acting like bullies and above others.black asphalt if you are going legal desert snow if they want your money.relentless,more like pathetic
kym kemp if you ever wangt to do a story on all the agencies&officials that robbed me rite before zeek flatten contact me.ive been hushed&locked up to keep silent,people deserve to know&see the truth&the agents deserve to be exposed
https://m.facebook.com/peaceharmonyinmendocino/photos/a.322677918334103/693577304577494/?type=3
I hear they’re going after the Salinas Valley farms next, even though the Salinas river has such robust flows, essentially a recreational Eden of wildlife habitat. No, just kidding.
I’ve got an idea! Far be it from me to suggest they shouldn’t get to dress up like cops, but there is an administrative solution:
https://kymkemp.com/2022/08/18/project-trellis-local-equity-program-to-provide-955000-in-services-to-cannabis-community/
If you qualify you are permitted, if you need tanks still, you’re busted! Simple, elegant!
Well spoken people like you need to run for office. I really hope some of the people who have the opportunity choose to do so. We need locals not beaurocratic puppets with agendas in office. What’s the real source of this witch hunting ? Legal farms are doing their best to keep their heads above water, paying taxes and employing local families.
I really hope the community can come together and find a middle road. These people are taking tax money that should be going back into the community and paying themselves. How do we organize in a meaningful way?
Thank you for sharing this intriguing perspective!
It’s time to protest at the office in Eureka. HCGA organize it
When none of you sell a single gram on the black market and truly start selling legally, I will support you. While you get subsidies and tax breaks meant to prop up your failing industry while the rest of us get none, while you continue to play both sides of the coin, selling to both markets and then complain about inspections, all you get is laughed at.
Go lay in your beds, you made em.
Funny thing is they didnt think this through ive been trying for a year to get into a shop its not gonma happen unless you know someone its all a fail
As alicense holder im out there trying however the legal market is shady too they want one legal and rest out back… For those of us trying its just not a working system
its the same all over the country I know shop owners from Sandiego to Sandwich Mass. Its 90% backdoor crap and 10% in the front door.
That’s okay because I still will fight for you. I will still speak about the injustice to mom-and-pop growers forced out of participating in the permit process. The best growers in our county and our history and culture are left out of the story. I will still speak on behalf of people being thrown in jail or properties fined for growing a plant. I never supported prop 64. But I also couldn’t stand all the rednecks scalping the environment and pouring avid into our streams. The shit thing is they are who the supervisors pushed permits through for and supported the most. You’re right. We made a mistake by signing up. Were we lied to and bait and switched? Hell yeah. But I’m not going to argue we made a mistake. But right now, we have an agency as an arm of corporate monopoly. They are just here to kill the competition. I’m not asking for your support im mad, too but im not your enemy
Decent response right there. Not all permitted people suck just almost all the ones I know. I wish you the best in your endeavors…
I can say the same thing. Left and right, the people you wouldn’t want getting permitted were. It’s another game of “who you know”. That will never change here, however. I’ll believe it when I see it.
Have you been paying attention? It’s not worth it to go legal, especially when the government still treats it like they did in the ’70s. The dispensaries don’t pay enough to cover expenses within 5 years of certification. Most businesses fail within the first 2 years. I’ll stay hush-hush in the hills like I’ve been doing for decades and keep selling my pounds out-of-state.
Did I mention anything about unlicensed cultivators?
I agree i want to stand up so bad bit fear state and county will pick on me itvwill take us all
That’s valid they might. It feels damn good to be honest with the inspectors, though. I feel like the DCC is getting scared. The inspector seemed pretty downtrodden and worried when they inspected us. They know there jobs are on the line too. Granted, we were honest and are pretty on point with records. Despair in the hills never ends well though.
I appreciate your perspective. I hope things go well for you and your farm. Please keep offering us your incite!
I was there when only one other person wanted to stick up for those with less than 5 acres.. No one else out of 100+ people spoke up. That’s how it all started.
Ya’ll aren’t legal! Ya’ll are selling most of your product on the black market! You signed up to go legal and none of you are in compliance because ya’ll still sell weed on the black market. I get you would go out of business if you tried to sell completely on the white market, but ya’ll signed on the dotted line!
Don’t worry, Biden’s 87,000 new IRS agents won’t give you any warning either!
They have no clue of what’s coming their way. The irony, more likely than not it’s what they voted for. The IRS loves Google Earth.
Yep. The majority voted for exactly what they are getting and now they are complaining about it! They have satellite imagery going back to the early 2000’s, they don’t care if they wait till you are 80 to come get ya!
Oh my goodness dude ! Nothing like being a douche bag. I’ve never hoped for ANY fellow farmer to have troubles, legal or not. That’s not our code . Karma …….
Statute of limitations Pal!
You are wrong on that aspect. I know people on indictments going back to before they were born. It’s called conspiracy.
For example it reads like this “beginning in 1949 this DTO”
There is no statute of limitations on tax evasion
no way, it was all cbd flower. sorry try again.
Not me you’ll have to convince. Besides the question isn’t whether the weed contained THC or cbd. The question is did you pay your taxes on the money you made off the plant you grew?
You don’t have a clue. If unregulated sales could be proven, they would have had warrants and charges; foundational aspects of our judicial system they are skipping with these harassment raids.
You mean like hunters laptop
Lol aint no one buying black market weed for more than $400.. it’s not even worth trying to do that anymore
Traditional Market weed is still goin for $800 to $1600 for those who been distributing long term. I know of a few batches that even went to Santa Barbara and Ventura for $800 and that was recently. Honestly, if you’re only offered $400 you can hustle two to three times that much just yourself in any city. Probably have a shit ton of fun doin it as well. I say go live and yes we still do and it’s worth it.
I still see them driving passed my house with totes of soil! They don’t realize that there are far easier minimum wage jobs out there!
Boo hoo, these growers are crying because they are now part of the regulated in the state! Good grief what a bunch of pansies, wake up this is California! Regulations to do anything in this state are over the top and have been ever since the Democrats have run it( which has been for decades). That’s why so many people are leaving.
Welcome to the business world.
And great job LEO’s please keep it up and just maybe we will get our critical oak woodlands and remote areas back.
it has become the day of reconning. They (growers) are now subject to the same type of regs’ that other tax paying businesses have been struggling through.
The regulation faced by the permitted cannabis industry is unlike any other industry that doesn’t produce toxic or physically hazardous material.
It’s significantly more extensive, intrusive, and expensive than any other agriculture business.
and more than likely brought on by past experiences and abuses of the industry. All it takes is one, or in this case hundreds over the decades ….. you know the rest.
No one was abusing regulations in the past. There were no regulations in the past. There was just an immoral war on one of the most valued plants in human history that was rooted in racism, corporate greed, and the ceaseless thirst for power from the state.
Darn tootin! Nothing says “Outlaw on the loose” like self reporting, and shoveling fees, and taxes to dozens of agencies. After spending 100 grand, and filling tanks in February, I bet they just can’t wait to spend all the growing season stealing water from a seasonally dry creek on their property using loud gas pumps. This is not about making a profit with these folks, they want to scam the Water Protectors in this driest of California’s regions.
Of course the cops are going to just show up un-announced to make sure people are not diverting most of their crop onto the black market or using water out of the creek. It always seemed like pretty sketchy idea to go legal and then be diverting water or selling lbs out the back door.
This is not a surprise and comes rather late. It was in the paperwork. If you have a farm you agreed to it
Tucked in the paperwork. It’s still disingenuous, and unnecessary. There’s no need for the SWAT costumed intimidation. If you wanted to meet with a business owner over official business and inspect the business a day or two notice seems more practical. They’re butt hurt nobody came their silly seminars. Permitted growers didn’t go because they already have to know to get permitted.
It’s hardly “tucked in” took me all of 5 mins to read through then paperwork and tell my bosses what they are in for . They had no clue like most absent minded property owners .
Lucky the people who figured out how to afford to pay you to work for them found somebody so smart.
Somebody cut and paste the easy to find clause from the regs. When were these specific new regs published?
“Personnel from the Department of Cannabis Control (DCC), California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) have been performing no-notice inspections in Southern Humboldt County as early as last week.”
And… Soon to be joined by one of the 87,000 new armed IRS agents.
Yes, those are Fox’s scare tactics. Does it make sense that IRS will be going after the little guy? Is that why mega corporate media is sweating? If you wanted lumber, would you go to a bamboo forest?
I elieve the new IRS agents are going to be used to audit corporations and the rich. It takes a lot of brain poser to uncover all the cheating that has been going on with them
Agreed!!
Are they marking the water tanks levels to make sure more water is not going into them, or are they trying to confirm or making sure that water is actually coming out of them to water the cannabis or not?
They’re making sure you aren’t filling them now.
Why not do a no-notice raid on the alfalfa guys diverting canal loads from the Shasta river today, right now? I’d bet the flow being diverted in the canal TODAY is equivalent to all of Redwood Creeks flow.
That makes sense, and I understand that…
But, if they aren’t being drained, they aren’t watering the cannabis…
And something is…
So the water has to be coming from somewhere…
If you catch my drift.
Oh jeez us. Keep doing the mental gymkhana:
Since the DARE program told me my mommy and daddy were bad, these people must be stealing water. There’s no way that these farmers would use the tens of thousands of dollars spent on storage tanks for storing water, when you could experience the thrill of potentially running out, and getting penalties, and fines. Why pump out of a tank when you could pump from a dwindling creek? At night. You’ve brought up a good point: these so called legal farms aren’t in it to grow weed, so much as extirpate the steelies. Fish have creepy little unblinking stares.
A mature redwood tree can use upto 500 gallon of water per day! A pot plant is more like 1-5 gallons.
Well, should of expected this kind of behavior. It is a war and when the enemy is down 5 billion for Aurora, 7.5 billion for Madmen, 4 Billion for Tilray they tend to get upset. They send their murse carrying army in their Mercedes ML420’s to the capital to complain!!
FYI, we kicked their asses so bad Aurora is switching to vegetables, lol. Say hi to them at your local farmers market, lol. Fuck Legal!!!
That right there is a beautiful thing to see. 5.4 billy lost. Haha fuckin jackasses. Industrial cannabis is suited to isolates, seeds, and fiber. Industrial scale flower (not cannabis) cultivation only works because of the use of aggressive insect and fungal toxins that are very dangerous if consumed.
Quality cannabis production will always be the purview of small specialty producers. These clowns better hope consumers don’t lose the taste for fake terpene carts
Spot on, yes, the kiddo’s do love them carts. In my travels I have noticed they like the smaller sized ones that look like a geenie bottle (somewhat). They also like them in a metallic colored finish. Papaya is the rave apparently at the moment.
Growers in the triangle should plan to produce a high value niche product for the developing market and size their operation accordingly. Consumers like cheap and we’ll never be able to compete on cheap. Produce the best, and don’t waste time or resources producing more than you can sell for a good price, and there’s lots of legs left in this industry
Agreed, they just need to keep goin. I know it’s rough out there but they really got em all scared. The testing proves that indoor/DEP is an inferior product.
So, if it’s harvest season for light deprivation why is there NO fresh herb at dispensaries? Everyone is selling old weed unless it’s indoor. These “legal” growers are crying, but they’re still selling all of their good weed on the black market. Once “legal” grows actually act legally maybe the cops will leave them alone. Go to any dispensary in Humboldt County and try to buy summer 2022 greenhouse light dep cannabis. There is non available. So you guys are crying, but at the same time your lying! You’re never going to have a profitable “legal” farm if you keep selling all the tops on the black market then sell the rest for biomass. The outdoor legal weed scene is a joke. The best thing Humboldt has going right now is legal indoor weed. That’s the ONLY good weed at ANY dispensary in Humboldt. Check it out. Kym is selling bulk last years outdoor for nothing at HPRC. I’ve done the research. The legal weed scene is a freaking joke for the greenhouse light dep scene. Seriously non of it ever makes it to the dispensary. So I say bust all the crooked growers trying to play both sides of the field/game. Just go old school and be a traditional black market farm if your not going to sell your good weed to dispensaries……
Greenhouse weed at a dispensary is called indoor weed, that is the whole point of the greenhouse.
//”Greenhouse weed at a dispensary is called indoor weed,”//
That may be true in NorCal. In SoCal you won’t get away with that for long.
The SoCal conniseuer catered to by those fancy retail outlets are getting their butts kicked by the baggie brigade, fyi.
Which has zero to do with the observation that in SoCal dispensaries, greenhouse product is generally differentiated from indoor product.
Do you ever just address the topics at hand, or do you only brag?
Brag? I am stating reality. A perspective the “cannabis” world seems to avoid.
//”I am stating reality.”//
No, you’re not — you’re stating opinion. Let’s look at your statement:
//”The SoCal conniseuer catered to by those fancy retail outlets “//
You’ve clearly established who you’re talking about — the person in SoCal who voluntarily chooses to go to what we’ll call a ‘Rodeo Drive’ style dispensary and pay a significantly higher price for product and EXPERIENCE than from the traditional market.
Perhaps they do this because they want to be seen as ‘upscale’ or ‘trendy’ — just like shopping at any “fancy retail outlet” you find in LA. Perhaps they want tested product. Perhaps they are brand loyal and want the latest Jungle Boys creation that was harvested recently and is bang on fresh (as they can tell by looking on the mandated sticker). Perhaps they like the tribalism feel of supporting the local homies.
//” are getting their butts kicked by the baggie brigade, fyi.”//
Now explain to me how IN FACT (not opinion, FACT) that this above consumer is getting their metaphorical “butt kicked by the baggie brigade” in their purchasing experience.
Go on … … … (remember what’s important to them).
Do they get to be seen dropping by the fancy ass dispensary in their new Porsche while buying from the baggie brigade? No.
Do they get to represent their favorite brand by buying the latest overpriced and stylized font ‘Jungle Boys (LA farmers since 06)’ hat and flashy ‘Banana Animal Mints’ jacket? No.
Do they get tested product that the state mandates has no pesticides and a regulatory entity enforcing such? No.
Does the baggie have a ‘born on’ date which shows when it was harvested and packed and thus they can go on and on raving to their new GF about how fresh this shit is and how special they are to know where to find it? No.
Do they get the same ‘us vs them’, NorCal vs SoCal, city boy vs country bumpkin tribalism pride rise (the kind that you and I likely despise together) from the baggie brigade purchase? No.
You see LL. In your hatred for the legal market, you forget that there are things that others value that you do not. Some things that you can NEVER replace in this particular market.
Your brag is empty as it relates to this consumer you reference, because this consumer CHOOSES their experience in a way you can’t relate to. THIS consumer values a different experience than you value or can offer. You don’t stroke their (very big) ego the way the Jungle Boys purchase does.
As it relates to the consumer you reference, if any butt kicking is going on between the Jungle Boys dispensary and the baggie brigade, it’s YOUR side that is getting kicked. They have figured out how to serve a market (ego) that you can’t, make a particular group of consumers very happy and make a shit ton of money in the process.
And btw — the Jungle Boys (and others like them) also grow some damn good weed. Ivan comes from way back and made his name in the traditional market and is one of the few who has been able to scale a tight cultivation ship to preserve quality.
You continue to focus on the massive and many failures of the Chads and fail to understand that there are folks in the traditional side that have pivoted and created solid business models with high consumer satisfaction, loyalty and the financial returns associated.
You can hate those entities all you like, but it might be better to understand that your hate won’t change the facts of their hard earned success.
Blessings, you are a good soul. I stand corrected. I have not forgotten those that have pivoted. I support (litterly) more than you can comprehend. Agreed, my frustration is apparent of the chad’s and brad’s but I saw with my own eyes in SLO, DHS and Long Beach. Thanks for balancing me.
I fucking love you two! Hahaha! The banter is so entertaining! We should all sit back and smoke a joint sometime and talk shop. LL, you might as well stop by one of these days on your way up the hill. You’ve actually described the location of my hoops here in the chat before. You might as well burn one and talk with me if you’re going to talk about me haha.
I’ve wondered if a regular podcast with LL and myself my just take off.
Probably not (I’ve never thought I was that interesting), but perhaps the chemistry would be right and the obvious opposite takes might do well.
We’ll call it “Grower and the Felon.” Market it as insights to the weed and cannabis industry. Our first story will be on AB-2691 Temporary Event Licenscing and how corporate cannabis lobbyist continue to fuck with our 10k and under legal farms!
I like it.
lol, I might. I get concerned if I gotta pull over and take a whiz don’t wanna, ya know, “over fertilize” your pretty tagged plants.
I haven’t seen that to be the case in the few dispensaries I visited in the North State.
I made a claim about the way SoCal markets their product. Not sure if you’re disagreeing with me, or “Umm … hello?” who made the original dispensary claim.
Sorry to be unclear. I was agreeing with you and disagreeing with Legal Lettuce.
All good. (see my topical response to LL above).
You are as clueless as a Texan.
Just to be clear. We don’t do dep. We are 100% outdoor, from seed, grown in the sun naturally and our crop is still in the ground and will be for over a month. Not to insult folks who feel differently (and we’re not judging them) but for us, the thought of using all that plastic made us sick. My son and I decided that if that was the only way to make our farm profitable, we’d rather quit.
You could do deps sans plastic, but it’s a helluva investment.
Think garage/shipping comtainer but instead of cars coming in and out it’s a tracked flatbed of plants.
You can do that, but … it’s not any more friendly for the environment – gotta dig up, haul, melt down, shape, weld, process and ship all that steel all over the world before it gets to you to ‘save’ the plastic.
I completely respect Kym and her family’s decision to grow the way they do. I’m sad how it’s turning out for all those who share their commitment.
(while respecting the commitment, I’m not at all convinced that growing small batches back in the woods is any more ‘environmentally friendly’ than properly thought out larger grows on ag land.)
//(while respecting the commitment, I’m not at all convinced that growing small batches back in the woods is any more ‘environmentally friendly’ than properly thought out larger grows on ag land.)//
I know a few growers that disagree. No way any Ag land grow could come close. Again, 20% (now maybe less) of the legal weed industry is a narrow vision of the true weed industry that has been running for 50+ years! Growers do not stop grow’in.
//”I know a few growers that disagree. “//
Only complete actual data will convince me – not a few growers opinions.
//”No way any Ag land grow could come close.”//
Nice unsupported assertion — didn’t convince me.
It’s like the assertion that the Manhattan resident living in the high rise apartment is the ecological nightmare — as made by the guy living 30 miles out in the woods. Generally no.
lol, well I guess not much I can say in response. Not like you and I can go around to a bunch of scenes and then go check the big Ag cannabis growers to compare. If we did I think you’d be surprised. Sorry they don’t write stories of “we busted that illegal grow but damn they were environmentally impressive! “
//”Not like you and I can go around to a bunch of scenes and then go check the big Ag cannabis growers to compare.”//
Well, it’s not like YOU can – leave me out of that statement.
Turns out as a consultant to some very large ‘stacked license’ entities in SB, I’ve been there, done that. And as an ‘I’ve done my federal time’ oldie, I’ve seen the other side since ’85.
My channel. My private video. 210 stacked license farm.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CGPtFkUXb8
The landowner in the blue jeans 3 seconds in has *another* application in for *another* 38 acres currently. That’s another 150 stacked or so.
//” If we did I think you’d be surprised.”//
One of us has the goods on both. One of us has to use a hatred fueled imagination. I have no reason to be surprised.
BUT — none of that matters all that much because I wasn’t stating (by any means) that you can’t find ‘big ag’ offenders environmentally. What I said was this:
Me:
//”I’m not at all convinced that growing small batches back in the woods is any more ‘environmentally friendly’ than properly thought out larger grows on ag land”//
Notice the words “properly thought out”.
There is simply no reason that larger grows on ag land need be inherently environmentally dangerous. None. Conversely, it’s a simple matter of economies of scale (fact) that ‘properly thought out energy use goes down as scale goes up. This fact has the support of a century of mechanized farming to back it up.
It’s plastic fantastic, thanks for the horrorshow
But then what if we played “Grow Swap” and then the ag guys grow in the hills and the hill folk grow in the flats for a year? Who would grow the better dope? I’ve worked on hills all over the county and have seen several acrosss the country, no 2 are the same. I’ve seen some broke as a joke McGuyver types with amazing weed and some seriously loaded guys growing the weed equivalent to bathtub crank. And vise versa too.
On a slightly different note, JB and LL, what’s the tallest weed plant you guys have ever seen?
15’ 2” was the biggest I’ve tended to. And the real kicker about that plant is that 95% went to compost due to bud rot. The dude kept saying, no we can’t harvest that one yet, it’s the biggest plant I’ve ever grown and I need to take some pictures. That went on for about a week in the pouring rain until the colas the size of your whole arm melted into snot. I almost cried as i had put so many hours into that plant for 7 months.
//” Who would grow the better dope?”//
The folks who have been growing the fantastic weed for decades. Experience matters.
//”JB and LL, what’s the tallest weed plant you guys have ever seen?”//
I’ve never measured, but sounds like yours was quite the tree.
The multi-generational growers who know how to make there own composts and fertilizers and truly feed the soil. Not people who have depended on bagged dirt and store bought nutrients.
I’m not at all convinced that growing small batches back in the woods is any more ‘environmentally friendly’ than properly thought out larger grows on ag land.
I’m really in agreement with that.
There’s no sense in cutting hilltops and mountainsides for what should (and likely will) be on flat ag full sun.
Don’t be sad, divide and conquer seems to be working !
Of course, there are other ways.
https://fullbloomlightdep.com/product/light-dep-gutter-connect-greenhouse/
Starting at $126,000.
Humboldt growers can’t do math
Those gutter connect greenhouses use plastic deprivation curtains — just inside the greenhouse rather than outside.
Damn. Is there a non-plastic dep-GH that you’re aware JB?
Nothing that I know of. Hard panels are heavy and hard to move so everyone uses something soft, light and flexible – plastic in other words.
As you point out with your container example, there are ways of getting it done — I’m just not sure it’s much of a gain environmentally (or practically).
I have heard of people using heavy fabric. I’ve would be surprised if the fabric used were completely plastic free but it’s hypothetically doable.
The compromise that we have come to at the farm that I work at is to use systems that extend the life of the plastic we use. We expect to get a decade out of our base clear plastic and at least that much out of the blackout cover.
As to the broader issue, I think there are plenty of properties in the hills that can support cultivation without deforestation. I also don’t subscribe to the notion that cannabis cultivation needs to be any more impactful than a homestead orchard
//”The compromise that we have come to at the farm that I work at is to use systems that extend the life of the plastic we use. We expect to get a decade out of our base clear plastic and at least that much out of the blackout cover.”//
Yep. It’s amazing how long the current agriculture films last. If done properly, it’s not the environmental disaster that it used to be. Change happens.
//”As to the broader issue, I think there are plenty of properties in the hills that can support cultivation without deforestation. I also don’t subscribe to the notion that cannabis cultivation needs to be any more impactful than a homestead orchard”//
Totally agree. I hold that it can be done well high or low.
It’s called Fall, aka Autumn
Hey, I frikin love outdoor!
For 3 months, maybe 4.
But, like food, I enjoy FRESH produce.
Please don’t tell me you want to go back to the 1920s of food and only see tomatoes for 2-3 months of the year in Grocery aisles.
What outdoor can do once a year, indoor or deps can do 4x a year.
That’s F-R-E-S-H.
Last September’s stuff? Yellowed.
If people dry, cure, and store their product right and process it over time instead of all at once then you can have very good outdoor into July at least. Unfortunately most people rush their outdoor and process too much of it at once so that it goes stale faster.
I tried some 2 year old outdoor back in May (harvested fall of 2019) that was stored untrimmed in a cool dry environment, and it was very nice. Definitely showing some age but that’s like 30 months old
I wish consumers would understand that untrimmed cannabis maintains its flavor longer than trimmed.
Consumer education is the missing piece for the survival of traditional Northern California product.
There’s a whole generation of smokers (younger than me, but many in my generation too) who grew up exposed to cannabis through visual media exclusively. A particular appearance is held in highest regard by many of these younger consumers, and (from my perspective) it’s not an appearance that actually conforms to the best quality smoking experience.
I’m not a social media person, but I hope that our community has competent social media users working to expose people to the wide range of appearance that can accompany top quality smoke
I have some 13 year old jack herer cannabis in a UV safe jar.
My brother never got to finish growing it due to a motorcycle wreck.
It still holds flavor, though barely.
I’m smoking mine from last year, as you stated untrimmed (till jar is emptied) and cooled as good as could be off grid.
It’s all good.
But if I can spare some $ for some fresh I do, and I will.
Fresh is great.
Wow, 13 years is pretty remarkable.
And yes, I agree that fresh is great. Harvest season is special because there is a certain character to very fresh weed that just doesn’t last long. A certain cerebral buzz that I find in very fresh weed.
To me, January/February is the best time of year because the late harvested deps are still in a great place and the outdoor is just coming into its peak quality (assuming proper storage and handling on both fronts).
Honestly, the management of the supply chain as we enter this new world of constant harvest, year round, production is one of the things that I’m most curious to see play out. It’s a puzzle the traditional emerald triangle market never had to address and its well beyond my pay grade. But I look forward to a future when a discerning consumer might enjoy flower from different regions of the country at different times of year
Well then go on with your bad self!
The best produce comes from your own garden.
There is a whole big world out there beyond the fog of Eureka!
If you are a licensed grower, then you agreed to these terms. Just like when you get a license to drive a car, you agree that you may be stopped at any time and may have to take a sobriety test. Restaurants get health inspections without prior notice. It’s still a schedule one drug federally, of course there is going to be a little checking up, I would think.
Is the government coming to restaurants with multiple agencies and armed wardens now?
Sometimes they do. Google “restaurant raided by” It depends on what the restaurateur is suspected of doing and if they threatened previous inspectors.
Hmm… Sounds like the same complaints Trump had to his recent “inspection.” Just think how virtuous you will feel if nothing is found.
this would be one of those WTF moments
Is the government coming to an Amish farmers farm in Pennsylvania with fda swat teams and harassing him for selling raw milk. Why yes, yes they are. And the Amish farmer is selling perfectly good raw milk which is safe and delicious but the government doesn’t like people who resist, now do they, claiming raw milk will kill you because of ecoli. Wrong and predictable because the bureaucrats making the rules have never been on a farm as most come from big cities and reside there; know nothing about the outdoors life; think raw milk will kill them and cows are causing global warming; and generally do not understand anything but raw power to be wielded against the Amish serf man and his herd of black and white milk cows. Vote for real people like your dog or DeSantis/Gabbard for President in 2024.
So, why don’t the Amish have food sovereignty?
They sell in their own private club.
The Tribes get support (rightly so) and the Amish get armed goons, fines, and threats of jail time.
I was totally with you, until you ruined it for me with the last sentence. Mmmm love raw milk
Do you mean the health department? if so that is a very bad fallacy to use. How many “restaurants” are known for being armed to the teeth with firearms? Does your farm have firearms to protect your cannabis from thief? Law enforcement does not inspect restaurants, but law enforcement does eat at restaurants and I bet they are wearing their side arms, while also wearing a ballistic vest under their uninform. I guess there are pro’s and con’s for conducting business as a cannabis cultivator, legal or not. Were the rights of the growers involved in this article violated in any way? Did any of the law enforcement involved pull their weapons?
It’s this type of dramatic hysteria that gets these desk jockeys all ginned up on playing dress-up!
Here’s something to digest:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Alexander_(murderer)
You’ve obviously never tried to steal summer water while carrying an AK. When you bend over to steal the water your gun slides around and into the creek, you get blue PVC glue all over the stock. Has anyone else been trying to do a METRC transfer, and had your .38 slide out out and accidentally highlight the wrong selection,creating a package tag for 4500 clones instead of grams? I know huh!
When you are pulled over by law enforcement for a traffic stop, do they leave their sidearm in their car as they approach your car?
Ed, just so you are clear…these people haven’t even been accused of doing something illegal let alone observed doing something. This is roughly like the Sheriff’s Department deciding that people who haul jet boats are all criminals and stopping every one they see driving for no reason and then holding them for 3 hours from conducting their regular business while the deputies inspect the jet boats.
You HAD to bring jet boats into it
snort
Kym, your fallacies are getting weaker and weaker. As stated in the article:
“Licensed cannabis cultivators agree to inspections of cultivation sites and buildings used in cannabis production when they enter the regulated commercial cannabis industry”
Although, any law enforcement can stop you on the water using your “jet boats” and do a Coast Guard safety inspection of the vessel without warning. They also conduct the same random safety inspection as you are launching your boat at any state or county boat ramp. Law enforcement can also conduct sobriety checks on the water without warning.
And, didn’t you oppose a cannabis site applying for a permit with the Planning Commission earlier this year, because of past violations thru permit inspections near your place?
Ed, your conflations are odd.
Just because in order to be able to legally grow cannabis, people had to sign an agreement to something that should be illegal, doesn’t mean that it is right that the government forced them to do so or that the government should continue to ask them to do so.
That’s why people protest illegal or immoral actions by the government–to make for a more just society.
As to your point about jet boats, according to the educational material for boaters, “Enforcement officers have the authority to board any vessel where the officer has probable cause to believe that a violation of the law exists.” https://www.boat-ed.com/california/studyGuide/Who-Enforces-Boating-Laws/10100502_27860/
I am not arguing that growers should be above the law. I’m arguing that they should be only subject to the same rules as everyone else. Officers should only have the ability to pull someone over in a boat if they have probable cause to believe a crime is being committed. They need to be able to articulate that perception of crime. In the same way, the government should not be able to come with armed officers to private property to inspect it without prior notice if they don’t have evidence of a crime.
And yes I, along with 15 other of my neighbors, opposed a permit on a site with multiple egregious violations over the years. Our neighborhood had tried to work with the owner for years before opposing their permit. During that time they were raided at least twice by law enforcement and there were multiple accusations of illegal behavior and environmental crimes including a pond that collapsed onto the neighbors, stealing water from our land, several fires on the property etc.
Again…I am not saying growers should be allowed to commit crimes. I’m saying that before the government comes onto a person’s private property bearing weapons with no notice, they need to have evidence of the property owner breaking the law–whether the property owner is legally growing cannabis or whether they are driving a jet boat on the water or whether they are a private home owner relaxing in their hot tub.
Wow Kym, all I can say is whoa. You sure know how to make a iceberg out of an ice cube. I hope you never need to call law enforcement for help!
You object to growers having the same rights as everyone else?
I don’t hate law enforcement. I loved your dad. I’ve met a lot of officers I like (and a few I thought were jerks) in the course of my life. And, literally, less than 12 hours ago I just was on the phone with an officer I respect asking for help understanding the rights of our community. I believe that law enforcement as a whole is a stabilizing force for good in the community. For Christ’s sake, I got some sort of award from Sheriff’s Office a couple of years ago.
However, in the case of the people in this article, asking that a class of farmer not be subjected to armed inspection without reasonable cause is literally asking for growers to have the same rights as other farmers. That’s all.
I’m surprised that you find that hard to grasp. You have a lot of unpopular opinions. I can’t imagine you would be comfortable with an armed officer of the government inspecting your property–not because you are doing anything wrong, but because it is intrusive, intimidating, and doesn’t treat you as a good citizen but rather as a suspect.
Just to be the devils advocate, growing cannabis is still federally illegal, and it’s widely known that most cannabis grown here legally is destined for black market sales, so a little enforcement is understandable from a law one order perspective. If you are doing everything correctly then nothing to worry about right? The writer of the article does attempt to throw ‘illegal’ grows under the bus for being the source of low water flows, so if that’s fair game then it’s ok to point out, I believe, that most ‘legal’ growers are not actually all that legal.
Sorry Kym, its the price of doing buisness as a licensed cannabis cultivator in California, what else can I say. They did agree with the terms of the license they obtained, I don’t think anyone twisted their arms or put a gun to their head (no pun). If you don’t like the laws, as a industry, lobby to amend it! It seems to me, this whole issue from this article is about water or the lack thereof. It seems these regulatory agencies do not trust the cannabis industry, the industry as a whole has a vast track record of evading the laws, correct? It just seems to me, there is a conflict of interest with your point of view and you cannot reasonably or objectively discuss this issue without taking sides. Thank you for loving my Dad, as I did with both your Mom and Dad, I miss him very much. Get off you pity-pot and enact new laws, e.g.
“petition the Government for a redress of grievances”
Or I can express my opinion that the government is acting in error here. Which I’ll keep doing.
Do you sell every single gram you produce legally and on the white market? Taxes paid? If not, then you ma’am are an illegal drug dealer and when authorities show up to an illegal drug dealer’s house/property, they usually do so with proper attire and guns. Just because you signed something doesn’t give you a pass for breaking the same laws you always have been. What makes you so special?
To be clear…The complaint is not over officers responding to accusations of illegal behavior. The concern is when armed officers show up on inspections where there is no accusation.
And what or where will that get anyone, actions speak louder than venting on a blog. Make a change by changing the rules and how the game is played my making it a equal playing field. You think my ranting about instream gravel extraction on Wild & Scenic Rivers in Humboldt County changed anything, NO! It took changing the rules and regulations through laws. You think bringing down Benbow Dam only happened with talking about it, NO. It took a lot of change with regulatory agencies and fighting to save threatened & endangered species on a Wild & Scenic River by amending laws to protect public resources for its own sake. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. And if it was not for you, I would not have had a platform to speak from, Thank you.
You do realize, Ed, that someone else likely called law enforcement for “help” for these cannabis producers, and it wasn’t this cannabis producer, that called for help, don’t you?
See the difference?
Would you be ok with armed law enforcement inspecting your home and/ or business on a whim, compromising your schedule and deadlines, and ability to do your job, because someone else called, (likely your competitor), and not you, you know, just in case your fire extinguisher wasn’t fully charged, or your new customer is their old customer, because you have undercut your competitor in order to stay in business, and they want their old customer back, or they at least want to put you out of business?
I hope that doesn’t happen to you.
The disruption of losing just one day, when you are barely able to juggle all the tasks involved in living and working, and you’re already on the fine, sharp edge between the black and the red, can be the deciding factor, that turns success into failure.
That can be costly, and if you’re running a
slim margin, it can be a back breaker.
I know the feeling.
Kym has described it very well before…
Frantically, (my word, not hers), juggling numerous tasks and responsibilities at your utmost limit, because it’s make it or break it, and it’s at that point, (of course), that you get the unexpected knock on the door, from the proverbial last straw, (in this case the regulators), and they aren’t going away, so somehow you open the door with one foot, and they insist on adding to your tasks, kicking dust and dirt in your face, and the whole thing comes crashing down, either all at once, or slow, but sure, and it’s just due to some intrusive, demanding, inconvenient, and unnecessary imposition, initiated by a competitors petty, vindictive, complaint.
And they come with guns, if it wasn’t unnerving and intimidating enough…
Then they tell you everything that your doing wrong…
And then they demand that you pay.
Fun Fun Fun.
I am of the belief that government agencies that are supposed to facilitate your ability to perform your task, like the planning department, or agricultural inspectors, should be doing exactly that, not spending all of their time making it more and more difficult and costly for you, especially while armed and on your property.
Maybe I’m just old fashioned…
Officers have the right to stop any vessel at any time.
your not growing potatoes.
Restaurants don’t sell dope.
Growers sell a legal product as do restaurants, bars, and wineries.
Hmm… Is there money to be made by illegal restaurants? And as for wineries, they get regulated up the ying yang by the Feds who have a whole bureau- ATF. True they now focus more on guns , even legal manufacturers, but that is because they pretty much took care of moonshiners. Still (lol)
https://www.cbs17.com/news/north-carolina-news/illegal-distillery-busted-250-arrested-in-nc-alcohol-crackdown/
I feel like you aren’t understanding the point. I have no objection to growers being treated the same as everyone else. My argument is that in most cases the government needs evidence of a crime before coming onto private property. AND in the cases where they are doing inspections without prior notice and no evidence of criminal behavior, they do not bring armed officers.
So do I. Feel you missed the point that is. I said it before but it disappeared with your comment disappearing. Most times frankly a lot of industries ARE subject to surprise inspections routinely. Lots of examples supplied. Even to Obama’s expansion of the Food Safety Modernisation Act without any need to get a warrant or imply criminality. Just because you demanded to be treated like resaurants. Frankly you assume that this unscheduled inspection some sort of accusation of criminality and you resent it far in excess of the reality. I think you are basically thinking of yourself as a home and not a business. And thinking that a historically dishonest businesses becomes sanctified by getting a license when everyone’s experience is that it has not done that. In fact so many people here have said right out they only applied for licencing for covenience and had no intention of changing what they did. Lay down with dogs, get up with fleas.
You offer so many comments that are contradictory. You don’t object to inspections but want them scheduled- even though scheduled inspections are just as much not done under warrant as unscheduled ones. So warrants are not really the issue. You compare it to a warrantless invasion of your home but I suspect no one come into anyone’s actual home. Only the business areas of the grows and water systems pertaining to it. Then you got your business licence by agreeing to it. Growing pot for sale is not a fundamental civil right protected by the Fourth Amendment.
The government will certainly argue the drought makes it reasonable and a warrant is not required. They will and can reasonably argue public safety.That others than pot growers violate the water restrictions is moot. Not everyone agreed to it and creates an easily misused product. Guess what? Licensing is all about getting access to another’s property. From dog license’s to patents. Heck, even a non conforming septic system is licensed based on the right of inspection. And that is clearly protected by castle laws.
I can understand the resentment but suspect that once legal pot growing has lost it’s outlaw mentality and numerous violations cease to be so common, government will be whittled back. And I suspect that a group of people who routinely announce the morality of ignoring any law that they think is unfair will go to court over it. And will likely win something. It reminds of the usual criminal outrage that the police violated their own laws when arresting them but never mention their own crimes. This all seems like an oversized outrage.
To the best of my knowledge, I’ve not deleted any comment of mine. I’m tired but I don’t see anything in the trash either.
It was a reply to one of your own postings. When that disappeared, so did my reply. I have no idea shows when that happens.
To the best of my knowledge I did not delete any comments nor are there any recent comments of mine in the trash. The last comment I deleted of mine was almost ten days ago.
Oversized outrage! The extent of these presumed violations is outsized. That’s the point that offends people. Weed growing is as boring as growing tomatoes. A successful weed farmer doesn’t want drama or trouble! Nobody wants a murder or ripoff, especially back when the very act of growing it was illegal.
Ok, maintaining defensible space is important, affects the safety of your neighbors and yourself in a much more serious way than a weed plant, but CalFire law enforcement doesn’t enforce laws on the books by sending in personel dressed up in SWAT gear.
Sideshows are dangerous, and a law enforcement priority in some cities, but you don’t see police or CHP dressed up in tacticool gear checking licenses at car shows. It’s an intimidation tactic out of line with the risk or seriousness.
Yeah and if wineries and bars sell their product out the back door won’t be black market they get raided by the ATF with guns drawn. Same as what happens to growers selling their product out the back door and black market. See? You aren’t actually treated any differently at all! Welcome to the world of legal business, wake up and smell the coffee, it’s not all unicorns and rainbows!
Once again…these grows have not been accused of illegal behavior. This is supposed to be an inspection not an enforcement.
And the enforcement officers told you all the details as to why they chose to go to these said grows to check for said compliance?
According to those we spoke with and the response from the DCC, the inspections in the Redwood Creek area are prompted by the low flow of Redwood Creek. However, they are not inspecting every property in the Redwood Creek area, or even all the agricultural businesses in the Redwood Creek area, or even all the cannabis grows in the Redwood Creek area. They are ONLY going to licensed cannabis farms in the Redwood Creek area.
It is like officers only pulling over a specific race of people after a bank robbery with no description of the suspects. Or only specific cars, etc. Assuming that the low water levels in Redwood Creek must be coming from licensed cultivators is prejudiced and not using logical thinking.
Licensed cultivators that divert water from lakes or streambeds have to have adequate storage for their square footage, water usage that is reported to the SWQRCB.
If the CDFW is convinced that the flows of Redwood Creek are not a naturally occurring result, they could walk the creek bed (totally within the CDFW’s scope) where they could find water lines and/or pumps. They could, if they’re really concerned, take a trip at night if they’re concerned the theft is under the cover of darkness. Instead, they’re spending thousands of dollars in taxpayer money to harass licensed cultivators with zero evidence they are to be blamed.
There are people out there that do not care for our environment, licensed or not, non-cannabis ag or not, but the vast majority of the people I know in that watershed are land stewards who have volunteered time and resources to protecting the very watersheds they’re accused of depleting.
The dangerously low levels in Redwood Creek should not be ignored, but if trying to discover illegal water diversion, the state should not be singling out any one group. To do it under the guise of a no-notice, armed inspections show how far we have to go before cannabis cultivation is truly legal. The War on Drugs continues even as the state collects their cut.
Thank you for the concise summary of the issue here Lisa. Hopefully this shorter explanation can clear up the apparent confusion of some about why this behavior from the regulatory agencies is frustrating for those who have willingly entered into regulation
Good lord…I have no idea why I can’t clear you from moderation. I’ve tried everything I can think of.
Just admit it Kym, you just want to make sure you don’t miss any of my stupendous contributions 😁
LOL.
🤔🧐That must be why I’ve spent so much time on moderation, too…😉
The illegal ones continue to be regulated by the sheriffs and satellite abatement program. Legal growers are regulated by the DCC like ya’ll signed up for. You just traded one kind of enforcement for another. You thought legalization meant you could grow a plant in the hills and be left alone? Ha. It’s called regulations.
We obviously dont go to the same Taco Bell…
Game Wardens do not inspect restaurants!
Nor should they inspect legal cannabis grows.
I think they should check legal cannabis grows, as there may be a crop on that land which is not permitted. If you are doing nothing wrong, no foul.
No one is saying not to inspect the properties. They are asking for 24 hour notice to make sure the owner isn’t sunbathing nude or having an orgy or picking his nose when the inspector shows up. And…no…you can’t remove evidence of any substantial garden in 24 hours.
And to be clear, the government has access to live satellite to look for evidence of illegal gardens.
And if you don’t mind the government coming to your home and entering without a warrant to search for evidence of crime even if they have no reason to particularly suspect you of a crime, then you are in a minority and you do not agree with the founding fathers.
I had to fight like hell (very diplomatically, of course) to get a 24 hour notice agreed to by CDFW in my LSAA. I agreed that they could come unannounced if they were doing an ‘enforcement action’, which, as I understand the above, would not apply to these raids. Not ‘enforcement’ but ‘inspection’, right?
That is what they are claiming.
Didn’t get a license for my house giving permission for that.
No one has the legal right to come into your home without your permission or without a warrant. And in order to get a warrant they have to have a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity.
Again, I am not arguing for no inspections. And, I am not arguing that in cases of alleged criminal behavior the government should not be able to check.
I’m saying there should preferably be notices. And, on the rare occasion the government feels compelled to make non announced inspections, they should not be bringing an armed officer unless there is a warrant.
I’d agree it would be “preferable.” Aren’t all Wildlife inspectors police and carry guns? IDK about the others but I suspect that not carrying guns is not respectable.
You create the issue by placing your business which is subject to inspection without a warrant or warning on the same property as your residence that needs a warrant. Maybe draw a red line that they shall not pass? Or move your business so it doesn’t share your residence.
About 12 years ago I knew of a grower who turned the whole place into a plant nursery in 1 day. He had like 20 trimmers working when the Trinity county sheriffs showed up on his road. They didn’t have a warrant and we’re trying to come in. He managed to deter them, but knew they would be back. He literally dug up a barrel of money, paid everyone out, and bought a semi full of nursery plants. He paid a handful of trimmers to unload the plants into greenhouses and moved anything cannabis to his neighbors property. When the sheriff came back and cut his locks, he was grinning ear to ear when they were walking around and couldn’t find any weed. Probably couldn’t do that nowadays since weed isn’t worn $2k+ and I would guess there are alot less barrels of cash buried in the hills these days.
But within 1 day, a person could pull water lines from creeks, update and hang up current paperwork, tag all of their legal plants, cut or move extra personal plants, hide their chemicals, and have their foreign trim crew take a day off.
That’s pretty impressive. Probably way beyond what folks I know are capable of. But you are probably right that some folks who were committing criminal actions could minimize their behavior if given notice.
BUT the whole point is, that the insult/the treating growers differently comes when the government assumes that the legal grower is going to need to hide things–the assumption that they are criminals. They don’t treat the logging companies in the same area the same way. (They don’t go after the illegal growers that way because no warrant would mean it would be thrown out of court.) The government only assumes criminality because the farmer is a cannabis grower. A local apple farmer or sheep rancher is not going to have a multi agency task force with an armed officer descend on them even if they are believed to be breaking some codes–let alone if they don’t have any reason to believe the farmer is acting in bad faith.
patience. Your looking for equal treatment in an industry that is riddled with crime. Patience and good practice over time will pay off.
You forgot to add that one of the ways to get equal treatment is to be the squeaky wheel.
If we simply declare tomorrow that food is illegal, then the restaurant industry would then be riddled with crime from there on out.
They do that with various food producers and packagers and restaurants. Not usually armed, but then, it’s not very common for a dog food company or an organic yogurt maker to have an arsenal of guns in the back room either. The weed industry here is also rural, rugged and over a huge and often isolated area. They do use guns in the other industry when the menu is poached or sometimes when the employees are illegal.
They don’t use guns when corn is inspected, but then again, corn is not a controlled substance like tobacco. They would certainly use guns in an alcohol producing situation if alcohol is suspected as being sold on the black market as well as the main market.
I think the biggest difference is alcohol, restaurants and other food producing companies usually have a residence that is further or more separated from the business. It’s been very common for weed businesses to have trimmers etc in the home. Home isn’t always as separate. Also many homes are on the same lot or operating area as the crop.
Kym,
I think you should also point out that giving a 24 hours notice gives the noticee (is that really a word?) the time to rearrange their schedule if they had something planned to do. I used to go to town on Fridays to pick up needed supplies. Every Friday.
This article certainly got people going. It shows the true division in the cannabis industry between growers, legal or not, the non-growers, and people who just want to chime in. Pretty sad state of affairs for those of us who just want some peace and quiet. Sorry; I just watched “Cast A Giant Shadow”. Shalome.
Paul
Very true.
Hard to agree with the founding fathers as they are all dead.
A lot of people don’t have their business at their residence and if you do then that’s on you. You are just setting yourself up for that every time you are inspected and crying foul falls on deaf ears. Move your patch if that’s such an issue.
Just to be clear, I’m not defending myself. I was not one of the farms inspected. And we’re so small and natural, I can’t imagine anyone bothering. I just like to take the side of what I believe to be right.
A slippery slope. They could come and inspect your place with guns just to check. No harm no foul, (except in the future books are illegal, so you. are.busted.)4th amendment zone.
Should you be pulled over while driving with no probable cause just in case there’s a dead body in the back? No body, no problem. Why complain?
What if they only pull over red Subarus? I guess that’s the fault of all the people that buy red Subarus.
People are pulled over all the time without probable cause. It’s the game you play.
This comment thread is emblematic of the source of discord in our community.
Most of us that had operated in the cannabis realm prior to legalization perceived legalization as resulting from our govt and society being convinced that the initial criminalization of this plant was wrong and that enforcing those unjust laws was the primary driver of the social harms related to the plant. However, many other people apparently saw legalization as the govt surrendering to the immoral and dangerous dope growers and exchanging the warranted violent suppression of the plant for the economic violence of onerous fines and unrealistic regulation.
The state and it’s agents seem to generally fall into the latter category unfortunately.
There’s also a few that feel that a deal with the government (legalization) is a deal with the devil and any who made it have lost honor…See Farce.
Yes there are those folks as well.
I was speaking more to the broader picture. While many of us thought that legalization involved acknowledging the plant and its products as valuable agricultural products, many other people (including a number in positions of power) saw legalization as a tool to extract financial revenge on an industry they see as inherently immoral.
What many of these proponents of vindictive legalization don’t seem to grasp is that a legal framework that treats permitted growers like criminals but also adds costs to running their business doesn’t do anything other than support growers who didn’t get permitted.
Or perhaps more importantly for the community, the whole community is suffering because an industry is being smothered.
That is a problem we were always going to have to face. I know that I didn’t prepare for the inevitable shifts inherent with legalization as well as I could have and it caused me some pain. I think that I did better in preparing myself, both professionally and mentally, than many others in our community. From the outside, sohum appears to have been caught especially flat footed.
The governments approach has exacerbated this inherent stress from the opening of the market. It’s unfortunate that so many in our community cheer that vindictive behavior by the state without realizing that it only makes the transition our community is entering more painful.
To be clear, I would say the most vindictive and prohibition minded aspect of legalization is the tight strictures put on retail. That is what is killing small farmers and the broader emerald triangle industry and it is rooted in an attitude born in generations of conflating cannabis with heroin, not in any common sense. These aggressive agency visits are just the poke in the eye to remind us that none of the shit we’re going through is on accident
I don’t think I know a single grower that feels they prepared adequately. We didn’t. We did prepare but not enough.
No doubt, I don’t know if anyone who prepared adequately (other than, perhaps, those who left the industry or moved their operations out of the triangle).
And in retrospect you think you didn’t?
Yes they will, if they suspect that the restaurant is selling recreational take fish or wildlife…
I know where it has happened with abalone…
But they definitely suspected them of doing something illegal…