ADULT USE OF MARIJUANA IS NOW LEGAL IN CALIFORNIA



…A typical Mendocino Cannabis grower, after medical cannabis was deemed legal

 

Will legalization cause the original California cannabis growers to fail?

 

On Jan. 1, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act became a reality across California.  This Act legalizes recreational cannabis for adults 21 and older.  Yes, I have to admit, I personally went from being a rock drummer in high school, to playing bass and guitar in a folk group, and finally as ½ of a performing duo doing folk rock, country and light rock.  And yes, there was marijuana being used in all those years where many of us had hoped that one day cannabis would be legal.

 

Unfortunately, as good as this may sound today to many from my generation, and to all the generations since my high school, college and performing days, this new act may become the beginning of the end of today’s small California cannabis operations

 

After waiting so long for the final trophy of legalization, for those growers that had chosen a lifestyle choice of living off the land, “Will these small farmers be wiped out by big cannabis business operators?”

 

This New Year’s Day was a day of celebration for many, including the high-tech billionaire, Sean Parker, who helped bankroll the Proposition 64 campaign to end cannabis prohibition.  And this act did it for the sixth-largest economy in the world. Recreational use will now be legal in every state on the West Coast. And California is poised to take in up to $1 billion in tax revenue from cannabis.  If future history follows the past, other states will likely follow California’s lead, which would then spur serious calls for a change in the federal cannabis laws.

 

However, the operations director of Mendocino Generations, is Mr. Chiah Rodriques, and this operation is the collective of small marijuana farmers in Mendocino County. 

 

Now the family members of these back-to-the-land homesteaders and pot farmers, they learned as children to never speak of what their parents did.  They lived simple lives back when only growing a few cannabis plants could sustain the whole family.

 

To make my point, back in 1976, Mr. Rodriques had begun supporting his family as a black-market cannabis grower.  He planted blackberry bushes and built platforms in the trees to shield his plants from the local marijuana eradication teams. Other local growers began using the same techniques, tunneling through the blackberries to keep their plants hidden.

 

Today, one of these local growers now supports his family in the market that took a new shape when California egalized medical marijuana.  That was almost two decades ago.

 

So, what was it that caused these individuals to get into this illegal business?

 

Well, after returning from Vietnam, many forward-thinking vets, some with college degrees, that had had enough of the US Government and its unnecessary wars, they moved out to the mountains. This was also many of the baby-boomer generation of hippies, deadheads and flower children who had decided the mainstream way wasn’t working for them. They wanted freedom, peace and quiet, and they had found some of that from their use of marijuana in Vietnam and at rock concerts.

 

In one situation I know of, a Viet vet bought a 40-acre piece of paradise in Mendocino County back in ’67 for $5,000. He then built his own home and raised his children off the money he made selling illegal cannabis. That was back when cannabis prices were $4,000+ per pound.  So, even the novice cannabis growers could make a decent living off of just a few plants.

 

After completing the main cannabis harvest, this particular individual would take his family to Baja California, for the Winter.  There, they would just relax through the cold Winter months before returning to the mountains to start their cannabis seeds and plant the next year’s crop. While these farmers worked, the kids played in the forest and visited their neighbors, and it was pretty much like living in one big family commune.

 

So, how did this arrangement go over with these Viet veteran’s parents?

 

The kids knew that their lifestyle was highly unique and that it was also illegal and even scary at times. They had to live an undercover existence that their grandparents would obviously have gone crazy.  This was especially true if they knew their grandchildren lived barefoot and dirty, were home-schooled, and living somewhat unruly in the mountains.  All of this, while their rural parents were growing, processing and selling their cannabis.

 

These parents and their kids never imagined that the major threat to their Mendocino families would be the actual legalization of cannabis in California.

 

These new legalized regulations will now allow unlimited growing licenses.  This means high-tech venture capitalists will be able to create mega-cannabis corporations. The overall market is already flooded with cannabis from the other neighboring legalized states, but the nation is about to see a virtual tsunami with the new California legalization.

 

In rural Mendocino County alone, about 40 small farmers have banded together in that same collective called Mendocino Generations.  They are trying to navigate all these changes. And that operations director, Rodriques, continues to field texts every day from his anxious growers. These growers are already having to use their credit cards to cover the costs of a possible bad harvest and wildfire damage and with the compliance with new, local and state cannabis regulations. These members hope their regular buyers will favor their “craft” cannabis over what they call the “Walmart weed”.  This is what is driving down weed prices. But they will still need some help from the county and the state to get where they need to be.

 

The hope is that California’s legalization will not allow Proposition 64 to enable big agriculture and the timber companies to wipe out these American farm families of the past.

 

California needs to support policies that help cannabis growers of all sizes. The state needs tax incentives for small producers, more caps on cultivation size and value-added labels for actual sun-grown producers, versus the hot-house mega farms.

 

The advantages of being able to enter the legal cannabis market is very clear.  Former illegal growers and their families can now freely discuss the difficulties and the beauty of this industry in public.  It was only a year ago that Rodriques’ kids would not print their last name or phone number on a business card.  In fact, Mr. Rodriques is still skeptical about talking to the press.

 

This could be the beginning of an epic turning point for all of these small operations, and these growers are obviously proud to be a part of it. The work and the story of this cannabis region and history are totally intertwined.  But will these operations fade away as did the small tobacco growers when the giants in that industry appeared in the 1900’s?

 

Having been aware of these individuals that headed for the hills to start their own history in this business, I just hope California doesn’t leave behind these small farmers who have been the backbone of this unique community. 

 

If it wasn’t for these individual's efforts over the years, it’s conceivable that cannabis would have never have achieved its legalization in today’s California.

 

Copyright G.Ater  2018