Some of those who spoke on the Humboldt Medical Marijuana Advisory Panel warned that while legalization may decriminalize marijuana, it will also mean significant government regulation, and that some areas -- Oakland was repeatedly mentioned -- are likely years ahead in preparing for it. The message was one of urgency, that people involved in the marijuana industry should act now to ensure the Humboldt brand will last beyond legalization.
Medical marijuana attorney Mel Pearlston told a packed Bayside Grange that California's Proposition 215 law remains vague, but more than a decade after it passed, there appear to be two legal means of growing marijuana collectively. One is to form a collective, usually with family or friends, each of which can provide something -- space, equipment, expertise -- to grow marijuana for their own use or as a primary caregiver to a medical marijuana patient.
One can also form a California consumer cooperative, which can be taxed and must sell marijuana on a nonprofit basis, a murky term, Pearlston said.
But Pearlston said that selling marijuana to another person or a dispensary is illegal, unless the grower is an employee of the dispensary, a model that is being used more and more.
That is where Humboldt County can seize an advantage today -- and whether the marijuana bill on the November ballot passes or not, he said.
”It's legal now and the opportunity is here and can be taken advantage of,” Pearlston said.
Plenty of dispensaries in big cities, he said, would be willing to come to Humboldt to buy or lease farmland and employ thousands of workers to grow the crop.
Some of the panelists acknowledged a fear of change as they watched the industry shift 20 to 30 years ago. As more people became involved in growing marijuana, said Redway blogger Kym Kemp, she saw prices fall significantly, and with it hospitals and fire departments in Southern Humboldt suffer. But with attitudes changing about marijuana, Kemp said there may be a bright light ahead.
”I'm thinking instead of a world of doom and gloom, there's a world of possibilities,” Kemp said.
Humboldt County Supervisor Mark Lovelace said that Humboldt County's familiarity with marijuana means it should be actively involved in how marijuana is regulated if and when it becomes legal.
Legalization isn't going to be carte blanche, Lovelace said; there will be a host of regulations that come with it. And yet, many of the people in the state who will be regulating the herb “can't say marijuana at full volume,” he said.
He said the people in the industry now will have to help state and local governments “get it right.”
Source: Contra Costa Times
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