Marijuana advocates sure of future legalization
http://www.redwoodtimes.com/garbervillenews/ci_16703690
11/24/2010
Virginia Graziani
"This place will become another Appalachia unless we prepare now" for
the legalization of marijuana, Robert "Woods" Sutherland warned an
audience of cannabis advocates at a forum that closed the 20th annual
Hemp Fest at the Mateel Community Center on Sunday, Nov. 14.
KMUD news coordinator Cynthia Elkins moderated a panel of ten experts
on marijuana issues, including attorneys, lobbyists, a medical
marijuana dispensary director, a Humboldt County supervisor, and
citizens committed to creating ways of making legalization work to
the benefit of the local economy and culture.
Discussion topics included plans to write a new legalization
initiative following the failure of Proposition 19 in the Nov. 2
election, the impact of federal law on state legalization, proposals
for local ordinances following legalization, branding and marketing
of the local product, indoor v. outdoor grows, large v. small grows,
and the "Clean Green" certification, the equivalent of organic
certification for food products.
All the speakers emphatically agreed that legalization will come even
though Proposition 19 lost at the polls this year. They also
concurred that unless Humboldt County and other rural counties in the
"Emerald Triangle" proactively take part in writing the initiative,
the new regulations will favor huge industrialized operations like
those proposed for the city of Oakland.
Several speakers addressed the reluctance of many local growers to
support legalization, which will lead to government regulation.
Speaking frankly, Kim Nelson of HuMMAP (the Humboldt Medical
Marijuana Advisory Panel) said he'd heard "anger and outrage over the
idea of getting a permit to grow marijuana -- imagine paying the
county to grow pot!"
"Right now the only thing that regulates marijuana is law
enforcement," Nelson pointed out. "We're trying to get law
enforcement out of it, and make it like agriculture. If you grow too
much an ag guy comes out and gives you a fine. No guns. No jail terms."
Haylee Corliss, HuMMAP lobbyist and former aide to State Assemblyman
Tom Ammiano, said she had an argument with her father, who has been
living in Humboldt for 40 years, about the value of legalization just
the night before the forum.
Corliss believes legalization is in Humboldt's best interest,
although she agreed that Proposition 19 was a badly written
initiative. She urged everyone to consider more than their own
lifestyle but to think about ending the "violence, terror, and fear,
the friends in jail," and the danger of drug cartels.
"It's time for Humboldt to step up to the plate to put legalization
on the 2012 ballot," Corliss continued. "The next [initiative] must
consider Humboldt, the region that grows the best marijuana in the world."
A new initiative should recognize small farms as the safest and most
sustainable way to grow, allow small businesses to flourish, and
support "the nature of the plant."
Humboldt County Third District Supervisor Mark Lovelace said that
"more than anything we need to engage the whole community in open,
non-judgmental discussion," realizing that "even in our own community
people need to hide."
Lovelace said the board of supervisors supports legalization with
regulation, and sees the recent election as an opportunity to broaden
the conversation. He noted that more Californians voted to legalize
marijuana than voted for losing gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman.
Attorney Omar Figueroa, co-founder of the Cannabis Law Institute, who
has successfully defended many medical marijuana patients, talked
about "the federal gorilla in the room," noting that his clients
thought they were legal because they had recommendations and permits,
only to discover that this meant nothing to federal prosecutors.
In response to a question from the audience, Figueroa said that the
best protection from the feds is to "stay small." He reminded them
that there's no conspiracy charge when only one person is involved.
"Grow a tiny number of huge plants instead of a huge number of tiny
plants," he advised.
Lovelace added that federal involvement "can cool our jets." For
example, while the county may embrace the idea of organic
certification of marijuana, the agricultural commissioner cannot
touch it because of federal law, so a third party would be needed to
do the certification.
Likewise, the county's Economic Development Department cannot get
involved in working with the marijuana industry because the county
would risk losing federal funding for other projects.
"If we let marijuana be prosecuted until it becomes an endangered
species, then they'll protect it," he quipped.
Regarding marketing the Humboldt "brand," Lovelace pointed out that
the county is already engaged in "branding" other Humboldt-grown
agricultural products like grass-fed beef, organic dairy products,
oysters, goat cheese, wine, and micro-brewed beer.
"Humboldt has name recognition to die for, but the Humboldt brand
doesn't belong to just one group. We want people to associate the
Humboldt name with each product ... [the other industries] have some
concerns about how branding Humboldt marijuana may affect their
industries. We share this name, how can we work together?
"We need to listen to the concerns of those opposed," he went on.
"Some people in the industry are abusers .... We need to talk to
Chambers of Commerce, teachers, health care workers, social workers,
and law enforcement to be ready [for a new legalization initiative]
two years from now."
Furthermore, several people, including members of the audience, felt
that the brand name should be expanded from just Humboldt to a wider
Emerald Triangle or regional brand.
Julia Carrera, an acupuncturist and a third-party inspector for
Mendocino County, mentioned the importance of all the local counties
working together to make sure that urban areas like Oakland don't
dominate the legalization process or the market after legalization.
This concept led to discussions of indoor v. outdoor and small v.
large grows. While most people agreed that small farms are the most
likely to be sustainable and environmentally sensitive as well as
growing the best, most natural product, others observed that smaller
indoor grows can be organic and energy-efficient as well.
Panelist Chris Van Hook is an attorney who created the "Clean Green"
certification program for medical marijuana farmers who follow
federal organic standards. The certification process includes an
initial application with growers listing the products used from seed
treatments through fertilizers, pest control, cleaning, and final processing.
Screening of the paperwork is followed by an on-site farm inspection
by a qualified inspector, who also will work with farmers to help
them comply, and to assist them to get into collectives to sell their product.
Dispensaries can also receive a Clean Green certification, so that
the patient knows the product is certified from beginning to end.
A medical marijuana patient in the audience said she had been told by
her healthcare provider that marijuana grown indoors is missing two
cannabinoids needed for pain relief.
Dennis "Tony" Turner, a dispensary director in Arcata, noted that
different patients respond differently to various strains of
marijuana, and what works well for one patient may not help another person.
A person in the audience who breeds plants explained that growing in
high heat produces more THC and kills off some of the other
cannabinoids, but agreed with Turner that patient needs differ.
"Everyone should have their choice," she concluded.
A single mother said that a small indoor grow had enabled her to
support her family after she became unable to work due to injury and
talked about how weather, pests, and other variables can damage
outdoor crops. "We are making so many guesses it makes me nervous," she said.
Syreeta Lux of HuMMAP replied that her organization came to the same
conclusion. HuMMAP is preparing a survey to be distributed to
growers, cultivators, and workers in the industry in hopes of finding
answers to many questions about the true costs and benefits of
growing marijuana commercially.
HuMMAP is also preparing a second survey to be distributed to local
non-marijuana businesses to try to determine the impact of marijuana
on the overall economy.
Right now HuMMAP is looking for at least eight more persons willing
to answer a pilot survey to make sure the questions are clear and
appropriate before distributing the final version more widely. All
responses will be kept confidential, as HuMMAP will assign numbers
rather than names to each survey.
Some questions arose about large v. small grows. Many references were
made to the value of small farms, but there was no agreement as to
what constitutes a small grower.
Max Del Real, a professional lobbyist and member of the Humboldt
Growers Association, defended HGA's proposed ordinance, which allows
grows of up to one acre, or 40,000 square feet, pointing out that the
Oakland ordinance would allow warehouse grows of up to 100,000 square feet.
He observed that while no counties have yet written an ordinance,
several cities have done so, and that Humboldt must be able to
compete. "This is about more than just farming, more than just
cannabis," Del Real declared. "It's about schools, waterways,
transportation, the future of Humboldt County, and the future of California."
After about three and a half hours of discussion, moderator Elkins
closed the session so that the panelists could have time to mingle
with the audience for one-on-one conversations. She thanked the
Mateel Community Center for sponsoring the forum, MCC manager Justin
Crellin for organizing the event, Rob and Andrew for sound, Kerry
Reynolds of KMUD for recording the forum, and Kelly Lincoln for
making sure the mic got to all the members of the audience who wished
to speak.
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