According to the latest Humboldt County Economic Index, local home sales have dipped slightly, while mortgage prices have risen. Median home prices — while at nowhere near pre-recession levels — have been climbing steadily since 2012, when your financially secure friends were snapping up starter homes for pennies on the dollar. And quite a few […]
The Week in Weed
Posted inLetters + Opinion
More Swag, Less Schwag
“I’m not sure brand dilution can get any worse than it has up to now,” says Chrystal Ortiz, marketing and branding coordinator for True Humboldt. True Humboldt, a co-op of local cannabis farmers, is one of several organizations trying to turn the region into a brand and realign that brand with values that will sell. […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Tick, Tock
The Fortuna City Council voted unanimously Jan. 4 (with Councilmember Linda Gardner absent) to approve the first reading of an ordinance banning almost any medical marijuana activity, including cultivation for personal use, within city limits. The city already has a ban on medical marijuana dispensaries on its books, but the expansion of the prohibitions, City […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Resolving Weed
Every year, it seems like Humboldt County’s marijuana industry, and the complicated relationship our community has with cannabis, goes through massive upheaval. And every subsequent year, there seem to be even more drastic changes. Reflecting back on 2015 (see this week’s cover story), and looking ahead to 2016 fits the pattern. We are coming out […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Merryjuana
‘Tis the season… to commercialize just about everything in the world. And, as we, as a state and a nation, collectively re-examine our pot laws, that includes marijuana, or as one savvy retailer recently rebranded it, “merryjuana.” In the umpteenth sign that marijuana has now fully crossed over into the United States’ cultural mainstream, scores […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Chill Out, New York
In the first months of marijuana legalization in Oregon, a flood of medical marijuana shops has spread the customer base thin in parts of the state. According to a Guardian article, an oversaturation of medical marijuana dispensaries in Portland has some business owners hurting, with hundreds of business license applications still being processed. Recreational pot […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
A ‘Perverted Scheme’
County supervisors approved a voluntary registration program this week that could give local growers seeking state permits a leg up. New state medical marijuana laws, expected to go into effect in 2018, will create 17 different types of licenses for cannabis businesses. As an apparent stimulus to get applications rolling in, the legislation says that […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
A Czar is Born
The hunt is on for California’s marijuana czar (or czarina), with a whole new branch of state government waiting to be shaped by his or her hands. Medical marijuana legislation recently signed by Gov. Jerry Brown will establish a new Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulations under the Department of Consumer Affairs. (Depending on how you […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Humboldt’s Specialty
Humboldt County’s outdoor medical marijuana land use ordinance looks like it will meet its early December deadlines, though much remains to be done before it could hit the county books by the looming state-imposed deadline. The Humboldt County Planning Commission finalized its directions to county staff on Nov. 20, following dozens of hours of public […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Speedin’ for Weed
The Humboldt County Planning Commission has been in the throes of a series of meetings over the last few weeks to address a proposed outdoor medical marijuana cultivation ordinance. In the course of five meetings in the last two weeks, commissioners have heard hours of public comment and talked in depth with county counsel and […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Full Speed Ahead?
The Humboldt County Planning Commission embarked on its journey to review the latest proposed medical marijuana ordinance recently with a marathon meeting that saw dozens of public comments. The county is hustling to push through the ordinance, which dictates which land use zones will be allowed to host marijuana grows. Looming overhead is a March […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Oh My-o, Ohio
The most prominent ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana in California was announced recently, and the San Francisco Chronicle reports it has strong funding support from many of the state’s mega-wealthy investors, including former Facebook President Sean Parker. The measure is not alone — it joins 16 other decriminalization initiatives that could go before voters […]