This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. Law enforcement raided the illegal cannabis operation in Shasta-Trinity National Forest months before, but rotting potatoes still sat on the growers’ makeshift kitchen worktop, waiting to be cooked. Ecologist Greta Wengert stared down the pockmarked hillside at a pile of pesticide sprayers left behind, long after […]
Marijuana
Posted inNews
County Preps Measure S Enforcement Action on Hundreds of Cannabis Farms
The Humboldt County Planning Department will soon be suspending the permits of hundreds of cannabis farmers who failed to enter into a payment agreement for owed Measure S taxes by the March 31 deadline, Planning Director John Ford told the Journal. The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors voted in October to give cannabis farmers until […]
Posted inNews
Humboldt Cannabis Grower to Pay $750,000 for Violating State Water, Wildlife Regulations
A Humboldt County cannabis grower has agreed to pay $750,000, remove unpermitted ponds and restore streams and wetlands after state officials accused him of violating regulations protecting water supplies, wildlife and waterways. Of the total, $500,000 is a record penalty for a water rights violation in California. State officials say the violations by Joshua Sweet […]
Posted inNews
New Law Gives Employees Cannabis Protection
Starting Jan. 1, California employers are now barred from asking workers about their use of cannabis outside of work, and from discriminating against them because of it. Two bills signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in the past couple of years aim to strengthen the state’s legal cannabis industry by updating outdated laws. Assembly Bill 2188, […]
Posted inNews
Judge Rules Voters Should Decide Cannabis Initiative
Voters will get to decide the fate of the Humboldt Cannabis Reform Initiative in March, a superior court judge has ruled. In a five-page ruling filed last week, Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Timothy Canning rejected arguments put forward by the Humboldt County Growers Alliance (HCGA) and seven cannabis farmers that proponents of Measure A […]
Posted inNews
Proponents, Opponents Talk Measure A
Measure A, known as the Humboldt Cannabis Reform Initiative, is shaping up to be one of the most controversial things on the March ballot and this afternoon a group of about 75 people got a close-up look at some of those arguing most vociferously for and against it. Held at the Baywood Country Club in […]
Posted inNews
Proponents Stand by Cannabis Reform Initiative, Warn County to Correct ‘Distortions’
Proponents of the Humboldt Cannabis Reform Initiative are standing by their proposal that would overhaul the county’s cultivation regulations if passed by voters next year, saying the county’s analysis of the measure is “packed with factual errors, untruths and distortions.” A county staff report on the 38-page initiative presented to the Humboldt County Board of […]
Posted inNews
Bushnell Quiet on Possible Cannabis Conflict
With Humboldt County’s cannabis cultivation industry on edge after an initiative to overhaul local cannabis regulations qualified for next year’s ballot, an ad hoc committee is attempting to negotiate with the initiative’s proponents to see if they’ll withdraw it. But questions have abounded about whether it’s appropriate for one of the Humboldt County supervisors who […]
Posted inNews
‘Dream Big:’ Cannabis Workers Search for New Futures as Emerald Triangle Economy Withers
GARBERVILLE — Leann Greene’s rose-colored glasses are scratched, cracked, sitting askew, but still firmly planted on her face during her latest monthly open house for the Humboldt Workforce Coalition. For three hours this Wednesday afternoon in a sunny conference room at the public library, apprehensive cannabis workers, lured by a segment on the community radio […]
Posted inNews
Supes to Consider Bushnell Censure
The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors is set Tuesday to consider the public censure of Supervisor Michelle Bushnell after an investigation sustained an allegation that the Second District representative mistreated a Planning Department staff member during a December of 2021 meeting. The staff report states the “board action is limited to public censure,” which would […]
Posted inNews
California Cuts Cannabis Taxes to Heal Ailing Industry
California is significantly overhauling its cannabis tax structure, including entirely eliminating a tax on growers, in an effort to boost a struggling legal industry begging for relief. The changes, which were adopted last week as part of a broader state budget agreement, will also create tax credits for some cannabis businesses, expand labor rights within the industry […]
Posted inNews
Supes Move Forward with Cannabis Tax Relief
The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors is moving forward with providing local cannabis farmers some tax relief after a flooding of the wholesale market sent prices plummeting in recent months. The board voted 3-1, with Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell having recused herself due to a potential financial conflict of interest and Fifth District Supervisor […]