The Humboldt County Sheriff\u2019s Office continues to report massive marijuana raids \u2014contrary to the expectations of those who thought legalization would mean an end to this kind of thing in California.<\/p>\n
The most recent cannabis grow bust came on May 22, when the county Drug Enforcement Unit served two search warrants on a home near Alderpoint. Deputies eradicated 10,609 cannabis plants growing in six greenhouses. A man was arrested for felony cultivation of marijuana and other offenses. Among the charges were streambed alteration without a permit and depositing hazardous material in or near a waterway \u2014pointing again to the\u00a0ecological impacts<\/a>\u00a0of unregulated growing. Wardens from the California\u00a0Department of Fish and Wildlife<\/a>\u00a0and personnel from the\u00a0State Water Board<\/a>\u00a0also took part in the raid, and a HAZMAT team was called in.<\/p>\n The account also indicated that the suspects had made some effort at compliance with California\u2019s new legal cannabis regulations. Before the greenhouses were raided, three parcels on the premises were examined. According to the Sheriff\u2019s Office\u00a0press release<\/a>: \u201cTwo of the parcels did not possess a commercial cannabis permit with the County of Humboldt and the third parcel\u2019s commercial cannabis application had been withdrawn.\u201d<\/p>\n A similar operation was reported just weeks earlier, on May 9. The Sheriff\u2019s\u00a0press release<\/a>\u00a0said four Southern Humboldt locations were raided, with nearly 8,500 plants eradicated, and about 1,500 pounds of processed cannabis seized, along with more than $3 million in cash. Citations were issued for more than 50 environmental violations, including streambed alteration, illegal water diversion and water pollution \u201cthat impacted watersheds critical to three federally listed salmonid species.\u201d Three arrests were also made on cultivation charges.<\/p>\n This time, there was no indication of any effort at compliance. \u201cNone of the four sites searched had permits and all were operating outside of the local and state permitting process,\u201d according to the release.<\/p>\n Many Humboldt growers are choosing the risks of continuing to operate outside the law for the same reason as many growers across California: The regulations\u00a0are simply too onerous<\/a>\u00a0for small cultivators.<\/p>\n In Humboldt, however, several established cannabis producers and distributors who are still waiting for legal permission to operate for the recreational market allege that the county\u2019s Cannabis Land Use Ordinance is obstructing progress,\u00a0according to<\/a>\u00a0Redheaded Blackbelt, a news website that reports on the Emerald Triangle.<\/p>\n Plant Humboldt Cannabis Nursery<\/a>\u00a0owner and operator Mikal Jakubal told the website that he\u2019d grown frustrated at awaiting clear regulations from the county. \u201cI still don\u2019t know what I can actually legally do,\u201d he complained. \u201cThe county regs are changing, the state regs are changing, it\u2019s really hard to invest and to move forward in this rapidly changing economy when we don\u2019t even know what the requirements are going to be yet.\u201d<\/p>\n Local activist Darryl Cherney went so far as to assert that those applying for state permits are \u201cpaying for the bullets for their own firing squad. The homestead has become a business subject to inspection at any given moment. Anyone who signs up for this is in denial about the chance of succeeding. It\u2019s a moving target\u2026 Farmers always get the short end of the stick.\u201d<\/p>\n Indeed, Cannabis Now reported in April that with the implementation of track-and-trace systems for California producers slated to begin on June 1, state officials\u00a0are stepping up spot inspections<\/a>. Many of the unannounced visits by agents of the\u00a0Bureau of Cannabis Control<\/a>\u00a0have been amicable enough, but others were reportedly intimidating and intrusive.<\/p>\n Indicative of the special mess in Humboldt is the lawsuit launched against the county this month, demanding a refund of up to millions of dollars in taxes levied on cannabis businesses last year.<\/p>\n \u201cAt this point, my researcher tells me that there\u2019s been about $4 million collected from 2017 taxes, most of which are probably illegal,\u201d an attorney for the case, Eugene Denson,\u00a0told the Eureka Times-Standard<\/a>. \u201cSo it\u2019ll be a big deal to get this money back to the community and out from the county\u2019s hands.\u201d<\/p>\n The cannabis cultivation tax was approved by county voters in November 2016 through Measure S. But the lawsuit charges that changes were improperly made to the code by the Board of Supervisors in June 2017, defying the will of the voters. Under the changes, property owners who have cultivation permits for their lands are taxed between $1 to $3 for every square foot of cannabis that they are licensed to grow \u2014 depending on whether the operation is outdoor, indoor or mixed-light. The original version passed by voters taxed the growers rather than the property owners \u2014 and based on the square footage under actual cultivation, not on the maximum amount that could be grown under the license.<\/p>\n Humboldt, long practically synonymous with cannabis cultivation in California, now appears to provide a case study in how\u00a0burdensome regulations<\/a>\u00a0and outright bureaucratic confusion may give an unwelcome new lease on life for the dystopia of an underground economy facing harsh enforcement and eradication.<\/p>\n TELL US<\/strong>,\u00a0do you think California should bust illegal cannabis grows?<\/p>\n The post Humboldt Mega-Busts Continue Despite Legalization<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The Humboldt County Sheriff\u2019s Office continues to report massive marijuana raids \u2014contrary to the expectations of those who thought legalization would mean an end to this kind of thing in California. The most recent cannabis grow bust came on May 22, when the county Drug Enforcement Unit served two searchContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":190,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4064,148,1980,50,100,780,4431,4432,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26534"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/190"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26534"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26534\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26535,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26534\/revisions\/26535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Illegal Grows: The Consequence of California\u2019s Burdensome Regulations<\/h4>\n
A Lawsuit Alleges Humboldt County Has Stolen Millions in Tax Dollars<\/h4>\n
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\nRead More: Humboldt Mega-Busts Continue Despite Legalization<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"