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Dylan Mattole of Mattole Valley Sungrown at his cultivation site. [Photo provided by Dylan Mattole]Selling weed clandestinely used to be the norm in these parts — the less paper trails the better. But the new standard for licensed cultivators and manufacturers participating in California’s legal market entails both paper and electronic trails documenting the movement of goods through a complicated supply chain, in addition to a shift toward moving cannabis off the cultivation site before it is actually sold and/or processed.
Dylan Mattole of Mattole Valley Sungrown at his cultivation site. [Photo provided by Dylan Mattole]
Local cannabis cultivators, manufacturers, and supply chain logistics businesses are adapting. We spoke with licensed cultivation business Mattole Valley Sungrown Owner-Operator Dylan Mattole, local cannabis distribution company Altum Mind’s Director of Communications Kristin Blue, and Director of Farmer Relations Laura Wright to learn how.
All of California’s licensed cannabis businesses are now required to track-and-trace commercial activity from seed-to-sale through an online platform called Metrc. Until recently, some licensees were squeaking by outside of Metrc, but the state’s regulating agencies pushed everyone to get online with it at the beginning of this year.
Cultivators have to apply Metrc tags to their plants. [Photo provided by Dylan Mattole] Every significant step in the cultivation process requires documentation in Metrc, including planting, harvesting, processing, and the movement of goods. Cultivators have to apply Metrc “plant tags” to plants and “package tags” to containers of flower, leaf and seeds, manufacturers have to apply package tags to bulk containers of oil, and distributors have to apply package tags to bulk shipments of product bound for retail destinations. Then, the cultivator will add a significant and regular amount of time on a computer in order to properly track all of these tags.
Cultivators have to apply Metrc tags to their plants. [Photo provided by Dylan Mattole]
To gain insight into how much administrative work is involved in this new paradigm, consider this hypothetical and simplified version how the movement of cannabis goods from one business to another could go down:
Imagine a licensed cultivator needs to send 50 pounds of leaf (trim not sunleaf) downstream to a manufacturing company that makes vape cartridges. The cultivation business must first have the 50 pounds of leaf in its Metrc inventory, meaning the 50 pounds have to be assigned a unique identifier (UID), an alphanumeric code that is assigned and tracked through the Metrc platform with an associated blue plastic tag that is physically affixed to the pounds.
The cultivator is responsible for initiating a transfer of this UID to the manufacturing company in the Metrc platform, an action that results in the generation of a compliant shipping manifest (the paperwork that accompanies the shipment of pounds). The process of initiating the transfer requires the cultivator to enter business details into the platform for all of the parties involved in the transaction — the cultivator, the manufacturer and the distributor that will move the pounds, plus the approximate arrival and departure times, as well as driver and vehicle information.
The driver carries the shipping manifest while transporting the 50 pounds, and upon arrival at the manufacturing facility, presents the manifest and the pounds to the manufacturer. If the pounds are acceptable, the manufacturer signs the manifest. At that point, on the computer side, the manufacturing company receives the UID into its Metrc inventory. Now the manufacturer owns the 50 pounds and can process it, tracking all subsequent changes in the disposition of the pounds through Metrc.
There are many ways cannabis goods move through the supply chain; that’s merely one hypothetical (which doesn’t even get into how money could be exchanged or the remitting of taxes). Nurseries move clones and seeds to cultivators; cultivators move goods like fresh frozen plants and pounds of leaf and flower to manufacturers; manufacturers and distributors move processed goods to other manufacturers and distributors or retailers; and goods are moved to-and-from testing laboratories too. All of this movement is tracked through Metrc.
A crucial element in the above hypothetical scenario is, in order to move the 50 pounds of leaf, the cultivator needs to have properly accounted for the 50 pounds in Metrc and the cultivator needs a computer, internet access and a working printer to produce the shipping manifest. (Not to mention all of the required cannabis business license, driver and vehicle details.) The originating licensee has to prepare and provide the paperwork in advance of moving goods.
Altum Mind is headquartered in Arcata’s Cannabis Innovation Zone along West End Road. The company (Humboldt Partner Group) actually holds three licenses: a Type 11 distributor license through the Bureau of Cannabis Control, a processor license through CalCannabis and a Type 7 volatile manufacturing license through the California Department of Public Health. (Altum Mind is not manufacturing cannabis goods at this time.) [Please note Altum Mind has been an advertiser on this website.]
With its distributor license, Altum Mind can transport between licensees of all types (cultivators, retailers, manufacturers, other distributors, nurseries and labs). The company’s focus is wholesale distribution, meaning it primarily moves and stores goods at or near the start of the supply chain — bulk leaf, flower, and extract. At times, Altum Mind does solely function as third-party transportation support; in other words, if a business needs to move cannabis goods, Altum Mind can serve as the wheels.
Given that distribution companies are almost always the connecting factor in business-to-business transactions where goods are exchanged, the Altum Mind staff often works closely with cultivators and other licensees on Metrc processes and the more complicated new considerations around moving cannabis goods.
The company’s Metrc specialist on staff frequently coaches cultivators through the process of initiating transfers and generating shipping manifests. Altum Mind will even print manifests on behalf of cultivators, provided the manifests are emailed to Altum Mind in advance of scheduled pick ups. “A lot of our farmers don’t have printers,” Wright says, which is “a quick way to hit a wall.” Furthermore, internet connections in the hills can be spotty, exacerbating the stress around preparing and printing paperwork.
“Cultivating is already a full time job,” Blue explains, “and then you add this administrative aspect to it for somebody that is used to having their hands in dirt, not on a keyboard.” Metrc-related holdups happen all the time, she says. Oftentimes transactions are delayed when a source licensee either needs to finish tagging goods before a transfer or is straight up waiting for Metrc tags to arrive in the mail.
Every Plant Gets a Tag
Let’s back up to the genesis of all the cannabis in the supply chain, to where the weed starts. Mattole Valley Sungrown is a family-run farm out near Honeydew, on the west side of Southern Humboldt County. Owner-Operator Dylan Mattole has a 10,000 square foot licensed cultivation space. For the first run of the season, he is cultivating Orange Creamsicle , Mike Larry OG, and Jack Herer .
By law, every single mature cannabis plant in this cultivation space is required to have a UID and the corresponding blue plastic UID tag must remain with each plant until the plant is either harvested, disposed of or destroyed. The tags are printed with the business name, license number and the UIDs.
Earlier in the spring, when the farm received its physical inventory of clones from licensed nurseries, corresponding Metrc transfers placed the clones in the farm’s Metrc inventory. Mattole works with a consultant who handles the computer-side of the farm’s account, and when the clones were ready to be planted in the beds, the consultant assigned UIDs to every single plant.
Mattole and his employee physically applied the corresponding tags to the plants when placing them in the beds. Mattole says that applying the tags to each plant this spring did not add much time to his general process, “but our operation is not very complicated. We’ve got three strains, six beds, and every bed is only one strain.”
Furthermore, Mattole “stacked functions” by actually using the Metrc tags to secure the plants to their bamboo stakes. “We don’t use any trellising, anywhere on the farm, which is totally nuts because we’re also growing out in the wind and the rain.” The plants get tough though, he says, and can handle the elements with support from their single stakes.
Since the Metrc process is unavoidable, Mattole gave a lot of thought to finding the most efficient way to apply the tags. “We have to deal with Metrc,” he remarks, “so I just started nerding out, figuring out how we can make it easier.”
Come harvest time, the total wet weight of every single plant by its UID is required to be recorded in Metrc. “We’ll come in at the end, pull the stake and the tag will stay on [the plant],” Mattole says, adding that it will be easy to record weights since the tags will still be attached. “Then we’ll take the tags off, they get saved for six months and then thrown in the landfill.”
Here’s the rub: That plant-by-plant fine detail is lost at the harvest stage, as the wet weights of any given group of plants get combined into what’s called a “Harvest Batch.” Eventually (and sometimes immediately), Metrc “packages” are pulled from the harvest batch and sent downstream, where the packages could be cleaned up pounds and associated leaf, the entire group of whole dried plants or bucked down flower.
“This whole bed will be dried and it will become ‘N’ amount of weight,” Mattole says, as he gestures to the nearest hoop house. The plant material from that bed will then go to the processing facility essentially as one big package. “They take over the Metrc from there,” he says, “and I don’t have to think about it anymore.”
Wholesale Storage and the Trust Factor
In addition to the myriad ways Altum Mind handles cannabis goods with its processing and distribution licenses, the company regularly takes on bulk leaf or flower which it subsequently moves down the supply chain to other distributors or manufacturers in need.
With trim and biomass, Altum Mind often makes direct purchases with explicit terms or up front payment to cultivators, but the company takes flower into its custody (sometimes processing it too) before money is exchanged or terms are determined. (Think of higher grade product here, like nugs (fine quality buds) that are sold as 1/8ths.) Fees for processing are negotiated with cultivators, and are sometimes offset by the money brought in from buyers.
Blue and Wright clarify that regardless of whether or not money is exchanged or payment terms are set up front, when goods are transferred into Altum Mind’s Metrc inventory, Altum Mind owns the material and is therefore liable for it. “It’s covered under our insurance,” Wright affirms.
“The white market is something people are having challenges with because of the trust required,” she continues. Cultivators used to hold and secure their products, but this dynamic has shifted with distributors like Altum Mind holding and showcasing flower to buyers, facilitating sales with money exchanged only after desirable terms are reached on all sides. “It’s rare that we purchase flower from a farmer before we have a sale,” Wright clarifies, “because the flower market keeps changing.”
“We are as black and white as we can be,” Blue adds. “We have full purchase and sales agreements… It’s all written down in contracts, with timelines in case there are any rejections. But it’s not a one-size fits all. It’s different for every single transaction — the amount of money involved changes. The timeframes change. But the baseline is always there,” she says. “We will pay you, and it’s pretty cut and dry as far as, ‘We got you a deal. You like it. We like it. It’s done.’”
If a buyer makes an offer on a product, Altum Mind brings the terms of the offer back to the cultivator and “the farmer has first right of refusal,” Wright says. Altum Mind will facilitate negotiations, if desired by the cultivator. “The deal either goes through or it doesn’t,” Wright says.
This season, Mattole is sending his flower to Northern Emeralds for processing, and “they’re just processing,” he says. “They trim it, and I still have control over who buys it.” That gives him the leeway to try to make deals, if he wants to.
Given the nature of its business, Altum Mind network goes across the state, Blue says, which enables its team to forecast market changes and to acquire bulk goods that will move in a timely fashion. The company works with a lot of other distributors, and it’s common for other businesses to turn them on to potential sales opportunities.
Altum Mind is part of trade associations too, like the Cannabis Distributors Association, the Humboldt County Growers Alliance and the International Cannabis Farmers Alliance. “Everybody just connects each other — the networking game is strong in cannabis,” Blue continues. It’s about maintaining robust business relationships.
But how does a rural cultivator establish the necessary connections to establish productive and reliable sales outlets? Wright emphasizes the need for cultivators to persevere. Not every relationship is a good fit, and it can take multiple tries to find a relationship that works.
“There are a lot of distributors out here and we all have slightly different business models,” Blue says. It can be really challenging, she admits, especially since cannabis is a high dollar, heavily regulated and perishable product. “You need to have strong, trusting relationships.”
Both Wright and Blue encourage cultivators to reach out to different companies and to ask questions. “You don’t know what’s possible,” Blue says, “until you see how people are willing to work with you.”
Mattole says this is something he’s had to learn, and at this stage in the game, he finds it is essential to be proactive. (“We’re ordering clones in the fall and arranging trimming in winter for the next season,” he says.) He does have some long standing relationships, citing Bear Extraction House as a company that he’s worked with for years. But Mattole Valley Sungrown is not exclusive to any one processing, manufacturing, or distribution company.
“My advice to cultivators is to go in and meet the people that you’re going to be working with,” Mattole adds. “Talk to them, and don’t have a bunch of expectations about how a deal should be or what it is. Just have open dialogue and build relationships.”
Mattole’s one employee waters the cannabis. [Photo provided by Dylan Mattole]The statewide shelter in place order came down in mid-March. After an initial uptick in cannabis sales, the market is reportedly slowing, with some sectors faring better than others. An April 27 Marijuana Business Daily “California Marijuana Notebook” report says retail delivery is up, but sales overall have trended down since March 22.
Mattole’s one employee waters the cannabis. [Photo provided by Dylan Mattole]
Mattole Valley Sungrown isn’t feeling the impacts of coronavirus so much, as the farm is way out in Honeydew and there is no traffic, but Mattole points out that processing facilities will basically be working at half capacity this season.
“Everybody’s capacity is hurt because of COVID,” he says. Trimmers will have to be spaced six feet apart, whereas normally they’re chair-to-chair. As a result, everybody is running half crews pretty much across the board. To add to the capacity crunch, he adds, more and more people are getting on board with getting product trimmed off site. “This year is going to be really busy. We’re working on having everything pre-arranged.”
Blue recently provided an update on Altum Mind’s operations via email:
“There have been some changes implemented within our business that reflect the current state of the globe… Aside from changes we have made internally, we have made temporary adjustments to utilize technology to reduce the amount of foot traffic in our facility, which in turn is reducing potential exposure.”
Most local distribution and manufacturing companies are comfortable traveling on dirt roads in the hills and with speaking the language of rural cultivators, but cultivators sometimes have to do some legwork to find a distribution company or manufacturer that will take their product on and deliver a reasonable amount of money for it.
More and more local licensed cultivators will likely find themselves working the phone, working ahead to reserve space at processing facilities, order clones and to find potential buyers or sales representation for their crops, not to mention stocking up on Metrc tags and paper for their printers and dealing with regular inspections.
The market could see some more avenues for product opening up, with some municipalities reportedly considering allowing cannabis businesses in order to stimulate local economies; however, many established businesses are reeling after a string of lootings and acts of vandalism affected more than 40 cannabis companies during the nationwide protests held over the past week.
This is a dynamic time, full of opportunity and risk. Wright and Blue encourage cultivators to “keep doing what you’re doing, because it’s working.” Even so, local cannabis business people clearly have to adapt to track-and-trace and changing supply chain dynamics, in addition to staying the course with producing the high quality of cannabis that Humboldt is famous for.
NOTE: Altum Mind is an advertiser on this website.
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And this is a perfect illustration on why top down economic controls don’t work. It creates absurd inefficiencies every step of the way ostensibly to keep track of product but also to intercept revenue stream to fund this boondoggle.
And, for those paying attention, all that is going on, from permitted cannabis to universal basic income to the destruction of small, independent businesses to massive federal and state debt, it all plays into this coming tidal wave:
“…the Federal Reserve has warned central bank digital currencies might one day replace commercial banks, creating “a deposit monopolist” and playing “havoc” with the banking system.”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/billybambrough/2020/06/08/china-could-force-donald-trump-and-the-fed-to-destroy-the-us-banking-system/amp/
If I remember correctly something like 98% of US dollars are already digital, so I’m confused as to why China digitizing their currency pressures us to digitize that last 2% or so in order to “compete” against the Yuan?
Ending physical currency is one of the next goal posts and unfortunately it seems extremely near. Depressing stuff.
Here. This is how the fiat system currently runs: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iFDe5kUUyT0&list=PL9JHtr3dY90Fov3PyC_w3lJIkPbawgWCx&index=6&t=0s
While most fiat is currently not in the form of cash but electronic it is not “digital”. Balance sheets are still inflated with the use of the idea of physical money. Digital money will remove the pretense of physical money altogether and, most likely, operate via an algorithm which will bypass treasury controls completely.
I would be willing to bet that it wouldn’t be in the interest of lawmakers to get rid of cash. They are our biggest outlaws after all. ‘Steal a little and they throw you in jail, steal a lot then they make you king’
The “good” politicians are well versed in the art of grift; they know how to get their fringe benefits. After all, money is a means not an end.
Yep, complete centralized control of the means of production, monetary, health, communication and transportation systems is the goal. Ownership of your life by remote psychopaths. What could go wrong?
That METRC tag placement is NOT compliant. Just saying.
Sorry, looking back I didn’t really answer your question. It would “digitize” 100% of the currency. It would end fractional reserve banking as we know it (good) but it would essentially put the whole banking monopoly in the hands of the Federal Reserve (bad). The pressure with regards to time line is a matter of being first out of the gate. The US doesn’t want to play catch up to the Yuan in market trading and the US doesn’t want to lose its status as the dominant currency in world trade… mainly petro-dollars.
Thanks for the video link and the explanations, Ullr. I’m going to read more into this.
What a nightmare the federal reserve is.
The problem is the minute the Government gets investor’s involved it’s never good. You want more people to go legal then quit getting the big huge investors involved. It shouldn’t even be in the stock market. Canada went legal and a survey done said 40% still buy from the black market because Government weed is garbage. Some companies come close to losing their shirts. Three things the black market has going for it and that’s the cost of overhead which is very little, the ability to undercut prices and put out a way better product then the big massive corps do.
If the Government was serious about getting rid of the blackmarket they wouldn’t charge a fortune for people to go legal and they wouldn’t get investors and big corporations involved to shut out the small guys. It backfired in Canada and I say good. These massive corps know nothing and are in it for personal greed, while the small guys where in it because they loved it.
Someone needs to read the regs on mature plant UIDs
Published pictures can be dangerous.
I have read the regulations on mature plant UIDs, and I’m wondering why you say that published pictures can be dangerous?
A: Because the pictured plant does not follow the regulations (it’s uncompliant in multiple ways)
B: photo evidence of regulations not followed is dangerous for obvious reasons.
C: I know of citations for that very violation. It’s one they care about
I agree with Mattole about getting out there and meeting the people you’re going to be sending your product to. My biggest complaint working with various companies has been their lack of professionalism and systems. Some are border line schizophrenic and most have zero procedure or infrastructure. These are the reasons I chose Flow Kana in the beginning. They were corporate and expensive for services but it was reflected in their systems and management. You paid a premium but your product was safe. Which made me feel good about sending my life savings there every year. Unfortunately their corporate mentality just could not assimilate with my values as a community minded cannabis producer so I’ve been looking around for another relationship. Recently I’ve found a new company called Green Ox out of Eureka. I set up a appointment to tour their facility and had a meeting around their services. I was extremely impressed with everything I experienced. It was less about pushy sales gimmicks like some of these other distro companies and more about building long term functional and fair work relationships. Their facility was completely climate controlled and specifically designed to efficiently process and sell cannabis at scale. Their contracts and pricing are reasonable and their systems are extremely professional and well planned out with quality control measures as their number one priority. Which is important to me. An added perk was the fact they’re owned and operated by local farmers. That’s was a first. It’s good to work multiple relationships but I’m finding with all of the extra work I have at my farm with compliance, I definitely want to find a one stop shop that makes me feel good about letting all of my hard work go down the road.
im suprised kym poste that… i thought that that was an add for altum mind
What is the violation JB?
The official violation would be: BPC 26031 – 3 CCR 8403(b)(4)
// “Licensee failed to properly place and maintain the required UID on each mature plant.”//
This is classified as a ‘moderate’ violation (violations are either ‘minor’, ‘moderate’, or ‘serious’). Two of these ‘moderate’ violations however aggregate to a ‘serious’ violation upon which a licensee is subject to license suspension.
// “UIDs are required for each mature plant. UIDs shall be attached to the main stem, at the base of each plant. The UID shall be attached to the plant using a tamper evident strap or zip tie and placed in a position so it is visible and within clear view of an individual standing next to the mature plant to which the UID was assigned and UIDs shall be kept free from dirt and debris. Licensees are prohibited from removing the UID from the mature plant to which it was attached and assigned until the plant is harvested, destroyed, or disposed.”//
The problems in the picture?:
A: The pictured tag is stapled to itself, not attached via a ‘tamper evident’ method through the hole in the tag to the main stem.
B: The tag is not at the base of the stem.
You can argue that what Dylan has done here is better than what the regs demand and in many ways you would be right: 1: there is less plastic waste (Dylan is doubling the use of the tag as a plant tie). 2: the tag is up out of the mud when the plant is watered which keeps it clean. 3: a ‘tamper evident’ zip tie or strap can simply be cut off and replaced with a new one on another plant — thus they are no more tamper resistant than what Dylan did here.
None of those will matter to the CDFA. I’ve seen all this argued before – no dice. His plant tagging is non-compliant.
Never trust the inspector — get all variances in writing from the CDFA if you wish to stay away from violations. One inspector may tell you he doesn’t care about something and the next inspector will nail you to the wall for it. Know the regs and follow the regs if you wish to succeed on the regulated market.
If Dylan were to send this picture to the CDFA and get their buy in IN WRITING that his method is approved (he will never get such), then he would be in the clear – otherwise he’s left himself open to being written up and risking his license.
I don’t write the rules — I just know them.
pulling the staple out would evince tampering.
No, because you can put the staple right back in the same hole wrapped around a new plant.
With nothing more than a pair of simple fingernail clippers I could bend that staple open and move that tag to a new plant, bending the same staple closed again.
But again, with the same pair of fingernail clippers I could simply cut a ‘tamper evident zip tie” and using a new tie I could put the tag on a new plant.
The entire things is nonsense, but in the end you have to follow the regulations if you don’t want written up.
I spoke to three different consultants–all said that they didn’t believe there would be any issues on the placement of the tags.
An associate got a violation even for using standard zip ties.
It’s really easy to send that pic to the CDFA and ask. No need to rely on me or consultants.
And post up the answer here if you will. Thanks
This makes getting a THP seem easy!!!!
Altum Mind is a hoax of a company. [edit: accusations of illegal activity have to be backed by proof] Complete trash. You should reconsider letting them advertise on your site Kym. We’ve got some TRUE stories we could tell you.
🕯🌳Mine were taken down and I didn’t mention the activity just the place,so that let me and the citizen group that sponsored me in looking into it that they were right. Now the Queen has the curtains open to the front 3rd of the building not to were the business really takes place. 🇺🇸⚖🇺🇸⚖🇺🇸⚖
Yep they want it all !!!! Slaves,tax cattle, retarded lemmings!!!!!herded down the shoot !!!!
Don’t forget about the fart bags for cows.
🕯🌳Now we see the true colors. 🕊🐸🌍🖖
Why would you delete my comment Kym? That doesn’t seem like fair reporting.
I realize you get money from Altumn. But be careful- for a company that claims integrity is everything- they have none.
We thought you had integrity but deleting that comment makes us question that.
I’ve been gone to a doctor’s appointment all day. I haven’t deleted a single comment. You probably haven’t been moderated.
Comments arent report ol mister brown
I’m curious how much these legal middles are making per unit. Anyone know? What price are permitted units fetching on the permitted market?
Whats a point ? I know youre really cool and “underground” but…
A point is a hundred bucks.
Matthew, your name sounds familiar. Did you attend the University of Virginia?
I recently got 1250 all the way up for a 100 pack of 2019 outdoor on the white market. I was offered 1800 for my upcoming light dep.
I second that. Market is red hot
I didn’t see a lot of emphasis on lab quality control. Testing, Testing…no one there , how convenient.
Doesn’t sound any different than what any Certified Organic and or Fair Trade Certified business has been doing since the inception of the programs.
Long live the black market !!!! BLACK MARKETS MATTER!!!!
It is very strong too at the moment. Hayfork has been empty dry for long time and deps are through the roof Currently.
I always said It- the abatement program made some more money than the fines they have assessed. If you have the smarts to keep the eye in the sky happy.
What a stupid set up. That’s a fucking ridiculous piece of shit system. Fuck whoever thinks that’s a good idea. Fuck every politician who said that’s the way it has to be done. Ripoff artists supreme. Fuck them.
Just a handshake on a dusty road.
Much better than this new system of permit pansies bending over to government regulators! But hey now- I’m an outlaw by trade, edge of the blade
Ha. Bunch of newbies & weekend warriors snitching on each other. Can’t even comprehend a little family felony
That’s a classic song by an awesome freaking band. “family felony” Love Camo Cowboys. Best group to ever come out of Humboldt County. Many of us old school back woods quad running rednecks jammed them nonstop tunes for years. Love love love it.
In the tradition of Rod and The I-Deals…Love this band that tells our local truth…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynIbY0elhig
Yep great dope grower music for rippies! Cash Johnson is a hella cool dude too
Are you really? Maybe once. But i bet you put your mask on like all the ither good sheep
We’re taking about growing dope here & being a real outlaw. Not some poseur who thinks their tough becuz they put other people’s health in jeopardy
🕯🌳I think pot growers should have to give a tax for mental health because they’ve proven that marijuana is usually the kit off drug to harder drugs that lead to mental health problems. 🖖🕊🐸🌍🇺🇸🇺🇸
Cigarettes are the typical “gateway ” drug; cannabis, not so much…
I totally agree. That or caffeine. Or alcohol. Then again, there is bacon, the gateway meat.
On a side note, was there a fire up Salmon Creek today?
I thought it was sugar!
Yes, it’s the air for sure!!
i think sugar is the original gateway drug
Yeah, I think Legally prescribed Oxy.. is probably the worst gateway drug.. Weed is more like the Gate Way Drug to Your Fridge! And maybe Chocolate ice Cream and bong hits for breakfast, with a side of maple bacon donuts..
Good article but you missed a few points. One, metrc is a mess of a program that makes you wait and wait and wait. I can’t imagine the thousands of people sitting watching the pinwheel of death going around while you wait for it to open a form. It would never make it as a commercial software product without its state-sponsored monopoly, Two, testing and grading automatically delay a farmer getting paid. How can you set value until you know if it passes tests and know its THC/CBD level and what shelf the final product will sit on. Third, like Dylan said, “To live outside the law you must be honest.”
IMO, the headline would be more accurate as “SELLING AND MOVING CANNABIS – THE NEW PARADIGM ON THE LEGAL MARKET” because most Cali (and especially outdoor!) mj is still sold on in the “traditional” (or “people’s”) black market… This long and tortuous regulatory process is but one example of why most weed is still produced outside the guidelines established by pols that know nothing about farming generally, and are mainly biased against cannabis specifically.
I’d like to note that $64 was established for the pleasure of the state, all forms of governors. There were numerous examples pointed out where “legalization” replaced previously existing cultivators.
The unlimited need to grow government size and breadth, is in taxing the underlings. A taking of freedom.
As Newsom thinks, $64 must thrive, the revenue stream is sacred, damn the Earthy people.
What a bunch of bureaucratic brown sticky stuff California voters stepped in! I think a lot of voters didn’t really understand what this system would mean for Cali Canno FARMERS… And probably didn’t really care. I get it. I wanted to “Free the Leaf”.. like really, in my hearts of hearts.. but this isn’t legalization this is quasi legalization. If I was a young smoker, or someone who just thought prohibition was wrong.. I might have voted for it too… I mean I get that there is an element of public safety and environmental protection that is applicable with any industry.. And there are issues with the way things were before legalization.
But at what point is it absolutely absurdity? I think that point is reflected in the erroneous regulations that Cali has coined “legalization”…
And maybe it’s not such a huge deal for a bigger farm to pay some one $15 (or what $12 now?) an hour to mark EVERY SINGLE LITTLE PLANT.. in EXACTLY how the Beast demands.. but for a small farm, thats hinderous and erroneous.. especially in the new school method of cultivating where even in a small space it’s easy to rack in a large number of smaller plants.
I mean Cali and the US won’t even label GMO’s but Cannabis… every scrap of weed is micromanaged to the point of Udder Absurdity.. And don’t tell me.. “That’s how it’s done..” because it isn’t. Tobacco companies import much of the tobacco from over seas. There is nasty stuff on tobacco, including radiation.. it’s not even “tested”. Try to push this stupidity on the Vinyards. They can process wine in site, and what if every single grape plant was T’T.. NO way they would stand for that..
Same with every other aspect of the “legalization” process. We can’t even “process” on sight. Which is ridiculous. I am actually fairly picky how my cannabis is trimmed. I don’t want it butchered. No Way on this green Earth would I give my entire crop to some “processing facility” for a lousy buzz cut.. I like to leave a little leaf, and a bit of Natural flow to my buds..
There is absolutely NO reason in hell a small farm shouldn’t be able to process and transport on some level, make extracts, especially using like alcohol and such, and non explosive gasses.. and direct market on some level. Ext. ext.
And while I see issues with some of the buisness practices in other states.. the truth is, if Cali doesn’t ease up on some level, they are going to kill their market as they start just micromanaging its legal industry into a death grip. Especially small Artisional cultivators… Other states don’t have such stupid erroneous regs. Soon the big big players will just find a way to import fine Cannabis from other countries and eat everyone..
And it’s got to be erroneous for the law to have to enforce all this logistical nonsense.. especially over a plant that practically ANYONE can put a few plants in their closet still produce 1000’s of cuttings, that will produce lots of “untraceable weed” like everywhere. Yeah.. let’s just let the Government run in circles in exactly how to NOT make any sense.. this is just some gaslighting underhanded control and manipulation mindf*k bull compost! And Humboldt is one of the Absolute worse. Soo BOYCOTT HUMBOLDT BRANDS! It’s unethical! HUMBOLDT.. KILL THE MAGIC…
// “There is absolutely NO reason in hell a small farm shouldn’t be able to process and transport on some level…”//
Every state cultivation license allows the licensee to process (dry/buck/trim) their own product on-site. I can’t speak to the requirements of each county, but processing your own product on site is not a state license issue.
Transport? It doesn’t come with the cultivation license, but ‘self-transport’ (not for hire) license are available at the state level with trivial effort starting at $200.
Should the self-transport license come with the cultivation license? Sure should, but it is a relatively easy and affordable license to get separately.
I forgot to mention, that with the State transport license, Counties and other municipalities are explicitly forbidden from prohibiting the transport of the product through their domains. This means that with that license, you have carte blanche to transport your licensed product within the regulations of that license.
I continue to be amazed at how farmers leave themselves open to abusive distributors by not getting for themselves the one easy State license to get – distribution/self-transport.
And what.. you get a license and then have to “check” in with the gov. Every single time you go to move a few #. That’s soo stupid. Hell no.. I am sure there are stipulations that make people uncomfortable and are ridiculous.. or more people would have them. It’s all good till you read the fine print and then realize that your unit’s didn’t have “exactly” the “correct” packaging or what ever else the “gov” seems to be able to stipulate about a persons “private enterprise”… The next thing they will require is a Sparkly glowing Unicorn at every farm…
And I guess that’s after you make it through the “CEQA” requirements on small cultivators.. Its true. I don’t geek out much on “legal land” so I don’t know all the grotesque complicated quasi legal “rules” they are trying to force people to corporate with.. Maybe the Gov. should get their Boots off this industries Neck so it can actually thrive and be successful.. before they suffocate it..
Even San Diego fought against the CEQA requirements, when The gov. tried to push it on dispensaries.. requiring CEQA for small cultivators is equally over the top.
California Supreme Court Takes Up Medical Marijuana CEQA Case https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiX5tmS9vzpAhWOFzQIHcwnC7cQFjACegQIBRAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.meyersnave.com%2Fcalifornia-supreme-court-takes-medical-marijuana-ceqa-case%2F&usg=AOvVaw3V_Uny8eRUlkDP9H9ADlkG
Written up.. for tags? So now the “government” is the employer? Sounds like the government has Bigger issues to deal with than a bunch of ultimately petty tag “violations”. Seems like just extortion and a way to extract more $$$ from the industry. And maintain absolute control.. Sounds like a lame excuse to mess with people..
I get that you didn’t write the rules JB.. but often it sounds like you like to promote them..
// “I get that you didn’t write the rules JB.. but often it sounds like you like to promote them..”//
Do not confuse knowledge and understanding with promotion. Do not confuse pushing back against many of the ridiculous conspiracy theories (and often totally wrong information) presented here in the comments as promotion. I think many of the rules are stupid, but I do understand what is trying to be achieved and how hard it is to accomplish.
Here is the complication — the Feds. They have told the states in so many words that if they show good faith attempts to track their legal weed so that it doesn’t cross state lines, they will leave these ‘legal’ growers alone. If the Feds don’t feel that the tracking program is robust enough, the promise is null and void. This is what drives the tracking program – not functional tracking common sense. There is the thought that if the tracking program comes with enough pages of rules to impress the Feds, they will stand back – and guess what … it has worked. When you consider the goal and current success, it doesn’t seem so stupid.
Having done extensive Federal time, I prefer not doing Federal time. Thus, I prefer the Feds find the tracking system robust so they will keep their ‘promise’. If these stupid (and ineffective) measures keep the Feds out of my grow room, I find that exchange acceptable (though far from desirable). I understand that many don’t like that deal with the devil, and I have zero problems with them or their continuing to fight that fight.
Someday, this nonsense will all end and it will become a widely accepted agricultural product. But I promise you that most growers will like that less than what we have today.
Change is challenging… especially when change boarders on the ridiculous!
C’mon JB if your involved in the growing trade.. your involved in one of the deepest racially charged open conspiracy theories in the history of the United States! Most of the time I appreciate clarification.. even if I don’t agree.. Even if I think the State laws violate constitutional rights, and boarder on bureaucratic Insanity..
Hard to accomplish.. the feds are fighting a war they essentially can never win.. they were pretty much loosing. Are you kidding? And it’s NOT just the Feds.. You know it’s an elaborate scheme between the state of Cali, Gigantic Corporate Buisness, big Ag.. entangled with the fed… using the local resources to enforce completely erroneous regulations.. who are you kidding? And many of the regulations.. to me.. still seem fairly stupid.. All this sacrifice, and oversite, and still no practical banking..
I suppose I don’t agree that the best way to keep Federal pests out of the garden is to invite them in.. I don’t want to see anyone do any time over cannabis. That’s The Whole point right? I also don’t want to see people loose their lively hoods, and suffer unnecessarily over erroneous regulations that make absolutely no sense, and are just a continuation of failed drug war policies.. Bent on basic bureaucratic harrasment .
You may not have an issue with those who are playing the cards differently.. non the less, the policies legal practices are in tangled with are funding the mayhem against them. I seriously object to many of the policies put forth by “Legalization”, and it’s extortion rackets.. When the “subsidy’s” come at such a high price.. are they worth it?
I’ve always enjoyed your comments SmallFry. You are able to put your thoughts to words in a cohesive manner and I appreciate that.
From what you write here I’m pretty sure we agree on most things. I certainly agree the rules are about as stupid as possible. This is a mess and there’s gonna be no quick fix.
Leave it to the government to make what was a simple process into a clusterfuck on top of humbolt extorsionist regulations and inflated fees. Way to go.
Humboldt kill the magic and economy campaign is definitely what we got small fry.love this place lived here my whole life but was in a different state looking for property in the last few days,its just too hideous politically here anymore. Too many brainless scummy sellouts, snitches, and law enforcement and government sympathizers. I mean how could these supervisors still get so many votes after the terrorism they’ve dished out and the mass extortion. Grotesque simply grotesque
It is hideously grotesque! It’s a bummer to think that good people will leave. Where will that leave Humboldt? Probably just a giant tweak fest shit show.. Guess folks get what they vote for.. Humboldt Magic Killers..
Reason #1 why these big grows are selling after only a couple yrs in production. They’ve been slaying it up untill now working the black and white now it just sucks lol.
🕯🌳Tried to warn the Queen but her little princess got tickets today,and as predicted there back. But concerned citizens realize now that she’s within 500 yards of not one but two schools. Damn. I tried. 👁
Someone says- Black Markets Matter. I saw it& thought it was funny. But really, the whole thing is crazy right now… Not any crazier than the whole alcohol prohibition era…History repeating itself. A similar thing happened in the Dairy industry over 100 years ago, with Ferndale at the epicenter. Immigrants had a great cottage industry, and gov’t took notice & regulated all the small producers out of business.
Imagine having a compliant pot farm in the valley named after your family name.
Growing a product that is regionally the backbone of the local economy and a huge mover in the worlds 5th largest economy ( California )
You’re well positioned, got your ducks in a row and BAM…
You’re Planting Jack Herer and mislabeling the barcodes on the bamboo supports not the Stems.. BUT WHY WOULD YOU MISLABEL YOUR WHITEMARKET PRODUCT? THE LABELS ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR PLANTS. They show who you paid to get yours. Without them properly affixed how do we know what is what ?
you chose your lane, chose to pay for protection while others who could not pay took a fall, chose to call those who continued to strive to produce “ bad actors”.. ( well maybe not you personally ,IDK it but many bought into that narrative and ran with it because it served them)
And now are compliant in the muddy muddy mess that is prop 64. FOR MONEY. But hey that’s okay ! I get up just like you every day and try to collect commemorative pieces of paper with old white guys portraits on em.
Well guess what you trusted the goobermint and now they are gonna Choo-choo-choose you. For that I’m not happy I’m sure the farmers in this article are good people just trying to get theirs and keep their families and community afloat.
But we’re all part of this and I got to say my piece ( and thanks to RHBB for having a legit news source that serves the people and fosters discussion)
Most importantly this has been bothering me since I read this yesterday…
In what world do cannabis savvy urban white market Californians in a dispensary buy Jack?
Maybe you machine trim into 40/$ retail zips? There’s been a huge leap forward in Cannabis Genetics. Barcode weed and genetics that were cutting edge in 1996 are what we have come to in this great world of legalization?
Nah 🐝 cool at the minimum make your own F2s every year. Grow more plants ( not just money trees) and keep more animals , learn new skills and collaborate with your friends and neighbors. Move the culture forward Small is mighty and there is strength in numbers and unity. Seems like a contradiction but it’s the truth.
And RIP to a legend JACK HERER sorry your name got muddied in this debacle. We stand on the shoulders of giants.
And I used to think that walking up the hill with a bucket of water was hard.
Big lol to bunny for comment of the day honors. I always thought slogging water was the brakes too but have you tried navigating the inkjet toner market recently?.. Jeepers!.. Who regulates those guys?
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