Humboldt County is all abuzz — excuse the pun — with the cannabis legalization debate. (Some folks cling to the staid term “marijuana,” but those in the know use the proper term “cannabis,” which actually traces its etymology back to the Greeks.)
There are several reasons why this is starting to percolate as an issue.
First, the number of states that have actually legalized it have now risen to three four. They are Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska. Despite dire predictions, mass hysteria has not broken out, and right now the biggest problem that these states are facing, to paraphrase the movie Scarface, is what to do with all the [expletive deleted] cash. Colorado has seen tax revenues rise from its legal recreational cannabis industry. Correspondingly: Despite dire predictions, crime rates, including violent crime and traffic fatalities, have actually gone down, and funding for youth anti-drug efforts have gone up. So we at least have models to study to see what can happen, and the future does not look so dreary.
The second reason why this is becoming a hot issue: It looks like California is really making progress towards a popular initiative that would legalize cannabis. The man most responsible for this push is California’s Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom. The man who helped deliver same-sex marriage wants you to be able to toke up (and grow), if you want to, without fear of retribution. Newsom has designs on the Governor’s mansion, of course, and he probably sees this issue being popular with a certain subset of voters. From a political standpoint, the most important position has been when to run this initiative. A similar initiative went down to defeat in 2010. That is an off-year, lower-turn-out, conservative electorate. These folks who want to see this happen know that to push this successfully it will need to be on a larger-turnout November presidential ballot.
So conventional wisdom is that legalization will be on the November 2016 ballot, where it will fare better. Also, the previously failed initiative was heavily opposed by law enforcement which carried the day, but more recently, when it came time to liberalize the three-strikes law, and to reduce certain felonies to misdemeanors, law enforcement has been on the losing side. (Though it did just barely successfully save the non-existent death penalty.) The conventional wisdom is that law enforcement’s previous lock and control on these bread-and-butter crime issues is waning.
Humboldt was recently visited by Newsom’s traveling show to sell people on this issue, and it drew quite a crowd, including yours truly. It was not lost on many that he chose tiny Garberville instead of Eureka or Arcata to pitch this topic, and although there are very few votes here, Newsom recognized that the Southern Humboldt growing community is an important constituency, and he desperately wants them on his side.
Recently a new voice has stepped up in this community, and the connection with this recent push toward legalization is obviously present. My colleague and fellow contributor Matthew Owen recently dissected (his and their) role in this debate, so the purpose of this post is not to talk about their offering. But clearly they are one of the first groups to actually offer solutions in this debate. They have even written a proposed ordinance dealing with both taxes and growing compliance for the county.
Rather, the interesting issue that is not raised on this legalization debate is the fact that as long as cannabis remains illegal, the growers will continue to be targets — not just of law enforcement (more on that later) but of thieves who view it easier to steal someone’s cannabis (and cash if they have any of that hoarded) then grow it themselves. This particular type of crime is called a home invasion robbery. It is fair to say, that an epidemic of these continues unabated in Humboldt. This is one recently making its way through our court system. This is another one that sadly involved murder. Other cases don’t explicitly say that cannabis was the target that was involved, but they still use the code name “home invasion,” and people end up getting shot and you have to read between the lines.
The question that I have is: Will legalization end this problem? (Most absolutely believe that it will.) If so, then why is it not being discussed that this is another reason why cannabis should be made legal? There is, of course, a prior history on a similar subject in our nation’s history and that was of course Prohibition. Alcohol was illegal in the US for approximately 14 years, from 1919 to 1933. Does that mean you could not obtain it? Of course not. Was there crime connected with those who took the risk to illegally provide to people? Of course there was. Some believe in fact that this was the embryonic beginnings of the Mafia or the Mob in the U.S. Some even said that Prohibition was “a period of time accompanied by the greatest crime record ever attained by a nation” such as Edward D. Sullivan in a book entitled Rattling the Cup on Chicago Crime. This author advanced the theory as well that the crime and illegality were fostered through corruption in the government system that enabled organized crime to reach the levels it did during Prohibition.
I think the reason no one is talking about this side debate is because a sizable group of the populace could care less if cannabis traders are crime victims. They adopt the opinion that these people obviously know the risk, flaunt it anyway, get mixed up in a dangerous game and get what they have coming to them. Trust me, there are lots of people who believe that, so some consider that pushing this argument that it will reduce this type of crime is just not going to win any converts.
However, those who are predisposed to think like that are already pretty much opposed to cannabis anyway, and thus they are not a voting bloc constituency that the pro-legalization folks could ever hope to or will reach. Rather, the growers who are tired of living this life on the hidden sidelines and are constantly afraid of being victims of crime should embrace this concept. They are the victims. One thing is certain: Of the hundreds of home invasion robberies that are reported, there are a staggering amount — indeed the majority of them, I would argue – that are never reported. Those folks do not report them because they fear that the cops will go after their growing activities, which they have now revealed to them.
Now, there are many complexities within this debate that warrant serious discussion. There are the environmental factors. Suffice it to say, by almost any measure cannabis cultivation is causing damage to our environment. Even if you look merely at the issue of water diversion and usage during these epic drought times, there are those who say that this is really bad and for environmental reasons it should be opposed. Most believe that the environmentalists have been crickets in this debate, and even years ago those involved in the environmental movement were busted for being involved in the 500-pounds-of-cannabis movement. One of the genuine heroes of the cannabis movement, Darryl Cherney, who spoke at Newsom’s Garberville meeting, works tirelessly to rid the use of Rodenticide (or Rat poison) in cannabis growing because specifically it is very harmful to the environment.
Once I sat and listened to a briefing from Sheriff Mike Downey to an organization that I belong to, and heard him describe how the Vietnam War chemical weapon DDT had been found at grow sites.
So although this feels like a train that can’t be stopped, clearly law enforcement is having none of this and they will continue to seize and prosecute cannabis growers until the law changes. The recent raids on Island Mountain are a perfect example. There is rarely a week on Lost Coast Outpost that the following headline does not appear. “Law Enforcement Converging on____________ (fill in the blank). Sometimes, as some sort of early warning (what we call in the military LP/OP (Listening Post/Observation Post), this other headline appears, “Law Enforcement convoy headed south down 101 exiting at Southfork/Honeydew.” Anyway those, ahem, public service announcements, will keep you on this site, if that is your interest.
So how this all ends up is not too clear, and the 800-pound gorilla (also known as the federal government) will get a final say on this issue as well, but these are some early trend lines. Cannabis is on the verge of becoming legal. This will decimate the economy of Humboldt. The corporations will see the profits in this business (as long as they don’t have to do the federal jail time), the environmental debate will continue to not happen even though those who are pro-legalization tend to be pro-environmental, and finally unless and until it is legalized, strange bumps in your house at 3:00 a.m. are terrifying if you happen to be in this business. Let’s see what happens!
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