Page 1A of the Sacramento Bee holds a Humboldt story.  Of course, it’s about our weed and our growers. Peter Hecht, author of the Bee’s popular Weed Wars, a blog focused on marijuana issues, explores how this county is planning on dealing with the changing face of pot sales.  He profiles the local president of the Humboldt Grower’s Association (HGA), Joey Burger and the HGA’s proposed ordinance.

Hecht says,

The proposal – for local growers who can confirm that they have contracts to supply weed to California medical pot shops – is attracting serious attention. But the plan riles small marijuana farmers, pits indoor vs. outdoor growers, and stirs up fears that Humboldt’s legendary marijuana brand could lose its character to industrialization…

The story is thorough with opinions from government officials.

“Doing nothing is not an option,” said county Supervisor Bonnie Neely, who supports the Humboldt growers’ plan in concept but is uncertain how large a scale of growing the county should allow. “This is a major part of our economy. I just don’t think we can let Oakland or anyone else just become the leader.”

Hecht also includes concerned growers such as Lelehnia Du Bois who worry that changing times will destroy the local culture,

“I don’t want our town to be taken over,” she said. “It won’t be a community anymore. It will be a factory town.”

This is a must read for those looking for insight into Humboldt County’s effort to find its way through the changing reality of the marijuana economy we live in.

Read more here.

The liberal site Firedoglake also posted a Humboldt story praising Paul Gallegos for, among other things, instituting “guidelines for medical marijuana which could be a model for all California counties and states with  MMJ laws.”