How the Legalization of Marijuana Is Destroying the Cannabis Capital
of the U.S. and Its One Shot at Survival
By LEE FERRAN
Aug. 3, 2010
Tucked away in the very northwestern-most corner of California are
three relatively small rural counties that are, despite their size
and isolation, known around the world in certain circles.
These counties -- Mendocino, Humboldt and Trinity -- have, since the
mid-'70s, specialized in the production of a much-sought-after export
that was, until relatively recently, completely illegal: marijuana.
The growers there have produced such a high-quality product for so
long that the drug has come to define the area, known as the
appropriately-colored Emerald Triangle. Mention of the Emerald
Triangle among even small-time pot enthusiasts is met with a knowing
smile -- and a wildly different reaction from long-frustrated federal
authorities.
The drug is the lifeblood of the counties, woven inseparably not just
into every aspect of the local economies, but into the everyday lives
of thousands of residents. But with the legalization of pot for
medical use and potential legalization for recreational use, the
Emerald Triangle is facing a daunting threat in the form of a pot
price freefall fueled by industry-style mass production.
For a region of California that has for more than three decades
defined and lovingly cultivated an entire culture in the shade of
marijuana leaves, the legalization of pot signals a seizmic shift
that will change the Emerald Triangle forever -- assuming it survives at all.
The Emerald Triangle: Where People Come to 'Grow Their Lives'
Radio talk show host Anna Hamilton came to the Humboldt County 28
years ago but still considers herself in the "second class" of
migrants to the Emerald Triangle.
"The senior class came up in the mid-'70s," Hamilton told ABC News.
"They paved the way."
It was then that growers, riding the wave of the counterculture
movement, made their way to the three counties where the soft soil,
fresh country air and an advantageous distance from government
authorities provided the perfect combination for high-quality
cannibis growing. They've been doing it ever since.
"Here, they've been able to grow their lives -- raise a family, live
a decent middle class life," Hamilton said. "This is no different
from any other rural culture that's breaking land and building their
own. In our own world, everything is very normal. We have a very
normalized world and a very normalized economy around marijuana."
Since much of the county's recent economic history was built around
an illegal trade, there are no hard numbers on just how dependent it
is on pot. Mark Lovelace, Humboldt County supervisor, estimated the
drug is directly responsible for a quarter of the local economy and
"maybe more.
"It's really hard to know, but we don't have to be able to put a firm
number on it to know it's significant," the Lovelace said. "We've had
people coming to Humboldt County to make a killing on this industry."
Though it's not listed in the annual crop report for Mendocino
County, marijuana is "the major crop" there, according to a county
official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Mendocino County Supervisor John McCowen said it is the "popular
belief" that the drug greatly outpaces the county's next closest
legitimate industries, timber and wine.
"There's no question that a fairly significant number of people rely
directly or indirectly on the marijuana business," McCowen said.
Combined, the Emerald Triangle is home to more than 200,000 residents
and, according to Hamilton, if you're not directly growing pot, then
you're working in the stores that cropped up to cater to the growers' needs.
"There is no other economy," Hamilton said. "All of the service
economies are totally dependent on marijuana. ... All the businesses
in our little town, the richest ones, sell accessories for growing."
Joy Greenfield, 68, is a medical marijuana grower in Mendocino whose
collective, Light the Way, has more than 1,000 members.
"It affects all kinds of people you wouldn't even think," she said.
So when the price of pot jumps or dives, the ground shakes in the
Emerald Triangle.
Mass Production Changes Face of Market
Ever since California became the first state to legalize marijuana
for medicinal use in 1996 (and approve an expansion in 2003), growers
in the Emerald Triangle have faced increased competition in the form
of hundreds of dispensaries that popped up across the state. Earlier
this month, city officials in Oakland, Calif., gave preliminary
approval for four large-scale marijuana production factories, paving
the way for unprecedented state-approved mass production of pot.
As a consequence of mass-produced pot flowing into the market,
Emerald Triangle growers expect the price of pot to drop -- but not
nearly as badly as it will if the state votes to legalize the
recreational use of marijuana in November.
A study earlier this month by the RAND Drug Policy Research Center
concluded that legalization would throw the price of pot into a
freefall -- down as much as 80 percent.
As a result, Emerald Triangle growers, business owners and officials
have been thrown into a frenzy to come up with ways to meet the
devastating effect such a crash would have on their community and
have been divided into two camps of thought.
The first is the hope that the Emerald Triangle can survive on the
weight of their "superior product" and emerge as the elite, highly
specialized "Napa Valley of pot." Legalization would also allow
growers to better cooperate with authorities to curtail violent
criminal elements that also have made the Emerald Triangle their home.
The second theory is that the counties are doomed.
The only thing that everyone agrees upon is that nothing will be the same.
Survival of the Fittest
Back in March, the idea that pot legalization could destroy her
hometown became lodged in Anna Hamilton's mind. Using her gift for
words and local popularity, she began organizing meetings with
business owners and county officials that were meant to answer one
question: How are we going to survive?
At one of the meetings, Hamilton took a quick survey. How many people
believe legalization of recreational pot will improve the local
economy? Of the 185 community representatives from various
industries, a resounding 95 percent said it would be "a disaster."
"The idea that my generation would let this economic world that we
have created for ourselves..." Hamilton said before trailing off in
thought. "I started the meetings to try and prepare the county for
the impacts on the social services" -- social services that she
believes will be strapped when "tens of thousands" of people are
driven out of work.
Therefore, many in the Emerald Triangle have taken the seemingly
contradictory stance of protesting a law that would legalize their
cash crop. Though she is not one of them, Hamilton said the
detractors of legalization argue that the way the proposal is
structured leads to monopolies on marijuana production and
distribution -- a thinly veiled nod to Oakland's impending factory production.
It's an argument many have likened to the way in which super stores
infamously run smaller "mom and pop" stores out of business across
the country.
"Now the city of Oakland is going to end the marijuana business,"
Hamilton said. "What's going to happen to us?"
She said if her home town can no longer depend on the marijuana
market, it will simply "dry up and blow away."
Desley Brooks, an Oakland City Council member and "longtime supporter
of cannabis," told ABC News the super store comparison is off the mark.
"I don't see that," Brooks said. "I think that some people have made
a significant amount of money and they don't want anyone else to
infringe on that money."
Last Hope: Becoming the 'Napa Valley of Marijuana'
But there are others in the Emerald Triangle that welcome
legalization as an opportunity.
"They are getting ready big time," a Mendocino county official said,
referring to growers who have excitedly brought their scales in to
the Agriculture department to make sure they function properly. "A
lot of people I've talked to, they're not really worried about it.
They're kind of excited about the opportunity to take their expertise
and release it."
Humboldt's county supervisor, Mark Lovelace, said he believes his
county is up to the challenge posed by mass producers.
"If Oakland decides they want to be the Wal-Mart of marijuana, we can
be the Napa Valley of marijuana," he said, "if we want our name
synonymous with higher grade, outdoor, quality product.
"If this becomes a legal industry in the free market, the way you're
going to proceed is with superior product, superior price and with
better distribution," he said.
In fact, Lovelace believes the Emerald Triangle already has a step up
on the coming competition.
"You go anywhere in the country -- anywhere in the world -- and you
mention you're from Humboldt County, you get a nod. That's name
recognition to die for. We've lived with that for 30 or 40 years now,
treated it somewhat as an embarrassment ... but if this is going to
be a newly legitimate industry, shouldn't we be looking for ways to
capture the upside?"
Local journalist and photographer Kym Kemp, 50, has lived in the
Emerald Triangle all her life -- long enough fear a repeat of the
economic devastation the counties suffered when the logging industry
collapsed before marijuana took over.
"Humboldt will survive of course," Kemp told ABC News. "[But] things
could get ugly. Unless, and this is big, unless local government and
growers work together to create rules to foster [marijuana] tourism.
Unless the marijuana industry is brought out of the shadows and
welcomed -- then Humboldt will not just survive, but could even thrive."
Mendocino County supervisor John McCowen agreed.
"Personally, I can't wait for economic reality to come to the
marijuana business," McCowen said. He said after a period of
"transition," legalization would drive out criminal elements and in
time attract legitimate businesses that have historically avoided the
area due to its reputation.
Hamilton is not convinced.
"You're looking at a Wild West scramble. All these people are up in
the air. Nothing can tell you what's going to happen," she said.
The image of a Napa-esque marijuana industry brought a chuckle to a
Mendocino County official who asked not to be named.
"Can you imagine? People come in to our little boutique shops to try
different varieties of pot? We'd have our wine tasting areas and our
pot tasting areas," he said with wonder before a more somber thought
took over:
"As far as what's going to happen? I haven't the first clue."
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