MEND Season 1 - Episode 14

The Politics of Pot (round I)

As we narrow in on the halfway point here, we want to begin to open up the conversation.

About what’s coming next.

What to be watchful for and how we, as residents of this community, can play an active part in shaping the future of not only the ganga world - but the larger one we all inhabit , as well.  

To that end, we spoke this week with Jesse - a northern Humboldt resident who is currently on the front lines up in Del Norte county, working with the Board of Supervisors, city council and local government there to try and shape a sustainable cannabis policy and regulatory guidelines for cultivation in that neck of the woods.  

With that work in mind, he has co-founded the Del Norte Grower’s Association.  

He talks to us about what it’s like to be the forerunner on this issue - and why, rather than try to jump into the already over-crowded ring of Oregon and Humboldt County growers, he’s elected to shift his focus to the small-scale, rural region of this state.  

The cautionary tales he sees being played out in areas: like Humboldt, or Calaveras, or Yolo County; where, to his view of things, there has been far too much growth far too soon.  And the policies in place within these regions - though claiming to work for the small family farm - may actually signal their undoing instead.  

We speak about the problems with imposing the same stringent codes and regulations upon a large-scale, industrial operation as one would put upon a small, artisanal family farm.  And the need for variance, discretion and huge allowances for the latter if the small, boutique end of this industry is to survive.  

How our current policies here in Humboldt, to his view, only serve the biggest players in the industry.  And how the small-scale growers and operations may very well be, in his words, “thrown under the bus” with the current mode in which we are operating and moving forward.  

And he puts forth a rallying cry to action for us all.  Because the old rules of operation - that worked so well during the years of Prohibition - will no longer serve us in this coming age. And we all get to step forth and be vocal - if we want to play a part in how this Conversation plays out.  

There was so much wisdom, insight and education to be had in this talk.  

We hope you leave feeling enlightened, empowered and ready to engage in this next phase of our collective Evolution.  

This is a moment in our history that needs every single one of us bringing what we have to the Table.  

To find out more about the organizations we mention, or to get involved with their mission and work visit:

The Del Norte Growers Association FB page: https://www.facebook.com/delnortegrowers/

The CA Growers Association: http://www.calgrowersassociation.org

The Humboldt County Growers' Alliance: https://www.hcga.co 

MEND Season 1 - Episode 13

Raised in These Hills...

This week we speak with Iris:  a woman born, raised and now raising a family in the hills of Humboldt County.  When Iris was a child, her father was ‘busted’ by the infamous CAMP, Campaign Against Marijuana Cultivation, and given the option of 1 year of jail time or losing his land.  He chose to keep his land and spent the next better part of a year in prison.

She recounts to us:  the details of growing up in the marijuana culture as a child, the advantages and disadvantages of herself and those around her; knowing the safe house in the neighborhood, the one with no marijuana on the property, where the kids could flee to when CAMP came flying, learning all of the local plants and trees, as well as not having even a phone for many years.  And how she appreciates the openness of her parents, and recognizes the sad fate of too many of her peers whom, as she says, “Feel very big, very early.”

Iris acknowledges the benefits of marijuana cultivation in her earlier years, but tells us the big WHY she no longer participates.  It’s not the threat of jail, "That part wasn’t scary".  She tells us how, as an adult, just two plants helped get her family set.   What her community is doing to integrate the outsiders coming in, and poses the very important question of why Humboldt has alarmingly high numbers of childhood trauma and neglect.

This week we recognize not only the beauty of rural living, but the darker sides of growing up in an outlaw community.  Perhaps it is only through looking at these shadows that we can hope to understand how to come back into the light.