California's Emerald Triangle cannabis region is struggling to stay alive
In the late spring of 2015, Gavin Newsom traveled north to Humboldt County to rally support for legalizing cannabis. Pot farmers in the historic cannabis growing region were deeply skeptical of legalization, fearing that big corporations would wipe out their small family farms. Newsom, then a lieutenant governor, came with both a warning and a promise. He confirmed that big money interests were already lobbying in Sacramento, but Newsom said he would stand in their way.
“With respect,” Newsom told a standing-room-only crowd at a Garberville theater, according to the North Coast Journal, “they’re writing a lot of you guys out and we cannot let that happen.” The audience appeared wooed by the savvy politician, and proceeded to take selfies with the rising star. One cannabis advocate told the local newspaper that “I think when they said they’re here to defend small farms I think they meant it.”
Nearly 10 years later, cannabis is legal in California, Newsom got a promotion to governor, and small cannabis farms have been decimated. Legalization has shuttered thousands of pot farms across Northern California, destroying multi-generational cannabis businesses and leaving rural towns boarded up.
Farmers see a trail of broken promises and betrayal from the state government. Few people blame Newsom entirely, but his long involvement in state government when decisions were made that they say hurt the industry have made him the focus of particular ire. That includes a decision seven years ago to allow massive farms in the state and his recent veto of a bill that would give farmers more access to sell their pot.
Newsom, through a spokesperson, declined to be interviewed for this story or answer a list of questions; instead, his office directed SFGATE to the Department of Cannabis Control, which shared a lengthy statement saying, in part, that the state “continues to stand by his early commitment to protect small farms.” The spokesperson pointed to $40 million in grants the state has given to support small farms, the DCC helping farmers get licenses in Mendocino, and Newsom signing a law that eliminated a cultivation tax.
Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during the Tour of the State of California at Kaiser Permanente central refill pharmacy in Downey on Saturday, March 18, 2023.
MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-Ne/MediaNews Group via Getty ImagesHowever, the carnage at legal pot farms has left some people in the industry asking whether the state’s plan all along included putting the small farms of the Emerald Triangle out of business.
