Month: December 2020

From the field: We have slept with baseball bats and fire extinguishers in our locked master bedroom for 2-1/2 years

In 2016, we stood here in these chambers and gave our testimony about one of the most unexpected and difficult times we have endured in our life – living next to a commercial cannabis cultivation operation. During that time, we shared our concerns about ground and well water contamination; the depreciation and undesirability of our…
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From the field: I lived near a pot farm

I lived near a pot farm. The nearest greenhouse was less than 100 yards from my front door. Due to the dangerous risks this put on our family, we vacated our home in a rural residential area of Penngrove and moved to Richmond for 6 weeks. We returned to our home after the pot was…
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They call us NIMBY’s

Dear cannabis lobby, Calling your opposition NIMBYs is fun and easy! It’s a great way to erase myriad valid arguments against commercial pot production in rural neighborhoods. Just throw a label on them and BAM everything gets simple. They’re just NIMBYs. Damn clueless, selfish NIMBYs trying to stop progress. They just don’t get how good…
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How state marijuana legalization became a boon for corruption (Politico)

By making local officials the gatekeepers for million-dollar businesses, states created a breeding ground for bribery and favoritism. Jasiel Correia’s star was rising. The son of Cape Verdean immigrants in the working-class Massachusetts port city of Fall River — famed as the home of Lizzie Borden — Correia was a home-grown prodigy. At 23, he…
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Supervisor Gore – Recuse Yourself

The tentacles of the cannabis lobby reach deep to Sonoma County decision makers Dear County Counsel Robert Pittman: It has come to my attention that the sister-in-law of Supervisor James Gore, Erin Gore, is an active lobbyist on behalf of the cannabis industry.  My Public Records Act requests have shown that she has been frequently…
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From the field: The illegal grow next to us that the County allows to continue without permit

After living on our residential property for 30 years we now live next to a cannabis grow situated on 5 acres, 10 acres is required however the grower next to us was Grandfathered in allowing the 5 acre parcel to grow cannabis. We now live 300 FT from a cannabis operation that was awarded a…
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From the Field: What’s it Like to Live 100 feet from 15,000 Cannabis Plants? (Nbay Biz)

Buying a home in Sonoma County turned out to be our worst investment ever Buying a home in Sonoma County turned out to be our worst investment ever. Cannabis wasn’t legal, so a commercial-scale cannabis business in the area wasn’t part of our calculation when we purchased our dream home west of Sebastopol. After California…
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Four Masked Men Threaten to Kill Hopland Cannabis Farm Security Guard – But hey it’s just another crop dude

On 11-27-2020 at 7:05 AM Deputies from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to an armed robbery at a reported permitted cannabis farm in the 12000 block of Pratt Ranch Road in Hopland, California. Upon arrival Deputies contacted an adult male who was working as an unarmed security guard at the cannabis farm owned…
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