News&Comment

How California’s legal cannabis dream became a public health nightmare: It’s a class B drug in the UK – but in the US state it’s led to spiralling addiction, psychotic illnesses and hospitals facing a deluge of poisonings

By EVE SIMMONS FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY 2 July 2022 |  A row of luxury ‘healing’ creams is guarded by a locked glass cabinet, gilded in gold trim. The packaging is stylishly minimal – clean and white with small black typeface – and beside the tubs sit decorative, artificial fruit and images of sprawling fields, with…
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Rising pot use – New health risks identified

Wall Street Journal Rising Marijuana Use Presents Secondhand Risks Studies probe harms to people near users, accidental ingestion by dogs Cannabis companies in the U.S. lack access to banking and other financial services because the drug is federally illegal. That could change through new legislation or thanks to broader legalization efforts backed by the Democratically-controlled…
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Sonoma County publishes reports on cannabis environmental dangers. Sonoma County encourages cannabis cultivation. What did you expect, consistency?

Abstract “Cannabis agriculture is a multi-billion dollar industry in the United States that is changing rapidly with policy liberalization. Anecdotal observations fuel speculation about associated environmental impacts, and there is an urgent need for systematic empirical research. An example from Humboldt County California, a principal cannabis-producing region, involved digitizing 4428 grow sites in 60 watersheds…
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Sonoma County Issues sharp cautions on cannabis usage. Sonoma County encourages cannabis cultivation. What did you expect, consistency?

Print version (PDF: 410 Kb) MYTH: Marijuana is okay for some youth FACTS: Research strongly suggests that marijuana use during adolescence and early adulthood can damage the part of the brain associated with learning and memory.1 Regular marijuana use during adolescence can lead to reduced IQ scores, poorer school performance,2 and higher school dropout rates.3 MYTH: Marijuana isn’t…
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Say NO to Commercial Cannabis Production in Bennett Valley

Bennett Valley Citizens for Safe Development Please review, sign online or return BV petition by April 30th Don’t let Bennett Valley look like this:

Rules and legal requirements are important. Just not so much for Sonoma County

Permits were issued for 4 different operators to cultivate marijuana at 9001 Roblar Road, next door to drug rehab center, in violation of the ordinance setback requirements. Then a 5 year extension was issued. Did the County notice that: It was within 835 feet of a drug rehab center, in violation of the requirements in…
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Cannabis industry seeking tax relief. Their business plans didn’t work out. We are not making this up. And yes, the BOS is considering it.

It strains credulity that any business would plead for help, asking for tax breaks, simply because their business plan did not pan out and their profits were affected. EDITOR: It’s widely understood that the Board of Supervisors and Santa Rosa City Council are pro-cannabis. However, the latest push by marijuana operators to eliminate and/or decrease…
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Tax relief for cannabis operators: A gift of public funds

EDITOR: The Board of Supervisors’ consent calendar for Tuesday includes extension of the due date for cannabis business taxes from Jan. 31 to April 30. Since the extension doesn’t affect the taxes due “in any way,” as a county report says, why doesn’t the board simply require timely payment? As the saying goes, “time is…
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Once-high-flying Flow Cannabis Co. falls to earth amid woes, offering lesson for others

By Jackie BryantJanuary 25, 2022 – Updated January 25, 2022  By vowing to help underground marijuana farmers in the Emerald Triangle become legal growers, Flow Cannabis Co. became the vanguard of the historic Northern California growing region. The marijuana distributor, which launched in California in 2015, was an early and vocal advocate for small growers in Humboldt, Mendocino…
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Native American group, Sierra Club, Farm Bureau challenge Yolo County cannabis ordinance

Capay Valley is Being Overrun Flawed EIR, overconcentration citedHigh school overwhelmed by odor75% growers are outside investors PUBLISHED: December 4, 2021 at 11:21 a.m. | UPDATED: December 4, 2021 at 11:22 a.m. The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation is in the midst of scheduling the mandatory settlement conference that must take place in all California Environmental Quality Act cases…
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