Emerald Triangle communities were built on cannabis. Legalization has pushed them to the brink

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For decades before CA legalized recreational cannabis in 2016, this rural region was the base of weed cultivation for the entire country. The effects of the price crash can be felt throughout Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity. Read the full story by akoseff

Some parts of the Emerald Triangle are better positioned to weather the cannabis downturn; the coast is a tourist draw, the newly rechristened Cal Poly Humboldt in Arcata isBut things are precarious in the vast rural expanses, which is most of Trinity County, where there are no incorporated cities. It has one of the smallest and poorest populations of any county in California — just 16,000 residents and a median household of about $42,000 a year.

after farmers from the Emerald Triangle lobbied aggressively for relief. But the intervention is far from enough to ensure their future in a turbulent cannabis market., a Democrat who represents the north coast, blamed Proposition 64 for setting up family farmers for failure with a litany of “suffocating rules.

“The Department stands ready to assist policymakers,” Hafner said, “in developing actions that improve the legal cannabis market.” “There’s no way I could get out of my property now what I put into it,” said Keys of the Trinity County Agriculture Alliance, who figures he would be forced to walk away entirely if he stopped growing. “I don’t know if I could sell it at all.”

Jeff England manages the Trinity County Food Bank distribution at the Trinity County Fairgrounds on Feb. 8, 2023. Photo by Martin do Nascimento, CalMattersNot everyone who is struggling dreams of leaving Hayfork behind. Even as she is making less than a third per pound now compared to when she first started growing, Vang remains committed to her farm for at least another few years to see if things will turn around — especially if interstate trade opens up and expands the market.

Like many of her neighbors, Vang now supplements her pantry with staples from the food bank, though like many of her neighbors, she is also doing her part to hold the community together, helping to coordinate a new distribution site in Trinity Pines, a mountain settlement of predominantly Hmong farmers. A Facebook group called Hayforkers has become a forum for people looking for assistance or giving away extra food and household items.

 

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akoseff I’ll read more of it in the morning. Poor Scott

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