MMJ: Napa of Weed and Fire Flowers

Have you had a chance to look into AB 266 and 243 yet? What do you think? - Eric

Friday afternoon, Gov. Jerry Brown had yet to sign the bills. He has until Oct. 11. However, many cities and jurisdictions are acting in anticipation of these bills passing. Humboldt County is working on a plan to regulate large-scale grows. Long Beach is coming up with a new medical marijuana plan. We shall see what happens.

The government is giving people time to get their shit together: The bill doesn’t take effect until January 2016. The businesses that can prove they’ve been open for a while will receive priority in the line for licenses. One of the coolest things in the bills is that it will create geographical appellations for growing regions. If you thought weed from Humboldt or Mendocino County was popular now, just wait. Humboldt County is the Napa Valley of weed.

Do you think the recent fires will affect the outdoor cannabis crop this year? - Smokie DeBaar

First, condolences go out to all of the victims of these devastating wildfires in California and Oregon. May everyone stay safe and receive the help they need in these tough times. I have a friend that lost a 50-acre farm, and I have heard of plenty of farms in Placer, Lake and Butte counties that have been either destroyed by fire or contaminated by the planes dropping fire retardant all over everywhere. Linda Lepp, Eddy Lepp’s ex-wife (Eddy is serving 10 years in federal prison for cannabis cultivation; the judge herself called Eddy’s sentence unjust but said her hands were tied by the law), lost everything in the Lake County Fire. She has set up a Gofundme (www.gofundme.com/ku4394pw) to raise some money for rent and clothes. Please help her if you can.

That being said, I don’t think the fall harvest will be super small. Hundreds of farms all over the state are still going strong. Humboldt and Mendocino should have some great flowers, and I expect Fresno County (despite the county’s ridiculous ban) to have great weed this year too. Small digression: High Timesmagazine is throwing a medical cannabis cup in Lemoore (just next to Hanford) this coming Halloween weekend. I think it will be a great time. And it will be fun to see a big-time cannabis event outside of the larger metropolitan areas.