MMJ: New Laws, New Crop

So, Governor Brown has finally signed the new medical marijuana regulations into law. What happens next? – Willy Wonky

These rules will create a huge demand for lawyers and consultants, but the game won’t change much. People who don’t want to be involved in the medical cannabis industry can still grow marijuana for their personal needs. Folks that want to sell weed will have to sign up and pay fees and be regulated.

It gets a little complicated because there are like 17 different classifications of licenses. One of the goals of the new law is to keep marijuana businesses from becoming huge monopolies, so they have it set up like Washington, where you can either be a grower, a processor or a distributor. This will make it difficult for some clubs that have full vertical integration, but I am sure a competent lawyer can show them a way through the various hoops and pitfalls.

The bottom line: This is want we wanted. We need regulations, and while these rules aren’t perfect, neither are they permanent. As long as we stay vigilant and work with our advocates, lobbyists and elected officials, we can continue to create fantastic cannabis regulations for the benefit of all involved. I know it’s not the marijuana nirvana we have all dreamed about, but these are steps in the right direction. If we do it right, all these rules will be gone and replaced with new rules for full on recreational cannabis legalization in 2016!

I need some paper made from my hemp. My blender does not work. – KB

Sorry to hear about your blender. Good idea though. An acre of hemp produces four times more usable fiber than an acre of wood, and you don’t have to cut down ancient forests to do it. I think Kentucky has a hemp harvest this year, so does Minnesota, and a few folks in Colorado also. This is great for farmers and great for America. Hemp is an amazing and versatile plant. The stalks and seeds from a hemp plant can create just about anything the petrochemical companies can concoct, and do it without messing up the environment. Hemp is naturally pest resistant, so you don’t need lots of pesticides (save the bees!), and hemp doesn’t leach nutrients from the dirt like some other plants (looking at you, cotton). We need to grow hemp again in America.