Corruption Pervasive Across California Cannabis There are roughly 5,000 greenhouses illegally cultivating marijuana in Siskiyou County, Calif., according to the county’s Sheriff’s Department in March 2023. (Courtesy of the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Department) By John Moorlach May 11, 2023Updated: May 14, 2023 Commentary Let me confess that while I served in the California State Senate, I…
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By Adina Flores, May 11, 2023 In recent years, Californians have been instructed by Governor Newsom to conserve as much water as possible due to drought conditions. The question at hand is if this same advisory applies to individuals across the board. According to a 2021 confidential investigative report compiled by Insight Group, Inc; stakeholders within…
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March 23, 2023 Corruption in California’s cannabis industry has become widespread and brazen. There have been pay-to-play schemes, including a demand for cash in a brown paper bag for a pot license, threats of violence against local officials, and city council members accepting money from cannabis businesses even as they regulated them. Those problems and…
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Lester Black, SFGATE March 23, 2023 Overseas Chinese organized crime groups are behind many of the illegal cannabis operations in Northern California, officials say. “The [California Department of Cannabis Control] has reason to believe that Chinese triads have been participating in illegal cannabis cultivation for several years in Northern California,” David Hafner, a DCC spokesperson, said…
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Mercy Wellness opened the first and only cannabis consumption lounge within the County of Sonoma By Adina Flores, May 8, 2023 As of December 2022, Santa Rosa-based Sonoma Lab Works has officially closed their doors. Just before Christmas, employees were laid off with virtually no notice. According to Green Market Report, “the lab’s owner, businessman Darius Anderson,…
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By Paige St. JohnStaff Writer WEAVERVILLE, Calif. — Workers including this man were recruited to a licensed cannabis farm in Trinity County and said they felt trapped on a freezing mountain, working behind locked gates without heat, water, shelter and, in the end, their pay. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) Acknowledging growing…
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We’ve reported on how California’s illicit pot market has hurt the heavily taxed and regulated legal market. Expanding on that, agriculture reporter Kim Chipman this week follows up on her earlier reporting about water theft in California (see here) to look at how the industry is contributing to the state’s shortages. California’s stubbornly persistent illegal cannabis…
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