News&Comment

Wine vs. weed in Napa Valley

SACRAMENTO — Napa Valley is famous for its cabernet sauvignon. But with the cannabis industry moving in fast, some of the region’s storied vintners are sounding thealarm that California’s newest legal crop could damage the flavor — and brand — of their prized wines. Those grape growers worry that pot won’t pair well with the…
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Cannabis farm was a model for California’s legal industry. Then came a sheriff’s raid

FEB. 14, 2020 5 AM To marijuana industry boosters and Santa Barbara County officials, Barry Brand was one of the “good players,” a longtime Gerbera daisy grower who pitched cannabis as just a new type of flower in the greenhouse. When county officials gave reporters a tour of a licensed grow last year, they picked Brand’s…
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SRA Fire-Safe Regulations

The issue of Fire-Safe Roads in Sonoma County is summarized below.  If we can get Sonoma County to follow state law, this would restrict development, including cannabis permits, in many areas. Please support your rural neighbors – get Sonoma County to conform to state fire regulations – to protect our quality of life and unique environment. Time sensitive…
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Supervisors plan to allow hemp – what could go wrong?

Dear Chairman and Members of the Board, I am writing as a representative of Friends of Graton (FOG). Our neighborhood group organized when a proposed cannabis project threatened the enjoyment and security of the West County Trail.  Our cannabis issue update list has 450 email addresses and continues to expand. In 2019, the Board agreed…
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Time for a change

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors has utterly failed it’s constituents with their cannabis and hemp policies and the homeless issue. They have demonstrated a complete lack of understanding, or even respect, for rural residents and the need to preserve the unique rural character and quality of life of the county and protect the property…
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Sonoma County Supervisors surrender our rural lands to the cannabis industry, apologize for pretending to entertain resident’s concerns

Appeal process, neighbor notification, environmental review eliminated from process Wanna see 4 supervisors bend over backwards to remove any obstacles to pot production in our pristine rural county? Watch this video containing unannounced agenda item on Cannabis Ad Hoc recommendations which for some reason only the cannabis community knew about and attended: http://sonoma-county.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=953 It’s official.…
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The poster child for a dreadful cannabis project

Use permit for Bennett Valley cannabis grow appealed by neighbors Despite the opposition of many Bennett Valley residents, the county’s Board of Zoning Adjustments approved a use permit (with a big condition) for a cannabis cultivation project on Grange Road in November. Now, the Bennett Valley Citizens for a Ban on Commercial Marijuana Facilities has…
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Green pharming and retail dispensaries – Just Ag and just another neighborhood business. Nothing to see here.

Community Message: Marijuana Business Burglary and Vehicle Pursuit; Case 19-17040 On Saturday, December 14, 2019, at 3:36am, Santa Rosa Police Officers responded to a marijuana business in the 900 block of Piner Place for a burglar alarm activation. Officers arrived to find a burglary crew actively stealing marijuana from the business. The suspects, believed to be…
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Reasons Marijuana Legalization Seems To Be Failing

When it was first proposed, the concept of marijuana legalization seemed solid enough. Take the world’s most popular illicit substance, establish a taxed and regulated marketplace and watch all of the evil associated with the herb – the criminal activity, the youth consumption –fade away into a footnote of American history. And by all accounts,…
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Use online complaint tool to report cannabis violations

Sonoma County has a code compliance system and they even have an app for it. So if you see something out of code, like RV or waste sewage or ridgeline development or lack of track and trace RFID, report it with this app. This will create a hard record in the file. You can include…
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