News&Comment

Bennett Valley Resident Testimonial

I believe that we all know that Prop 64 did not give our city and county governments a mandate to promote marijuana, to the exclusion of the needs and well-being and safety of Sonoma County residents. I have lived in Bennett Valley for 30 yrs. I am writing you today with an update on the…
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State Fair Adding Cannabis Competition

Weed now exhibiting along with Crafts, Student Showcase, Photography, Needlepoint, Scrapbooking… Coming soon, Meth Lab competition. The CA State Fair Cannabis Awards is a celebration of our cultivators, large and small, and represents another step towards normalization and a new conversation about cannabis. Awarding cannabis flower and its unique compounds, the science-based competition is open…
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Cannabis Operations Illegally Hauling Water in Petaluma Dairy belt

Growers stealing your public water supply. During a drought. Sonoma County response? Not much. Dear California Water Board and Department of Cannabis Control: I provide here evidence of violations of law with respect to the use of trucked water at cannabis cultivations in Sonoma County. We are experiencing an unprecedented drought during which residents of…
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Bloomfield residents protest neighboring cannabis site

EMMA MURPHY THE PRESS DEMOCRAT October 18, 2021 Melodious notes from a fiddle floated through the crisp October air as Bloomfield residents, seated in their beloved historic cemetery overlooking sweeping hills and pastures, sang, “I ask you please, don’t fence me in.” The lyrics, which were taken from parts of the Cole Porter song, “Don’t…
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Illegal pot farms take West’s scarce water

See also legal grows ANDREW SELSKYASSOCIATED PRESS September 17, 2021, 10:26AM “We were going to grow our own food. We were going to live righteously. We were going to grow organic,” Dwyer said. Over the decades that followed, he and his family did just that. But now, Deer Creek has run dry after several illegal…
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Grow pot elsewhere

It makes sense for you. It makes sense for us. EDITOR: The cannabis industry disclosed important facts during the county’s public outreach to develop a vision for an updated cannabis ordinance. Their notion that cultivation will become a marquee industry that will generate wealth and create new jobs is problematic. As reported in The Press…
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One more vote for a cannabis moratorium

EDITOR: The County has ineffective provisions for proliferation and over concentration of cannabis and has opened it to all agricultural land without localized and specific environmental review is of a scale that defies wholesale mitigation. This is especially so in a county with such varied topography and conditions and the many residential enclaves adjacent to…
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Moratorium on cannabis needed

EDITOR: Drought, drought, drought. Sonoma County is experiencing its worst drought in decades. Our reservoirs are at an all-time low, and even with conservation measures, our officials estimate only enough water for another year or so. It’s safe to assume homes relying on ground water (wells) are facing the same dire consequences. Sonoma County is…
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Supervisors should move forward with moratorium

EDITOR: The Board of Supervisors is scheduled for a one hour discussion on the topic of a Cannabis Ordinance Urgency Moratorium at their meeting on September 21st. With the constant drumbeat of bad news about the water crisis in our county and the entire west, I can only assume this topic is being considered because…
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Cannabis Survey Declared Invalid by Expert

Dear County Supervisors, Statistical estimates that are to be the basis of policy decisions about cannabis in Sonoma County must be based on a valid sample of the population and valid and reliable questions. I am writing to inform you of irreparable defects in the recent online county cannabis survey that make it inappropriate, even…
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