Opinion Piece By Samuel Strait – November 4, 2018 – I cringe when I read the kinds of things that are omitted when talking about cannabis. I would hope that at least some time passes before an ordinance is passed with regard to commercial cannabis, because as some county's have learned in their rush to pass their ordinances, things have a funny way of turning out in the most unexpected way. While it would be relatively simple to post a comment regarding Robert Derego's rather simplistic view of things in Greenfield on California's Central Coast, it would be much more informative to locals who in less than forty eight hours must weigh in on the County's Board of Supervisors quest to clarify the issue of taxing commercial cannabis activities. Robert starts his comment by stating that we already have data on cannabis, without offering up just exactly what that data might be. He then points to the Loudpack operation in Greenfield, California, where 20 acres of cannabis is in the process of being cultivated and makes the claim that it is Greenfield's largest employer with more to come. While I won't argue that any of this is is a fabrication, I will say that this is only part of the story. Greenfield, was a small, relatively impoverished city in California with a need for an economic boost. It, along with its nearby neighbor, King City, ranks first and second in the State's murder rankings (per capita) as California's Murder Capitals in the State. Similarly, its reported crime is ten percent higher than average for cities in California. While only some of this depressing set of facts can be directly related to cannabis activities since the State has legalized recreational pot, it is not much of a place to start from when talking about cannabis as a commercial product. Robert, further, implies that commercial cannabis activities such as Loudpack might increase the level of pay for those transferring from service related jobs to the higher pay found in the cannabis industry, but is that true? Most jobs in the industry do not pay any more than that of food service employment, minimum wage. Additionally, it has recently been found that in some large scale commercial operations the use of illegal aliens has actually depressed the wage level paid in the area. And a much less acceptable form of slave labor has turned up in some cases. More employment is generally a good thing, but low wage employment often isn't the attraction that it is meant to be. Since Greenfield passed its initial set of ordinances other issues have surfaced, the importance of a reasonable tax level for the City has necessitated a restructuring of that schedule as well as a few other changes. There has been a growing level of push back by portions of the local citizenry regarding Loudpack's operation which has given the City's Council reason to reexamine it's pilot program for large scale operations in the City. The City initially limited its venture to four large scale grow operations, of which Loudpack was not one. Loudpack circumvented the City's restriction of the four large scale operations by taking out multiple small scale permits. As such, small commercial ventures have had difficulty gaining traction and in some cases have reverted to black market operations that are lacking permits and do not pay the tax. While none of this represents a huge problem it does point to ways that not all out comes can be accounted for by ordinance and a prudent way to avoid the pit falls made in other counties is to wait and learn. I fully understand the impatience of those that are wanting the County to ignore the obvious problems with commercial cannabis, that of enforcement and permitting, but Del Norte County itself presents another set of problems that will have to be addressed at some point. For that I would point to our neighbors in Humboldt County where the nightly news has exposed a seemingly endless stream of permit less grows with multiple code violations included. The idea that California has legalized recreational Cannabis does not mean criminal activity ceases. It does not mean that commercial cannabis activities can exist anywhere. We do not have the luxury of large scale cannabis grows on relatively flat open land. Of course the 125 acres of wetland to be made into another Del Norte County park might just fill the need of land………. Maybe? As Humboldt County and Greenfield have learned in their rush to get the ball rolling, it isn't as easy as Robert would like us to believe to have any sort of smooth transition. There are a couple of other issues that I would like to expose which thus far have not been talked about and that is whether or not the local environmentalists will be quite as accepting of cannabis farming, particularly in light of the seemingly constant association of water contamination and usage, plus assorted other environmental code violations that seem to plague unlicensed grows. While I am not saying that permitted grows or manufacturing will be violating various codes, I am sure that the lily bulb farmers in Smith River Delta also felt like they were above board and not in violation. Of course the recent articles in the Triplicate seem to indicate that they may be and changes could very well be forced on them making a previously lucrative activity cost prohibitive. Something prospective pot farms might take into consideration. Finally, If Del Norte County puts together some sort of coherent ordinance which satisfies most people here locally and there is a surplus of tax income flowing into the County's General Fund, can we trust our local officials to spend the money wisely? As we have seen on numerous occasions over the last four plus decades, giving government money doesn't always equate to good things happening here, say a local and cannabis funded Last Chance Grade bypass anyone? But enough of being superficial, it is enough to say that contrary to Robert's statement that the "facts" are in, pretty clearly his example of Greenfield's adventure into commercial cannabis has not gone as smoothly or profitably as the city's fathers would have wished. And then do we really want a twenty acre sized commercial cannabis enterprise located in the County? I believe that pot as a windfall in this County may be only in the minds of the Cannabis Working Group and we as a community should perhaps look for something much more modest, after all twenty five counties in California still have a ban on Commercial Cannabis Activities.