Author: Jordan Zoot
CalCannabis created a gigantic debacle with its licensing of cultivators. However, a more accurate statement is, “CalCannabis is a gigantic blunder.”
“Biggest” depends on your perspective and audience. For those growers who are facing a loss of livelihood for trying to be good citizens of California and comply with the law, the errors made by CalCannabis in its regulation of cannabis cultivation have created a life-changing disaster. For some such growers, CalCannabis’ blundering regulation of cannabis cultivation will produce the most significant crisis of a lifetime, but “biggest” is not the right adjective. Historically, putting small growers out of business for no good reason has started revolutions. However, in the instance of California cannabis growers, the actions of CalCannabis will likely to only further sour contempt for government regulation.
The screw-up of the roll-out of the regulation of cannabis cultivation by CalCannabis was inexcusable. However, we must be realistic. CalCannabis does not appear to have made the worst blunders of cannabis regulation. What about the hundreds of millions of dollars of missing cannabis tax revenue? What about the thriving underground cannabis market? What about the booming “semi-underground” market? What about the cities and counties that sold licenses for the fees the sales would generate while imposing taxes that render the operation of cannabis businesses in the same cities and counties not competitive? What about the counties that sold cultivation licenses and then decided to prohibit cannabis cultivation?
The present state of the regulation of cannabis cultivation by CalCannabis is no more than a pronounced symptom of the debacle of California’s roll-out of cannabis regulation. Do not misapprehend our comments.
The disaster of that expiring temporary cultivation licenses reflect is gigantic! Heads should roll!
However, this particular screw-up by CalCannabis is just a symptom of a much more severe problem. Those who are interested in California’s cannabis industry for any reason – whether to tax it, or to earn a living in it, or to build a successful business in it, or to secure medicine from it – need to focus on determining why California’s roll-out of regulation is a debacle.
Read more at cannabislaw.report
