What happened in Calaveras during these last years, less than a two-hour drive from San Francisco, is, at the very least, striking. In California, medical marijuana is legal since 1996, but it wasn't until November 2016 that they decided to make its recreational use also licit, something that finally happened at the start of 2018. However, Calaveras, a county with a long-standing marijuana tradition, took advantage of the great cannabis wave running around the world to approve, in 2016, an emergency initiative, supposedly lasting 'till February 2018, that would regulate the cultivation of commercial medical and recreational marijuana. At that time, they were riding the crest of the wave. Over the last few decades, this former mining and timber-processing region had lived an unstoppable exodus of companies and so its economy was badly damaged. In 2015, the wildfires destroyed the area obliging everyone to leave their homes and sell their land. But not only that. Its population of over 44,000 people was mostly formed by elderly people and the growth rate was negative (more deaths than births).
Faced with this situation, the local authorities concluded that cannabis could help them set a new course. So they found a way to monetize the cultivation of marijuana collecting taxes and issuing licenses to grow cannabis for profit. Each permit cost $5,000, and Calaveras growers had to pay $20/ft2 on outdoor farms and $50/ft2 on indoor farms in taxes. This way, the county collected almost $4 million in taxes from marijuana growers in just 6 months and over $7 million since 2016. In fact, in the years to come, the cannabis industry was expected to give way to 3500 jobs, over 2500 of which would be direct. However, everything has changed within a matter of months. The recently-elected authorities have decided to ban the commercial cultivation of marijuana. This new initiative, approved on January 10, will affect 200 licensed cannabis growers as well as many others who were still waiting for a permit but had already prepared everything to settle in the county.
The real reasons behind this ban
Incredible as it may seem, those who support the ban claim that the massive incoming wave of growers has done nothing but damage to the county. Producers that don't comply with the agreed measures, outsiders causing trouble and the land degeneration provoked by the huge cultivations have changed the entire situation and, now, what one day was seen as prosperity is regarded as a pollution- and crime-causing problem. However, not all have been taken aback by this ban. The president of the Calaveras Cannabis Alliance farmers' group, Trevor Wittke, said that they had long been preparing for this ban for they knew it would soon come, particularly after those who wanted to end cannabis cultivation were elected.
The atmosphere in the county had lately rarified quite a bit. According to the information provided by the Sheriff, more than 1,000 illegal farms had settled in the county in addition to the 200 authorized farms. What finally made the whole situation explode were the loads of outsiders and strangers coming to their towns who, in many cases, got involved in clandestine activities. Elderly citizens grew more and more accustomed to seeing old caravans parked near plant cultivations and they didn't like it. "The commercial cultivation of cannabis has always been closely linked to high criminality rates in our county", states the website of the Board created to promote the ban. They also claim the commercial cultivation of cannabis to be damaging the environment because the chemical fertilizers, pesticides and products used in the "supposedly organic" cultivations end up seeping into the soil and water.
"There is a strong moral and religious burden behind this ban", ensures Wittke. The population comprises a large group of 50-year-olds, most of which are pensioners who moved here in the '90s attracted by the cheap price of the land, the multiple golf courses and the many housing complexes for senior citizens. Jack Garamendi, one of the members of the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors who got elected despite favoring the hemp industry believes this initiative is driven by ideology and by fear. On top of that, Calaveras, noted for inspiring one of the incredible stories of the writer Mark Twain, hasn't been the only county to prohibit the commercial cultivation of marijuana. The latest counties to join this list are Placer, El Dorado and other jurisdictions of the Sierra Foothills region, leaving Sacramento and Yolo like the only few areas where cultivating is still legal.
The reactions of marijuana-supporters
Among those most affected by this ban is Prapanna Randall Smith, a retired teacher who, in 2011, moved to Calaveras to pursue his other biggest passion apart from teaching: cannabis cultivation. He was one of the first to obtain a cultivation permit. His cannabis business, Magic Show LLC, managed to comply with all the necessary requirements to operate and, year after year, passed every routine inspection. It is clear to Smith that this ban will affect not only cannabis growers like him, who only sold to medical dispensaries in California but also the economy of the region. "This could be one of the wealthiest counties with the highest per capita income in the USA", he said. The weather conditions of the area are just perfect. Its warm days and cool nights make this area the best in the world to cultivate marijuana, according to many cannabis growers. For that very reason, the first to rebel against this measure have been the growers, who have been given a maximum of 90 days to end their activities, starting on January 10. They feel outraged and are planning to sue the county for all the taxes and permits they've had to pay so far. Some actually argue that this ban will not drive out underground cultivations; quite the contrary. For example, Caz Tomaszewski is a local farmer who believes that only with a locally-regulated marijuana trade will it be possible to make a distinction between what's legal and what's not.
Besides, those opposed to the ban claim that the legalization of this industry could attract lots of tourism. Consequently, many new businesses would be set up resulting in an increase in employment, and youngsters and families would come to guarantee the future of Calaveras. In fact, as before, the regulation of cannabis cultivation would be a real economic injection from which citizens would greatly benefit. Now, with all these arguments, cannabis-supporters are striving to stop this ban and so to help the county go uphill again.