
CannaBeat & Psychedelinks
By Emerge Law Group PC

CannaBeat & PsychedelinksOct 11, 2022

Copernican Solutions for Hemp & Cannabis
Six years after Proposition 64, cannabis consultant Joanna Cedar explains why cannabis “legalization” caused most Sonoma County cultivators to exit the industry. In her analysis, Sonoma County’s ordinance is the worst offender, because it prohibited commercial cultivation on parcel smaller than 2 acres. With that decision, Sonoma County eliminated the cottage license-type before anyone had a chance to apply. Prop. 64 isn’t blameless, of course, but nothing hurt Sonoma’s cultivators like the ordinance: at one point, as many as 5,000 parcels were used for growing cannabis. Over ninety percent (90%) are now out of the regulated market, because they shuttered or because they’re selling exclusively to the illicit market.
But on parcels large and small, through California, hemp cultivation persists. And there’s a nationwide market for hemp. Someone can drive a tractor trailer filled with hemp from California to Florida, as easily as onions. Hemp is underregulated, however, with no or minimal age-gating, testing and labeling standards.
Joanna Cedar’s “Copernican solution” to the mis-regulation of cannabis and hemp is to unite the two under one regulatory scheme. In truth, they are united in nature (they’re two names for the same plant), but our mis-regulation of the plant has become baroque.

SB 1186 & California Senator Scott Wiener
Senate Bill 1186 became law on September 18, 2022, which means that on 1/1/24, medicinal cannabis is deliverable everywhere in California. This is a major upgrade from the status quo (about 2/3 of California communities prohibit all commercial cannabis transactions). Delia and Jay talk with CA Senator Scott Wiener, SB1186's author, about cannabis reform and what's next on his agenda.

Commercial Lending to Cannabis Companies
News - News - North Bay Credit Union is making commercial loans to cannabis companies, something once thought impossible. Learn more during Delia's and Jay's conversation with NBCU's chief lending officer Robert Goebel

Lucas Seymour & Old Kai Distribution
The CannaBeat Podcast - Lucas Seymour of Old Kai Distribution
Before Proposition 64 created the commercial adult-use cannabis industry in California, Lucas Seymour co-founded Old Kai Distribution in Ukiah, California. Old Kai’s wanted to be “squeaky clean” and prove to cultivators in Mendocino, Trinity, and Sonoma Counties that it was time to come out of the shadows. The company planned expansion to Southern California, aiming to link Northern California’s world-renowned cannabis cultivators with Southern California’s massive retail opportunities. But, the company quickly hit several headwinds: regulations in Southern California were unique to each jurisdiction; some local regulations conflicted with state regulations (e.g., the drive-time between distribution hubs). Cities that were great targets for distribution (like Long Beach) wanted high distribution taxes, all but eliminating profitability. And, most importantly, licensing timelines were extremely long, and required an applicant to hold a leased space for the entire approval process requiring applicants to, pay commercial rent indefinitely, without any idea of when they could actually start making sales.
Meanwhile, conditions in Ukiah were no better. Incongruity between state and local regulations cost Old Kai over a million dollars when the Mendocino County Sheriff Department seized 1,800 lbs. of inventory in late 2017 (despite Old Kai holding state and local distribution licenses). The cannabis was never recovered. After this “we were dead in the water,” Seymour reports. Learn more on The CannaBeat Podcast and read more about Old Kai in these news stories:

Episode 2 - Has Prop. 64 Been Good for a Mendocino Cultivator?
Join Delia, Jay and Mendocino Cultivator and Consultant Josh Abrams (founder of Higher Path Consulting) to hear how Proposition 64 impacted Josh's grow, Josh's friends' businesses and his green-thumb'd neighbors.

Episode 1 - The State of California Cannabis
Delia, Genna and Jay introduce the podcast and their goals for the show - to share conversations with the people shaping the California cannabis business