Emerald Triangle at risk

On the northwestern corner of California are situated three small rural counties that are widely known for the production of marijuana.

The three counties, Mendocino, Humboldt and Trinity, have been known since the 1970s for specializing in the production of marijuana. The growers here have produced over time such a large quantity and high quality product that the area started to be known for it and had been called ever since the Emerald Triangle. The pot grown here is a nightmare to the federal authorities but it is the economical heart of the communities and part of the everyday lives of thousands of residents. But the Emerald Triangle is facing a huge threat because of the legalization of pot for medical use and potential legalization for recreational use which will bring along a critical price freefall related to the industrial grow of marijuana. If the Emerald Triangle will survive this law it will change a great deal. In the 1970s the growers, inspired by the cultural movement of that time, moved in the area of the three counties where the soft soil and the large distance from the government authorities were a perfect combination for cannabis growing, so they started a small business and have been working there ever since. Anna Hamilton, which came to the Humboldt County 28 years ago, says that they are no different from other farmers and they lead a normal life, raising families and growing marijuana. Since most of the county’s pot trade is done illegally, there are no numbers to point out how much of the local economy is depending on it, but Mark Lovelace, the Humboldt County supervisor, says that the drug may be responsible for more than a quarter of the local economy. Marijuana is not listed in the annual crop report for Mendocino County, but it is the major crop in that area and John McCowen, the Mendocino County Supervisor, says that it stands right next to the timber and wine production.

The Emerald Triangle has now about 200,000 residents and all of them are somehow connected to the pot industry: if they are not directly growing it, they are involved in the stores network that is selling it. Joy Greenfield, aged 68, is a medical marijuana grower from the Light the Way association, which has more than 1,000 members, and says that the rising or falling of the pot price is always shattering the Emerald Triangle world. Since California became the first state to legalize marijuana for medicinal use back in 1996, the growers from the Emerald Triangle had to face acerb competition in the form of hundreds of dispensaries that appeared all over the state. The Emerald Triangle growers expect the price of the pot to drop after the final approval of the four large scale marijuana production factories, and then drop more if the state votes to legalize the recreational use of marijuana in November. A study made by the RAND Drug Policy Research Center shows that the price of the pot might actually fall by 80 percent. As a result, Emerald Triangle growers, business owners and officials are trying to find a solution to face the devastating effect of what would mean a 80 percent decrease in their incomes, too. Some of them hope that the Emerald Triangle will survive because of producing high quality marijuana, but 95 percent of the community representatives believe that this will mean a total disaster for the region. This is why many residents from the Emerald Triangle started protesting against the law that might easily destroy their community. But there are some people that look at it as a big opportunity and rushed to the Agriculture department to make sure they function properly. The Humboldt county supervisor, Mark Lovelace, says that his county will manage competition from mass producers by selling superior products at superior prices and with better distribution.