Last week’s column discussed marijuana legalization and some of the adverse consequences, especially economic consequences, it’s having on local communities such as Laytonville.
I argued that there are one too many sets of regulations with the state and local governments each issuing their own regulatory frameworks. I said, “One must be eliminated. And there’s really no doubt or difficulty in determining which set of regulations is on the cut list. By any other description, the County’s pot ordinance is a complete mess, growing messier all the time. It’s time for Mendocino County to exit the pot regulation stage, in fact, the county has over-extended its stay.”
Quite a few people commented on the issue, and here are some excerpts from emails and personal discussions I had with them.
“Don’t people realize this a capitalistic economy and society? The too small, inept or shoddy businesses never last for long up against knowledgeable competition. You check out the survival rate of restaurants?”
“Isn’t there some way to regulate the Supervisors and put them out of business? Just think how much better off everybody would be!”
“I agree with what Mendocino Mike said on your show. The black market is making and will make a comeback Big Time! Count on it! You can’t stop a system that has always worked and people who need it. You might slow it down for a while with these regulations but you will never kill it. Cannabis is not a one size fits all deal because most people know what market fits them best and it’s not what the politicians say you got to take it there and only there. It’s not going to happen.”
“I think it’s very fitting and fair that the water you sell to growers is used to keep customers water bills low. That’s the way a self-supporting rural economy should be. Who ever thought that legalization would be this bad?”
Speaking of the black market, the state Bureau of Cannabis Control (the “Bureau”) just released pot test results that found 20% of marijuana batches flunked lab testing. The new testing procedures started on July 1.
According to data from the Bureau, tested pot flunked because of pesticide contamination from long-banned substances, presence of bacteria and processed chemicals, and inaccurate labeling.
Those testing requirements and results have left some retailers with severely limited inventory over the past few weeks, as cultivators and product manufacturers scramble to get compliant products to market.
According to published reports, those bad test results have left dispensaries and other pot retailers with low or even no stock on their shelves.
I’ve spoken to a number of local growers who surmise that once the state’s rigorous testing protocols are fully implemented by year’s end, there will be so much rejected ganja that the “white market” won’t have enough legal supply to meet demand.
Thus, the resurrection of the old black market.
That is a scenario that is music to the discerning ears of Mendo pot farmers. Definitely a development to keep an eye (and an ear) on.
Vaccine Conspiracies
The Sacramento Bee is reporting, “State Sen. Richard Pan, who’s an MD, is being sued by anti-vaccine activists, who say he blocked them on Twitter in violation of their First Amendment rights. The lawsuit argues Pan’s Twitter account is a modern public forum because he is a government official. The suit, which was filed in federal court in Sacramento on July 27, alleges Pan blocks people with dissenting perspectives based solely on his unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination. Suzanne Rummel and Marlene Burkitt, who could not be immediately reached for comment, are the two anti-vaccine activists who filed suit. They strongly opposed Senate Bill 277 — a law Pan co-sponsored in 2015 that eliminated the personal belief exemption from mandatory childhood vaccination. Pan received heavy backlash on Twitter at the time. Rummel and Burkitt have a history of posting provocative tweets about Pan, including references to him as a ‘Mercury joker’ and depictions of him as a Nazi.”
Let’s get something straight, following the passage of Pan’s Senate Bill 277, the RAND Corporation released a study that was published in the journal Pediatrics that backs up findings from countless other studies showing that the vaccines administered to U.S. children are very safe and serious side effects are extremely rare.
Also, know this, vaccines do not cause autism In 1998, researcher Andrew Wakefield falsified data to inaccurately represent a link between autism and vaccines. The study was ultimately retracted by the journal that published it. Numerous subsequent studies worldwide involving hundreds of thousands of children have proved that vaccines are safe and that there is no link between vaccines and autism. Further investigation also revealed that Wakefield was paid more than $674,000 by a product liability attorney to falsify his data.
Under the state’s vaccine law, vaccination checks take place during currently mandated reporting periods: when a child enrolls in kindergarten, in seventh grade or when a child enrolls in a new school district. So for anyone who may have misgivings about the vaccination issue, rest assured there’s no foundation or scientific basis to long-discredited conspiracies raised by vaccination opponents, so get your kids vaccinated.
(Jim Shields is the Mendocino County Observer’s editor and publisher, and is also the long-time district manager of the Laytonville County Water District. Listen to his radio program “This and That” every Saturday at 12 noon on KPFN 105.1 FM, also streamed live: http://www.kpfn.org.)
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