Congressman Huffman, Lieutenant Govenor
Gavin Newsom, Assemblymember Jim
wood, Sheriff Downey, DA Fleming, Luke
Bruner of California Cannabis Voice
Humbolt, Hezekiah Allen EGA, Scott Bauer
Fish & Wildlife, Gabriel Mourad Biologist.
The Emerald Growers Association
is a trade association representing
medicinal cannabis farmers,
patients and supporters
throughout our state. We stand for
the craft and heritage of the
estimated 53,000 cannabis farms
in California. These farms are small
operators working to come into
compliance with a system that still
offers them an existential threat.
We are working to draw very clear
lines between unregulated farmers
who need to learn appropriate
management practices, and
criminal elements responsible for
large-scale environmental
catastrophes. Under a Prohibition
system, farmers can't develop
communicative systems that create
and maintain Best Management
Practices. We are just now being
able to come together to share
practice and knowledge, and the
movement towards better practice
in the industry is stunning to
This was held in Sacramento
recently. A number of legislators
and their staff attended.
behold.
Our priorities were:
We are craftspeople, maintaining a
heritage and culture that has been
Prohibited for many decades. It is
an honor to stand forward into the
light.
1. Regulation under the
Department of Food and
Agriculture.
Six months ago, the Emerald
Growers Association set forth 4
legislative priorities that we felt
small farmers needed to make the
transition to regulation.
2. Tiered Business Liecensing to
protect craft and small farms
3. Appellations regulating specific
regions of origin for cannabis
4. Environmental regulations that
support Best Practices.
There are three bills that have
emerged from their houses of
origin in the California State
Legislature. AB 243 by
Assemblymember Jim Wood
contains environmental
regulations that would include a
pathway to compliance for
cannabis farms through a water
discharge permit issued by the
Water Resource Board. We are
excited to continue our work with
the author.
AB 266 by Assemblymember Rob
Bonta is a result of a forced merger
of two bills, one which we were
excited about and one which we
were not. The new bill contains
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