Cannabis tax-break rewards bad business decisions

I served on the County Cannabis Advisory Group (CAG) in 2017-2018 as a neighborhood “rep” and had a lot of interaction with industry reps. Having read about mega grow operations near Palm Springs and other areas in the south as well as large operations in Monterey County, I asked how local growers could compete when the production costs here would be so much higher?  The answer was: they couldn’t. They would have to depend on “branding”  by relying on the name of Sonoma County and using appellation designations.

This was the only way to make a sale at a premium price and make a profit. This meant growing outdoors with roots in the ground, not growing in tubs of potting soil as most do here.

Fast forward to today. Growers in the Emerald Triangle are still trying to unload 2020’s crop, the current price for “generic” cannabis is cratering, and local growers are pleading for reduced taxes and other support from the government.

The problem stems from poor business decisions made by local operators when the future trends could be clearly seen. They don’t need a moratorium on taxes for their poor judgment and subsequent failure.

–Brantly Richardson, Santa Rosa