Michael Janzen

The other night Julia spotted a story about The Emerald Triangle on one of our local Sacramento news channels. The Emerald Triangle is the nickname for California’s most prolific marijuana producing region, a tri-county area made up of Mendocino, Humboldt, and Trinity counties.

I don’t watch TV anymore but I did take 5 minutes to watch this story. It confirmed something I learned when I lived there over a decade ago, marijuana growers mostly prefer pot to stay illegal.

The main issue is economic. It’s estimated that 2/3 of the local economy is funded by pot. You see so many people are active in the industry and even those who were not benefited from the influx of pot money into the local economy. So in a way everyone benefitted from this huge cash crop.

In November 2010, Californians will have the opportunity to vote to legalize marijuana for recreational use. This would mean that everyone who wants to smoke pot could grow it themselves. Ever since Californians voted to legalize marijuana for medical use in 1996 (prop 215) the price of pot has dropped significantly due to simple economics. More supply on the market has been driving prices down.

So imagine what will happen if everyone who wants to grow can do it legally. My fear is that the local economy in that neck of the woods will fall apart and people will be forced to find other ways to make a living. For example land prices have always been high up there making it difficult to live there without growing pot.

Julia and I have always dreamed of moving back ever since we left… no no not to grow pot. I’m not opposed to other people using it but I’ve been a mostly sober guy for years now. But if marijuana is legalized will this be our opportunity to move back as land prices drop? What will these remote communities be like without the influx of so much outside money? Will a tourist trade open up when pot is finally completely out of the closet?

Who knows… only time will tell.

Below is a photo of a little blue house in the village of Mendocino that Julia and I dreamed of buying before the recession. They wanted something like 600K for this tiny house back then. Zillow says it’s worth $658,000 now. Yeah yikes; see what a billion dollar pot industry will do to real estate prices.

News came out this week from the AMA (American Medical Association) that they are taking a fresh look at their position on pot. For the longest time they’ve held the position that marijuana had no medical value.  Here’s what they are now saying… which may open the door for research.

“Marijuana’s status as a federal Schedule I controlled substance be reviewed with the goal of facilitating the conduct of clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines, and alternate delivery methods.”

I’m not going to hold my breath on this but it seems like a step in the direction of legalization. But I imagine that the large business interests still standing in the way just like heart did back in his day. Below is a funny cartoon describing one opinion on how marijuana prohibition got started in America.

So to answer my own question… I think marijuana will eventually be legalized and regulated but I imagine we’re still a long way from that happening.

The main problem is that commercial hemp in general would present a major competitor to existing large corporate powers. We see this same issue standing in the way of a better health care system and we’ll see it every time competition appears in any space. It’s really too bad that America can’t move forward strategically unless is happens to coincide with the current economic power structures. Who knows maybe the internet and social media will wake the people back up and get the majority off their butts and demand action… but until then I suspect we’re in for more of the same.

P.S. Here’s the blog post where I found the cartoon. Funny stuff huh?