Pubdate: Sun, 06 Jul 2014
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2014 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Andreas Mink
Page: 2D
Note: Andreas Mink is a contributor to Writers on the Range, a
syndicated opinion column service of High Country News (hcn.org).

CHAMPAGNE OF POT IS POSSIBLE IN PAONIA

In the garden of my cousin, Sepp, in Germany's Black Forest, there is
a big tree that produces lots of yellow plums every year. Sepp, a
retired forest worker, keeps the grass cut very short around his
Mirabellenbaum, so he doesn't miss a single fallen fruit. Every
evening in the fall, he gathers the plums and throws them into a big
barrel to ferment. When winter comes, Sepp brings the barrel to a
local distiller, who will return him some 10 bottles of
Mirabellengeist, clear plum spirits. It is a unique and wonderful drink.

I thought about Sepp and his plums during a recent visit to Paonia,
population 1,600, inWestern Colorado, where I met a handful of local
marijuana growers. Their pride as cultivators, their fierce dedication
to quality, reminded me strongly of the farmers and vintners I have
met in the Black Forest. But unlike traditional growers such as Sepp,
the cannabis cultivators in Delta County acquired much of their
expertise working alone, learning their trade over decades of trial
and error.

"We learned to grow world-famous pot from nothing," one of them told
me at the town's microbrewery, Revolution Brewing.

They seemed like good examples of American self-determination. And
while the "guerilla growers" I met disliked the idea of "working for
the tax man," they said that the legalization of marijuana has now
brought them, their state and the country to a historic juncture:
Colorado's rigid regulation of cannabis legalization smartly squeezes
them into either giving up or going legitimate.

The growers I talked to all expressed a desire to take this
opportunity and go legal. All of a sudden, I had a vision of this
place's future. Given the ideal microclimate around Paonia, many small
fruit farmers struggling to maintain their operations could start
growing cannabis, maintaining their families' and the region's way of
life that way.

Legalization of recreational marijuana has already created a new
reality in Colorado. There is a massive "green gold rush" underway in
the state. Growing cannabis in Colorado has begun to attract capital
from all over the country, and the state is becoming a laboratory for
the rest of the United States and perhaps the world.

Investors and politicians expect national legalization to become a
reality in the next 10 to 15 years. As state Rep. Jonathan Singer,
D-Longmont, told me, growing cannabis could quickly turn into an
industrialized, nationwide endeavor controlled by big
corporations.

While this train gets under steam, though, a window is opening for the
town of Paonia and Delta County, one of the poorest counties in the
state. Growers can't compete in an industrialized market that handles
cannabis as just another agricultural commodity, but they could build
on the global renown of locally grown marijuana, and follow the
example set by the wine and liquor industries.

Think Oregon pinot noirs, French champagne, single malt scotch or
small batch bourbon. Paonia cannabis could have that same cachet and
pedigree, as an artisanal, "premium" agricultural product grown by
local farmers in a sustainable fashion.

There is an intense debate underway in Delta County over cannabis
cultivation, and a referendum on how marijuana will be handled will be
held in November.

I was captivated by the tensions over the issue, which seems to have
grown out of deeply ingrained- and antagonistic-cultural and
political convictions. I look forward to Paonia and the North Fork
Valley becoming the Champagne region of cannabis. This would benefit
all of the region's inhabitants.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt