Pubdate: Mon, 15 Jun 2015
Source: Press Democrat, The (Santa Rosa, CA)
Copyright: 2015 The Press Democrat
Contact:  http://www.pressdemocrat.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/348
Author: Robert Digitale

SONOMA COUNTY MARIJUANA GROWERS URGED TO FORM UNITED FRONT

Sonoma County marijuana growers came together Sunday near Sebastopol 
to talk about how their industry can come out of the shadows, flex 
some political muscle and position itself for a day when its product 
becomes legalized for all adults.

About 200 people gathered at the Sebastopol Grange for the first 
fundraiser of the newly formed Sonoma County Growers Alliance.

Speakers exhorted listeners to get involved in both lobbying the 
Legislature and in electing local officials who are sympathetic to 
their industry. They pointed to the wine industry, the county's top 
legal crop, as a model to follow in developing a high-quality cachet 
and in influencing both state and local politics.

The message, said Craig Litwin, a former Sebastopol mayor, should be, 
"We're here. We're participating. We have money and we're not going away."

Litwin, a founder of Citizens for Responsible Access, a pro-marijuana 
political action committee, said the flip side to getting recognized 
as legitimate businesses is that growers won't be able to flaut 
environmental regulations by planting pot directly along creeks or 
diverting stream water need for endangered fish. "I'm sorry, those 
days are gone," he said.

California voters in 1996 passed an initiative allowing marijuana use 
for medical purposes. But federal law doesn't recognize such use, and 
until recently federal officials have taken an aggressive stance 
toward pot cultivation and sales.

Many present Sunday are looking ahead to 2016 for a possible state 
ballot initiative that would legalize recreational use of the drug, 
as has been done in Colorado, Washington, Alaska and Oregon. Speakers 
at Sunday's event said that in the event such a measure passes, laws 
should be in place to make sure that the small growers who now form 
the industry will be able to compete against large companies that may 
try to enter the market.

Sebastopol Councilman Robert Jacob, the owner of two Peace in 
Medicine marijuana dispensaries in the county, said the time has come 
for the growers and related businesses to "come out of the closet and 
say who we are." By forming alliances, he said, "that's how we effect change."

Speakers noted some growers still fear prosecution. Tawnie Logan, the 
alliance's executive director, joked that growers had told her they 
would be wearing fake mustaches and dark glasses Sunday.

And talk Sunday acknowledged the shadowy nature that still surrounds 
pot cultivation. One panel's advice on operating a business in a 
"changing landscape": If you haven't been reporting your revenues to 
the IRS, go first to an attorney so he can hire an accountant who 
then will be immune from testifying against you under attorney-client 
privilege.

In a brief interview, Logan acknowledged that for 15 years she helped 
in the cultivation of cannabis in the county. Through the alliance, 
which is still awaiting its official federal designation as a 
nonprofit, she plans to provide regular gatherings to educate growers 
about key issues. The alliance also will provide a platform to "help 
influence our economic future."

Sunday's speakers included Assemblyman Jim Wood, D-Healdsburg, who 
was credited with not only taking the first marijuana bill to the 
Assembly agriculture committee but also winning its passage by the 
committee and the entire body. The legislation is now being 
considered by the state Senate.

Wood said the county's marijuana growers appeared "three steps 
behind" those north of here.

He expressed surprise to find so many of the region's growers backing 
his efforts to place themselves under government oversight. Even so, 
he expected that like other business people, in a few years they 
would be asking him, "Dammit, what is with all these regulations?"
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom