Lady Buds (2021) - full transcript

foodval.com - stop by if you're interested in the nutritional composition of food
---
Hey.

This it?
Yep.

Priscilla?
Priscilla.

There's 50 of them?
Fifty.

And what's the number on this?

3,000.

Fifty.

All right. Thank you.
I'll grab these.

I'll grab this one and come back
for the rest.

Voters legalize the recreational use

of marijuana.
History has been made here.



The overwhelming passage
of California's proposition 64

means adults over 21 can now
legally smoke marijuana

for recreational use.

With these scissors, I dub thee free.

Prop 64 is a collaborative effort

between bright industry minds
to put protections,

restrictions, and regulations in place.

So, to anybody who has a
marijuana offense

on their record going back five,
ten, 50 years,

will be eligible to have their
record cleared.

It's time for politicians of all stripes

to come out of the closet,
in this respect,

and say what they think on marijuana.

And prop 64 does limit the real estate



a grower can own for the first
five years

to only one acre,

and that's to allow
local farmers get a head start

before the big guys move in.

If investor capital

comes in before the established industry

here in California gets its foothold,

then what happens to the
50,000+ farmers

across California?

I am a second generation
cannabis farmer.

Grew up in a back to the land
hippy commune,

5,600 acres of beautiful
Mendocino County.

My husband and myself have
a 40 acre piece of property,

and we grow 10,000 square
feet of cannabis

on that property.

Just need to get this big mama.

Oh, my gosh!
It's just (unclear).

In the 70s, where I grew up,

everybody knew what
everybody else did,

but was all kinda hush hush.

The helicopters would come over,
we'd all kind of hide,

and we were very worried
about getting busted.

My dad would say things like,
you know,

"Make sure you don't tell
anybody what,

you know, dad does.

You don't want your dad
to go to jail," kind of thing.

So, yeah, you have to be
a rebel at heart, really,

to wanna follow through with this.

I think the main positives that
have come from legalization

are that we really get
to step out of the shadows,

we get to come out

as relevant pieces of this industry.

We've all been here for so long
as farmers,

you know, the time is now

to, like, propel this industry forward.

We did that so good!

We met in 1981 in the ceramics lab

in Missoula, Montana, at the university.

And we found we had
ceramics in common and...

Cannabis.
In common.

I bought a small farm in 2011.

That's the farm I've been living
on since 1990.

It's been a great adventure
getting a crew together

and grow all this beautiful cannabis.

And Joyce would come at trim season

and then she moved up and
started doing some farming.

We make pain relief salve.

It's a medicine, it's a beautiful plant.

It's healing to work with the plant

because of the medicinal reasons.

All of our product is organic

and we make the salve together.

And I think, yeah,
you have to be aware

that it's federally illegal.

So, when people come in to this business,

they've gotta realize:
Are you willing to go to jail

and lose everything?

And so, we've been willing
to do that for years,

or we wouldn't be here.

It is on my bucket list
never to go to jail...

And I'm hoping that that,

You know, stays that way.

Yeah. That'll be nice.
Yeah.

That would be nice.

This is the beginning
stages of our dispensary.

It was an unused eyesore.

We purchased it and we literally
had to have it gutted out.

It's been quite an ordeal.

This is the dispensary part of it,

where the patients will come in
and see the product,

and they'll be greeted
by a whole host of people

to help them as needed.

And here will be, like,
a multipurpose room,

where I'll have my classes which
is where I educate seniors

about the benefits of medical cannabis.

It's gonna work.

Just to see the roof off

and everything just coming together,

just fills my heart.

A ten year vision is now in operation.

It's been slow, but all in divine timing.

It's all coming together
the way it's supposed to.

And even the bees wanna come.

We'd like to begin by just
saying thank you

for being a part of this
incredible journey

of a lifetime.

It's a labor of love.
Yes, it is.

Our dispensary will be geared
to the needs of seniors.

Most seniors that I work with

are on from 15 to 26 pills a day,

and they're still not getting any better.

Cannabis can help almost every ailment

that seniors have.

There will be seniors that's coming,

seniors that's working there,
and they're wisdom keepers.

That's who we are.

If somebody had said to me
12 years ago

I would be doing this work
in the cannabis industry,

I would've said, "ooh,
you been smoking too much.

Catholic school principal,
goodie two shoes sue?

No way!"

When you grow up in a system

that's set up against you
from the beginning,

you have to learn how to be bold
and stand up for yourself.

Anybody can be an activist.

Anybody who uses their voice

and tries to elevate a cause
or an issue is an activist.

And I don't also don't think
you choose to be an activist,

it's kind of like, "Hey, that's messed up."

So, you just start fighting for it,
you are an activist,

because you've been activated
and your soul has been like,

wait, enough.
That can't happen, that's wrong.

I tool some CBD.

And that CBD revolutionized
who I was.

Like, wait,
I don't have to take Valium and Xanax

for the PTSD that I have?

Wait, I can smoke a joint
and have a great night's sleep?

And it just transformed

how I looked at the experience
with the plant

where I was just like, wait a second,

this is actually medicine.

Love you.

I am a fourth generation

Mexican American,

LGBT and cannabis advocate
and activist.

What needs to happen is that
black and brown people

who've been disproportionately affected

by the war on drugs,

they don't have the bank accounts,

they don't have the rich families

or the rich friends that they can ask

to invest in the space.

So, for me, it was just,
"How do I give back?"

We thank you all for joining us today.

We're here and we're not going anywhere.

And we're ensuring

that more faces that look like ours

not only have ownership,

but get that piece of the pie back

that was robbed from us.

After 23 years,

my high school sweetheart
found me on the Internet.

And what was he doing?

He was farming cannabis
in Humboldt County.

I was just, you know, I was shocked.

And then I said, "You know,
my friends in New York

would really like some of that
Humboldt County pot."

And I drove out to California

and I drove back with several
pounds of pot.

Then I had to get it
around New York City

to my friends who wanted to
buy pounds.

So, I gathered up
all my designer shopping bags,

And I would just sling those
Tiffany bags

over my shoulders.
They were filled with pot,

and I would just take them
round to the people that,

you know, wanted to buy these pounds.

I, at that time,

owned two restaurants
in New York City.

I'd been in the restaurant business

for 12 years.

I was tired.
I was looking to make a change.

So, I decided to sell my restaurants

and come out to Humboldt.

And I got here and I was saying
to Jeff,

"Does he grow? Does she grow?"
And he goes...

"Everyone grows."
I went, "oh, okay."

Everyone grew.

The whole entire community,
everyone grew.

In the early 70s,

a great number of people
moved up to Humboldt,

they were called "Back to the Landers."

They wanted to farm organically,
live off the land,

and just kind of escape
everything that was going on.

We had the Vietnam War of the time,

so everybody just kinda flocked
to communities like this.

There was a lot of Back to the
Land couples,

and people were having babies
out in the woods.

I would say we were kind of
free range children.

That's what we called them.

Romping around,
swimming in the pond,

climbing trees and stuff.

And that was kind of the nature
of the community here.

If you don't come home,

your parents are gonna assume
that you're at someone's house

and that you're not, like,
in the woods, lost,

with the bears and the mountain lions.

I guess I grew up, in a way,
like, being really fearless

about a lot of stuff
and being really unique

and standing out in a lot of ways.

And I think that pattern
has followed through.

Jeff was such a master grower.

They would come to him for advice,

like, you know, "How do I do this?"

And, "My leaves are yellow,
what do I do? What do I add?"

People weren't growing
like they're growing now.

They were having to hide their crops

and grow them in trees or under trees.

We tried to grow in, like,
BlackBerry Brambles

where no one could see it.

Helicopters would fly
all around here for camp.

Campaign against marijuana planting.

Camp lasted about ten years,
15 years,

and it was to eradicate the cannabis.

They would fly over and see a crop

and take it out in helicopters,
big huge bags of cannabis.

It was terrifying for a lot of people.

And of course, they had on KMUD,
the radio station,

they had helicopter alerts every day.
Like, at 11:00.

"Helicopters are flying over
Seely Creek."

"Helicopters are flying over
Salmon Creek."

"Helicopters are flying at China Creek."

It was pretty crazy.

Jeff was a paranoid person
to begin with,

and that contributed way too
much to his paranoia.

Jeff died in 2009,
so I miss him so much.

I miss him every day.

After Jeff's death,

you know,
you just have to keep going on.

So, one of the things
that happened was

I literally inherited the farms.

And that's what led me to

my current situation with cannabis.

There are so many unknowns.

It is scary, not just for me,
but for all of my colleagues.

People just don't know
what's gonna happen.

You know,
that great Eleanor Roosevelt quote,

"Do something that scares you
every day."

Well, that is the cannabis
business right now.

All right.

And I'm gonna take this
opportunity to let you know

that you've been listening to

all about the music this morning,
and I am Mumzer

and I'm happy to be joining you
for your morning activities.

And I wanna ask you
all a question, okay?

Actually, a couple of questions.

How are you feeling
about this legalization thing?

How's it going for you and your family?

And what do you think
about the end of prohibition?

Call in now and let us know
your opinion.

I know you're out there.

As of right now,
we 're in the safe zone.

You know,
we've got this five year window period

to get it together to start organizing.

You're gonna have to grow

the best that you can grow

and brand yourself and work in co-ops,

and then you'll survive.
It's capitalism, after all.

I voted for prop 64 because I,
for one thing,

thought if we got one person
out of prison

whose family life was ruined
for being busted

and sent to prison for marijuana,
then heck.

You know?

We knew we were gonna have
to keep fixing it for years,

and we will keep fixing it for years.

I think it's really gonna wipe out

this mom and pop farmers.

Because even now,

now that people are going for permits,

when I see the size of their greenhouses

and how many of them...

It scares me.

I have a lot of friends and family

that are gonna have a hard time,
but you know what?

The people that have done it right,

that have gone for the legal permits,

that are doing a high quality product,

are gonna find that
as this legal market comes in

and dispensaries have to buy it
from a legal permitted farm,

they're gonna do quite well
over the next few years.

Big business

is barking all around
our heels right now.

And they're more skilled
and they've got more money,

and if we're not careful,

we're actually gonna lose control

of the marijuana industry.
It's gonna be taken over

by people who don't, in fact,
share our values,

and maybe could care less
if we saved the environment

and employ people at livable wages.

When people came to the table
to write prop 64,

they didn't invite any
compassion programs.

It was all the big business people.

And prop 215 was written
as a Compassionate Care Act

to allow cannabis to be put into
the hands

of people who really needed it
as medicine.

So, as exciting as January 1st is

and this new explosion
into a brand new market,

we have to be cognizant
that we don't lose the history

of why we're even able to do this.

I grew up in a home that was
conservative Christian.

I knew I was queer when I was
really young

and I just needed to get away

to the most liberal place I could find.

Where was I going
to finally be able to be me?

Everybody knows

That San Francisco
is one of the queer havens

in the world.

So, for me, it was just easy.
It was one of those,

wait, oh my gosh!

Look at that couple holding hands!

And just, like, being like,
oh, I can't wait

to have a girl that I could hold
her hand.

People forget 1995,

the leading cause of death

for men between 22 and 44 was Aids.

This was the gay plague.

It was literally called "The Gay Plague."

Cannabis helped them with the nausea

that they were having.

It helped them with
some of the wasting syndromes

that they were going through.

Cannabis afforded many people

the ability to just be able to eat.

This was a death sentence.

I always tell people this was
a rite of passage for me.

The first time that I transported
a bag of weed

from point A to point B
in the Bay Area,

my friend was HIV Positive.

These were my brothers.

Like, what do you do for your brother?

You help them.

There were a bunch of women

who stepped into roles
as mothers and sisters

and platonic wives,

to just be able to help
our siblings during this crises.

The LGBTQ Community was instrumental

in opening up this dialogue
about cannabis as medicine.

And that continued with people
like Dennis Peron,

Scott Imler,

and Brownie Mary,

who made sure that
compassionate cannabis

was a component through Prop 215,

which afforded a patient
to be able to grow,

consume, possess cannabis.

He's real excited.

And so, he's gonna be doing the food?

Hm-mmm.

How many people are coming
to the wedding?

One fifty.
About 150?

Hm-mmm.

Wait, more than that.

Well, because I think I had to
go to 120 on my side.

Wait a minute.
You didn't tell me that.

'Cause that's not including,
you know, staff and all that.

That's gonna take some coordinating.

My son, Kwamin,
when he told us that he was gay,

it didn't equate

what I had been told
about people being gay!

He didn't match!

This is somebody I knew
that didn't fit what I was told.

Hello.
Good to see you as well.

Hey, Babe.
Hey, Babe!

How was work?

It was because of you being gay

that changed me.

It was him telling us that

that really started me
to evolve into a real person

and started questioning
how I saw life.

What else have I been lied to about?

You know?
Hm-mmm.

The cannabis stuff, I say, well, shit.

Maybe they lied to me about that,
you know?

And so it just kinda opened my mind

into a broader perspective.

And look at the gift I get.
I get another son.

I thought my party days
were over until you showed up.

Oh, no way!

Jamie and I met on Greenfield Ranch,

where we both lived.

His dad owns property
just below our property

and my father has land out in
the center of the ranch.

Kinda have a similar history.

I really love working with plants.

You know, I'm pretty quiet, generally.

And so I was really into Botany
and Marine Biology

and was working two jobs

and growing a little bit of cannabis

and just started doing this
more and more,

and I really enjoyed
the breeding aspect of it.

Like, picking a couple different plants

with different attributes

and figuring out what I thought
might make a good combination,

and it kinda blossomed from there.

It's a little easier to manage
small plants,

but it's kinda fun to see
when they get really big

and, you know, you're proud.

Gardening was always
a huge part of my life.

Through the winter,
I'd get really antsy.

I just need to, like,
put my hands in the dirt.

And then once I did that
a couple times,

in springtime I felt normal again.

I'm mom of two boys.
One's 16 and one's almost ten.

True is my sweet boy.
He's an animal lover, huh?

A hyena is your favorite animal?

Yeah.
First I've heard of that.

All right.

We're not getting one of those,
by the way.

Our farm is named River Shai,

which is our older son's
two middle names.

He goes by River

and he's proud that the farm's
named after him.

And then, you know,
we have some True Kush crosses,

the True Berrymore,

and he's kinda excited

that his name was all over things.

They're so used to it and they
kinda forget sometimes

when they're talking to their
friends or at school.

It used to be more of a challenge.

We all have stories where, like,

the teacher literally pulls
a bud off the kids' sweater

and just puts it in the garbage

because they know what
the kids' home life is like,

and they're not gonna cause a problem.

It's been a little bit of a challenge

with the cannabis world
with our teenage son

in that he's really interested in cannabis.

It's been a challenge
trying to educate him

and, you know,
not be hypocrites ourselves.

Did you eat?

Uh uh.

I want him to have a different life.

I really don't want him
to just go from high school,

being a teenager,
right into cultivating cannabis.

Come, sit, sit, sit.
Sit. Sit. Sit, sit.

So, I have something here
I need to interrupt,

because this is...
Okay, interrupt.

Stop.
Just stop.

This is like

a historical moment...
We're gonna listen.

For the Bud Sisters.

"Dear Sir/Ma'am,

we have received approval
of your application

for a Humboldt County Business License."

"You may receive your license
by remitting $12 for the year.

Please send payable

to the Humboldt County Tax Collector.

An envelope has been provided
for you..."

Excellent.
"For your convenience."

How many years have we been
trying to get a business license

for the BudSisters?

Four?
Four

this is the second... Yeah.

We made a mistake
and put on the application

that we had cannabis in our product.

We...
We're being honest.

No, we lied and said it had cannabis,

so now we're gonna tell the truth

and say it doesn't have cannabis,

it's just made out of hemp.

So now we can get a business license

for our salve.

Oh, we'll probably have to, you know,

be on our taxes a little more.
Put out more money.

We're gonna have

to pay taxes now.

Better bookkeeping.

Oh, darn! Let's burn it.
Oh, God.

Welcome to the 2017 Golden
Tarp Awards.

And we're here with the Bud Sisters,

Pearl and Dr. Joyce tell us a
little about yourself.

Right, I make all the awards
for the Golden Tarp.

What's your favorite part of today?

Oh, judging, of course.

We don't even have our booth today

because we just wanted to be judges.

This isn't mainstream cannabis,

this is artisanal, exquisite cannabis

produced by people who really care.

What we're trying to do is show you

that these type of production methodologies

and this knowledge base
and these people

have been existing for 40 years here.

The fear right now

is that we're all gonna get
swept away,

all of us craft producers.

And the reality of it is
is that that's very possible.

But if you try to be relevant

by highlighting what we do different,

and how we do it differently,

and make it accessible to the
population that purchases,

then pretty soon,
they have knowledge and choice

and that gives us a chance
to exist and survive.

And so that's really the mission of it.

I've known Pearl and Dr. Joyce
for nine years now.

Pearl is just really a symbol
of what Humboldt County was.

She is the small farmer.
She is the homesteader.

She is the person

who helped so many other people
understand cannabis cultivation,

and many people who are
successful here now

were trimmers for her
when they were younger.

And Joyce is a brilliant educator.

She's able to take and use
that ability to help

a tremendous number
of people out using art.

They're a spiritual thread,
cultural thread,

but then a thread that weaves
it together

and that's what makes Humboldt, Humboldt,

is people like this.

We are live at the Golden Tarp Awards,

first annual live broadcast.

And we're actually
gonna head right back over

to the judge's couch.
So, how's it going?

What's happening over at the couch?

Very interesting.

Very beautiful bud.
What do you guys think?

Kinda more in the head kinda high...

How can you tell?

You've smoked, like, ten joints already.

(Mumbles)
Well, you know, being a judge

in the Emerald Cup for so many years,

you really have to learn.

And a lot of it, you know,
if you don't like how it smells,

looks or tastes,

you don't even bother smoking it.

And a lot of times you light it up...

Judging 101 from Sisters right here.

And you know right away.

You light that up, no, that's not it.

The Ganjier Award
was something that we created

basically as a tribute

to somebody who was unrecognized,

but absolutely deserving.

And for this award year,
I wanted to thank someone

who had been a foundation in
our community.

The people that settled here
in the late 60s, early 70s,

they were tough
and had a full pair of balls,

which is what you needed
to live here.

The person I think that
epitomizes that most,

and she's about to get
her mind blown,

is Pearl Moon.

Wow!
I'm totally blown out

and I'm really high...

'Cause I smoked
some really good weed today.

Yeah!

Yes, and right now,
you're gonna find out whose.

Pearl Moon!

All right.
Well, greetings.

Greetings out there,

Humboldt, Mendocino,
and Trinity Counties.

All right, this is Sunshine Hee

bringing you

the Sunday Afternoon
Cannabis Talk Show

here on the Mud.

Well, things are going on

on the political and legal fronts
for cannabis,

and we 're gonna be doing an analysis,

looking at the next two...

Now, with legalization,

I hope to open a dispensary
that's really gonna support

the small growers of this community.

When we found this building,
we said, "Oh my gosh,

this is right in Garberville,
it's properly zoned."

And the minute I walked into
this front room

I said, "This is an unbelievable location

for a dispensary."

The primary manufacturing
space is here,

and that's the overhead doors
in the back.

We'll go take a look in a minute
and take a look at that.

If the state allows us
to go for that licensing,

we can do the further refining
and the lab work here

and then have this for packaging
and some admin.

Karyn's going through
four different permits right now

with the county

for everything from cultivation
to manufacturing

to distribution and dispensaries.

I think Karyn's plan to bring
a revitalization project

to Garberville on that scale is great.

You know,
a dispensary and manufacturing facility

that provides year round jobs

is a fabulous addition to that area.

As we move into this new transition

of legalization,

it's very difficult for the OGs,

or the original growers,
to make this transition.

Now, just so you know,

I put in the application
for the dispensary license

that will allow us to be
a tourist driven dispensary

that celebrates the culture and heritage

of the small family famer
that goes back 40 years.

And I'm really hoping
for a lot of community support

so that I can get that
distribution license

to be able to service Southern
Humboldt growers appropriately.

You know, the effort to regulate marijuana

and to tax it is the effort...

To recriminalize marijuana.
Right.

All through the years
that we saw state legislation,

there was always Mr. Big Money Man

standing behind it thinking,

"This is where I'm going to make
my many millions."

Mm hmm.

And every one of them
was predicated on the idea

of let's get rid of those small farmers.

Hmm.
Humboldt County can not compete

with the efficiencies that'll be developed

in large farms.
Course not.

What I'm saying on this
I've been saying for years.

Branding, branding, branding, branding.

I try to explain this is your brand.

Please become legal, become compliant.

I know it's a bitch to begin with,

it's hard, it's a lot of paperwork,

but once you do that

you own the equivalent of

a Napa Valley Vineyard.

Small pot farmers in California

say the state is not standing
by its promise to protect them.

Some say they're being
squeezed out

by expensive new regulations

and unfair competition from big
cannabis cultivators.

Some farmers accused

the California Department
of Food & Agriculture, CDFA,

of going back on its promise

to temporarily limit marijuana
grows to one acre.

The one acre cap

was a provision placed on Prop 64

that allowed for small farmers

to still have a place in the space

before mega grows came in.

This was something that was in
Prop 64.

It was guaranteed to us.

The Environmental Impact Report
said yes to it.

It was just the reason why

small family farmers came forward

and decided to go into licensing.

In order for us to start issuing licenses

on January 1st,

we had to have Emergency
Regulations in place.

So there was a very short time window

for people to provide public comment.

It was five days.

Then the actual Emergency
Regs came out,

the text of the actual
Emergency Regs,

and in that text,

the one acre cap had been lifted.

In less than 24 hours' time,

it went from being in there
to being completely taken out.

It's unjustifiable that this policy
was removed.

There is no good reason why
we should have large grows

sooner than five years.

And frankly,
I think we should be having a conversation

about whether we need them
at all.

I had a panic attack.

We had, like,
a whole week of everybody just flipping out.

Well, the lifting of the one acre cap

was definitely special interest

that paid some money
or donated to a campaign

or blurred the lines in some capacity

to get their needs met.

In the Salinas Valley,

marijuana entrepreneur
Steve Deangelo

has been refurbishing greenhouses

to grow cannabis.

He hopes by producing pot
on a massive scale

he'll become a brand name in weed.

This place in the Mojave Desert

is planning on becoming
California's Cannabis Capitol.

This town has a huge number
of empty industrial buildings,

basically cannabis factories in waiting.

A new gold rush, of sorts,
has kicked off in California.

At Medmen,
they're hoping lines multiple city blocks long

will help them cash in on

what researchers project to be
$5 billion

in newly legal pot sales.

Our more mature stores in California

are doing over $20 million
a year in revenue,

and we currently have licenses
for 45 stores.

So a lot of work to do,

but yeah, I mean,
revenue is big for me.

Former Speaker of the House
John Boehner,

you're all in in cannabis.

I'm all in.

This is the time to go all in on cannabis.

I don't know

how many people are gonna
make it through the county,

let alone the state stuff,
and have a viable farm.

Many of the counties,
Humboldt, Mendocino County,

they have a cap of 10,000
square feet,

so you're then capped by your county,

and yet the state is allowing
mega grows.

Well, that means
the market's gonna be flooded

and nobody's gonna be selling anything

and the prices are gonna be
going down again and, you know,

where does that leave the farmers?

If you wouldn't mind coming to
gather on the gravel

or on the cement upfront.

Thank you all for being here so much.

This is just really a proud moment

for all of us farmers in
Mendocino Generations.

Mendocino Generations
is a farm collective

that we started in 2016.

And basically,

we started thinking, oh my gosh,
there's a Tsunami coming.

Then what are we gonna do?

How are we really gonna survive
this legalization?

We have almost 60 farmers.

We're all over Mendocino County,

from Covelo to Hopland

and all the way up to Laytonville.

About a year and a half ago,
I felt more passive.

Like, "Please come buy my cannabis."

But now I'm out there saying,

"Meet these farmers.
Look at this cannabis.

Isn't this beautiful?
Here's our brand.

Look how far we've come."

Just really wanna honor all of you

for sticking to it.

I know it's been super,
super hard and challenging,

and a lot of people
have been calling me saying,

"I'm giving up.
I can't do this anymore."

And I just want them to feel encouraged

that there is hope

and there is, like,
light at the end of the tunnel.

I feel like we're stepping on
the first stone of the path

that we have been laying down
for the last couple of years,

and here we are.

This is our opportunity

to really honestly show the world

who we are and what we can
do here

in Mendocino County.

I can see that Chiah is a hard worker.

When you meet her, you're like,
okay, this woman is busy.

She has things to do.

You are one of maybe 50 people
she's talking to today.

And instead of throwing her
hands up

and being like, "Oh my God,

legalization is so hard and crazy

and they're screwing us."

She's like,
"Okay, this is hard and crazy,

but we're definitely not gonna
to do it

without putting hard work in."

She's really looking at it
from the bigger perspective,

and also not just Mendo Gen,

but then taking that
to the county level

and then spreading it larger.

So I feel really fortunate
to be a part of it.

And it feels like a family.

That's the boost by the Lake
County Tangelo.

The boost is a Blueberry Sweet Tooth

by Morgan Wyatt.

And so, you know,

one thing that we've been
trying to do

is talk to people about organic cannabis

and sun grown cannabis
in a new way

and help people understand

that they've been shopping
at whole foods

and buying organic,

but they're walking into a dispensary

and buying cannabis

that they don't even know
the origin of it.

They don't know where it came from.

They don't understand who
grew it.

They don't know anything about it.

And so what we're trying to do
is put that face to the farm

that they're getting their
medicine from.

♪ We got cannabis ♪

♪ We got THC ♪

♪ We got CBD ♪

♪ It's my medicine don't you see? ♪

Love you, Mama.

We're bringing you guys
over an order of salve.

Oh, good.

And then, we want you to try...

Our new aroma.

Okay. So this is our new salve.
This is great. Oh, yeah.

Put some on.
Put some on, it's different.

It's different than the old.

Okay. Well, I'm going to sit.
I'll put some on my knee.

No problem finding places for pain.

Doesn't it feel good?

It's so silky and I feel it
tingling on my knee.

Already?
Yeah. Yeah.

And I do like the new texture.

That's great.
Hm-mmm.

They're making everybody
produce their labels

a certain way.

And the laws aren't really conducive

for certain businesses anymore.

So we're kinda just looking at

how can we make our business survive

and still have our product out there.

Some of our clients
have gotten off their meds

with this salve.
Yeah.

And you know, for me, that's exciting,

but yet really serious.

'Cause you wanna make sure
they don't run out ever.

Right.

We've run into that a couple of times,
you know,

and had to really have, you know,

hurried up and made more
to get to some of these people

that really needed it.
Hm-mmm. Yeah.

'Cause they didn't wanna
go back on the horrible meds

they used to be on, you know?

So it's a big responsibility.

Well, like I said,

I'm grateful I can have my medicine.

I don't know what's gonna happen,
you know?

Luckily we're on the older end
of this whole change.

Yes.

You know,
we had 40 something good years.

Yep.
Hm-mmm.

The challenges I've been faced with

in getting the dispensary going

is the process of the planning departments.

We are losing money.

Seniors are calling me every day.

"When are you gonna open?"

Yeah, we're going to the third floor

instead of going up to planning,

so we can just see if it's...

Okay.
That sounds good.

David coordinated the plans.

We're gonna have an answer
for him by this evening.

He's gonna review it after they
do theirs,

then he's gonna come back
to me tomorrow morning

to give the answer to you.

So, we'll see you first thing in
the morning.

Thank you.
We appreciate you.

Thank you.
No problem.

You're always so helpful.

That's what I'm here for.

Thank you.
You're welcome. Bye.

The person we were supposed
to meet with

was in a long meeting.

What we were told
was that in the morning

we will receive a permit to start.

If that doesn't happen,

we'll be there to confront
whoever it is we need to.

Hello.
Can I help you?

How are you?
Good. How are you?

Good.
Have an appointment with Cardella.

Cardella? Okay.
Yes.

And your name is?
Sue Taylor.

Sue Taylor.
I'll let her know you're here.

Thank you.
Mm-mmm.

David's out today.

However, I'm waiting for Alex
to get in,

so he can give someone some instructions

so you can get your permit okay.

Oh, good.
Then I'm going to wait.

Have a seat.
Thank you so much.

Do you need anything?

No.
Okay. Let me know if you do.

Yes, it's been a long and
arduous task

in the process of even getting
the permit,

but when you're dealing
with medical cannabis

and you're a person of color,

you have to have it done
the right way.

You have to have it done legally.

You can't do like everybody else.

Everybody else just throwing up,
making a lot of money

and get the hand slapped,

close, and open up some place else.

They're working on it.
He intends to finish it today.

It may not be in time for you
to pick it up today, though.

And we're closed tomorrow
because of furlough.

I know, I know.

This is not a great process for you.

However, they're working on it.

Okay, I'll call you.

I have your number
and I'll keep you informed.

Doing this is really
making me test my beliefs.

We spent all our money.
Our family loaned us money.

They believed in us.
They believed in me.

You have to pay those people
back at some point.

Today is my hardest day,

when I got that disappointment...

When you do all you could do
and you still get a no.

I moved out to Los Angeles.

So I went from moving, wait for patients,

to being a part of the seedy
part of cannabis

in Los Angeles.

I met some people and they
were not good people.

During the late 1990s and early 2000s,

I was impacted by the justice system,

having been incarcerated
for a little over seven years.

And of course, being incarcerated,

it changes everything about you.

People don't really understand
the effects

and the collateral consequences
of the war on drugs.

It just set communities and
neighborhoods on a trajectory

where lots of other crimes
were simultaneously committed.

Today, the racist war on drugs continues.

We are in Downtown Los Angeles

for the Bureau of Cannabis Control's

final listening session,
in terms of comments,

before we finalize Regulation.

The conversation about equity
is so minimal.

And what we're seeing now
is they've thrown the baby,

the bath water, the whole bathtub

out of the conversation

so that a select group of people
can profit off of this space.

So, we're just doing
everything that we can

to hold the State of California
and the industry accountable.

So welcome,

and thank you for coming out
here today

for our second Public Regulation Hearing

on the proposed Regulations.

It's a little bit of a different format

than you're used to with the Bureau.

We sit and we listen
and we have a court reporter

that's taking down all of the comments.

We're taking notes.

But we don't respond
to anything that you're saying.

So if you have a question,

you gotta form it into a comment,

because we're not gonna be able
to respond to it.

Speaker Number Two, please.

Hi, I'm Felicia Carbajal,

a Latinx Community Organizer,
patient and consumer

pushing for equity, justice,
compassion and repair,

Compassionate Cannabis 2.0.

I, too,
am disappointed in the lack of equity

being addressed by the State
of California.

Doesn't the Bureau care about equity?

Don't you care about the harms
that the war on drugs

has done to communities of color?

We ask you to realize and acknowledge

that Black and Brown communities
are more than worthy

of economic and social investment

with action.

The world is watching.

We hope you do the right thing.

They already made their decisions.

They've been dismissive

of lots of portions of the
conversation already.

So the powers that be,

to me,
have already decided the fate of cannabis

in the State of California.

Controlled Chaos, KCA at the am.
On 106.5

on a 2.3 fm in the Inland Empire,

I'm Gary Garber.

Here with me is Felicia Carbajal.

She's wanting to be a delegate

for the California Democratic Party.

I sure am.
Why?

You wanna get into politics?

Well, I'm doing it personally

because there aren't people
who are Cannabis Advocates

and who are pushing certain conversations

that are relevant to our needs
as a community.

And right now, in the State of California,

people of color own less businesses

that are cannabis related.

So we're just trying to do
is create an even playing field.

So giving people of color,
people who have been impacted,

people who don't have
those economic resources,

an opportunity to participate.

So how is your dispensary going?

We've had a lot of challenges
with the building itself...

Okay.

Because it was in such poor condition,

and as well as the lengthy process

of the building permits.
Okay.

Sometimes I get worn down

because people that knows
I've been at it for so long,

"When you gonna open?

When you gonna start making some money?"
You know?

To heck with these shoots and stuff

and magazine articles...

And all of that.

But the way I see it,
by the time we open up,

all of those glitches will have
been all worked out.

You are listening to KZYX Philo,
90.7 fm.

So today,
I think we have a really great show.

Our topic is
"Jumping through the hoops:

Is getting legal getting harder?"

And my guest is Chiah Rodrigues.

What would you say

have been some of
your biggest hurdles personally

in this process?

Well, there's been a lot.

It's all the little things

that come along with the licensing

and the permitting process.
They all add up, you know?

It's getting more
and more expensive to do this.

Well, what's the upside?

I mean, what...
I can see a lot of...

I know,
there's a lot of darkness here,

it's not a lot of positivity.
Why are you doing it?

It's a huge part of my life
and something that I believe in.

And my husband is really dedicated

to growing amazing plants
and to farming sustainably.

And yeah, I mean,

we're just really dedicated to this

as a huge part of our lives and
seeing the community thrive

and seeing the farmers thrive.
That ultimately is our goal.

And we, obviously,
want to be selling our cannabis

and having a thriving brand
and thriving company,

but it's not just about making
money in it.

It never was.

It's just really about that relationship.

You know,
I fell in love with doing this,

and this is what I wanted to do.

So I wanted to not get in trouble,
you know,

and just be able to keep on going

and doing what I loved.

And it's been a really nice way
to live our lives.

We wanna normalize it for our children,

like, we've brought them
into the garden forever,

until the regulations
came down and said,

"Now you have to have a locked gate."

And yeah, that makes sense
on a certain level,

but it is really a lifestyle choice.

I think it is about having boundaries.

And that's hard,
especially now with a teenager.

It's nice that I work at home

and they see me all the time.

It can become challenging
for them sometimes,

'cause, like, true will,
like, come out and yell for me

and want me to be able to play.

'Cause they think since I'm home,
like, you know,

I can just stop what I'm doing.

And so that's a little tough sometimes.

And same thing for River, you know,

he'd see me around,
so they figure that I'm home

and I'm not really working, but I am.

I don't leave to go to a job

and then come home
at the end of the day

and leave my work there.

Just having to learn
how to set office hours,

and plants don't have office hours.

And so trying to find
a balance within that.

This, like,
starting a new business together

has been really hard.
Like, it brings up a lot,

but I feel like we're stronger for
it now.

And sometimes, I guess,

maybe it takes going through
some really hard stuff

to reinforce that foundation
and strengthen it.

I start my day this morning

really not knowing what's going on

and having a night of...

Difficult nightmares.

There's no other way to put
this thing.

This is a nightmare.
This is just a nightmare.

Something that you never
thought would happen

because you're going forward
in legalization,

you're doing everything right.

You've got everything ticked
and tied,

and then something like this happens

and you just...

I just wanna break down,
but I can't right now.

I have to stay strong
and keep moving forward.

On Thursday night,

we were to have received
a courier transfer of money.

So this is a licensed, Bonded Courier

Transporting Cash from LA.
Up to Humboldt.

And it was a significant amount
of money

that we were owed and due
on that evening.

Well, a CHB had pulled over the car

for having the incorrect mudflaps.

And we're just like, "What?"

And when they searched the car,
they found the cash.

So, we're nine months into legalization

and we're still having
to conduct business in cash,

because banks won't handle our cash

because it's still a federally
illegal proposition here.

So we're having to hire courier services

to move cash around.

Now, it's not illegal to transport cash,

but if the CHB thinks

it's in further of an illegal act

which, on a federal level,
cannabis is,

then it does become potentially "Illegal."

And this is what happens.

The career services stopped by
the CHB,

and the cash is confiscated by
the feds.

I'm dying to fight this

just because it's the right thing
to do.

I'm dying to fight this

just because of
the social injustice of it.

You know, it's not about...

Yes, the money is important,
okay, but it's also about

that this can't keep happening us.

In order to make this move forward,

we have to claim the money.

And once you claim the money,

then you have to open yourself up

to showing all your receipts
for the money,

showing how you got the money,

and everybody in our supply chain

then has to be on board.

Brass says I can go ahead and hang?

Yeah.

They just feel that we did
what we were supposed to do.

We made payment, you know,

"It's not really my problem"
type thing.

Interesting.

Oh, yeah.
Not too happy about that.

Not too happy at all.

The phone call I had with him
was like,

"Hey, you have our support.

That's totally not okay
that they did this."

But they weren't willing
to do anything to help settle.

Yeah. This is a big,
fucked up thing for me,

and I don't wanna have to do it, right?

But they don't know me.
You know?

No, they don't know you.

They don't know
what you're willing to do.

They don't know that.
Right.

So, they're saying,

"Hey, yeah. Go ahead, Girlie.
Go ahead, try this.

Just go ahead and try it."
And I'm like...

Right.
Put your neck out there.

Yeah. Yeah.
And I'm like, you know what?

Don't dare me like that.
That you got those brass balls?

You think you got brass balls?
Yeah.

Well, I'm, you know...
Right.

Let's just check it out.
Okay.

I've gotta make that...
I got to run now,

because I gotta make that
lawyer meeting.

Okay.
I'll talk to you after I talked to him.

Okay. Thank you. Bye.
Okay.

That's what it fucking comes
down to.

They think I'll fold.

It's a hard business.
It's a very hard business.

Sometimes I really wonder
why the hell I'm doing it.

There was no word
on any significant containment

and the problem was the wind.

Wind gusts of up to 70 miles per hour.

You can imagine how fast
that moves these flames.

Basically, there was a fire in
Potter Valley

and then the Redwood Valley.

And that jumped the freeway
towards us.

So now it's on Reeves Canyon,

which is the Ridge on the other
side of our ranch.

We got about ten phone calls
within five minutes.

And that was about three in the morning.

So we got up and, like, hustled hardcore,

like, packed as much as we
could at that moment,

then we ended up leaving.

We've just been watching
all the news reports,

listening to the news.

Many of my friends' homes
have burned down.

It's just been like a nightmare here.

There's a Ridge here between
us and the burned part.

So where you can see the grass,
right there, as the crow flies,

it's maybe like a half a mile,
but as the wind goes,

that's not very much time at all.

That fire grew from 4,500 acres
the first night

to 32,000 acres in two days.

That's scary.

That's, like,
too close for comfort for me.

That was Ashley Oldham.

She's one of my farmers
in Mendo Gen,

and her house burned down

and she's fighting really hard
right now

to be let back in to her cannabis farm.

Hello.
How are you?

Oldest truck I've seen so far today.

How are you?
My name's Ashley Oldham,

and I'm a permitted cannabis farm

in Mendocino County.
Okay.

And I would like to access my...

Okay. Have you gotten the permit
from the sheriff's office yet?

I should be on the list.
Okay.

Ma'am, how do you spell your
last name?

Oldham. O-L-D-H-A-M.

And your first name?
Ashley. A-S-H-L-E-Y.

Okay. You're not here.
So you do have to go down

to the command post and check
with the sheriff's office.

If they're willing to give you an escort

or give you your name to us,

we'd be happy to let you through.

I'm a permitted cannabis farmer

in Mendocino County.

I was told that I'd be on a list.

I've been trying for two days
to get in.

Right now, we're not having

any type of escorts at this point.

The update's gonna be
around one o'clock

to see if we can let anybody in
for any type of escorts.

I don't need an escort,

because the vineyards
are getting let in.

And I was promised

that I'd be treated
exactly the same as grapes

'cause I'm registered with the county.

Right here...
At the fairgrounds,

and you need to have
your complaints issued there.

Okay? We haven't seen a list.
We don't have a list.

Okay.

Apparently they somehow had
time to file four pages

of grape farmers to get in,

but not the five permitted
cannabis farms.

We are in Ukiah, California,

at the fairgrounds.

This is the evacuation.

There's a barn full of hens and
chickens and ducks and geese

and who knows what else.

There are a lot of horses here
that have been injured

and rescued, you know,
from out of the road

that got burns on them.

I have a nursery in Potter Valley, California.

I also have a cannabis permit.

Yesterday, Potter Valley
was completely shut down,

but because I have a nursery permit,

I was allowed entry,
front of the line,

to go in and check on my plants.

All of my other fellow farmers
with their cannabis permits

that have paid full fees

and are expected to pay up to $5,000,

just in estimated fees,

were not allowed entrance
by Sheriff Allman.

The cannabis has saved the economy

in this county.

It would not be here like it...
Our own sheriff said that.

He said if it wasn't for
the marijuana growers,

this town would be a ghost town.

Right!

And here we are trying,

trying to participate in our communities,

which we already have our communities.

We're reaching out and opening up.

And to have the doors
shut in our face, it's wrong!

Yeah.
Another great one right here at KMUD.

And we are in the middle
of our pledge drive,

so I encourage you to call in now.

I know the money's not flowing
like it used to be.

The nonprofits, KMUD,
the Mateel, Healy Senior Center,

all these essential,
community funded things

are scrambling for money.

Before, people dropped 500 bucks

and not think about it.

Now I know at KMUD,
people give 20 bucks

or bring their change in.

And we have a pledge drive
going on, 95 brands.

It's like pulling teeth.

I dunno if we're gonna make it
or not.

So, how do I reach the ones
that don't come to Mateel

and don't care?

They come in, money, money, money,

and the people that come and trim,

when they get paid,
they spend their money in town.

It was amazing driving into town today

and hardly seen any cars.

Because usually this time of year,

you can't find a place to park in town.

Everybody's up in the woods planting.

Oh, sorry.
Not anymore.

It used to be like that, but,
you know...

Yeah. The fishing industry died,
the logging industry,

and that's what's kept this area going,

is the cannabis industry.

Cannabis farmers are doing the
same thing

as everybody else.
They're buying cars,

they put their kids in school,
they buy groceries,

they do everything
that everybody else does.

And if that money wasn't in the county

that we live in,

it's gonna severely affect all businesses.

And what we're seeing now
is only the strong will survive.

Here, in Humboldt County.

The small mom and pop grows,
I don't think are gonna survive.

I think the price per pound
has become so low

that it's not gonna become profitable.

There's people like Whoopie Goldberg

that has products out.

I mean,
there's no way that someone like us

could ever compete
with a business like that.

This big business that comes in,

you know, they put up their big grows,

they put up their big extraction facilities,

they buy the absolute most
state of the art equipment,

and they have a burn rate

that can be months
and even years of losing money,

just generating cash flow,

so that then they can sell that business

to some other,
big investment capital person

and make a profit.

But those of us
who actually have a business

that we're looking to at least
cover costs or make a profit,

we don't have those
millions of dollars behind us.

We don't have a long time
to lose money.

This grass lot will soon be
a marijuana greenhouse.

Cannabis investors
are seeing budding opportunity

in new towns.

Now, the California Growers Association

is suing CDFA,

claiming it's letting big farms
squeeze out small growers.

We reviewed the permits
the state has granted so far

and found big cultivators

are flocking to Santa Barbara County.

The land here is flat,
it's easy to build on,

and people have money to spend.

I definitely went through my
period of time

when my relationship
with cannabis wasn't good.

I wasn't respecting it.

I was just using it purely recreationally

and started learning more about spirituality

and different plant medicines
and teachers.

And that's my approach to it now.

And so my older son,

I feel like his relationship
is not good with it.

We were kind of going through
some challenging family dynamics

for a while between he and his brother

and he and Chiah, and,
you know, and he and me,

and then how that affected
Chiah and I.

And so we kinda had
one blowout too many

right before school got out,

and so he's actually
not living up here right now.

And I had tried to cut him off
from cannabis many times

and saying, you know,

that I don't want you
using cannabis again

until you can really look at
your relationship with it.

A really good therapy
appointment last week, and...

Just want him to come home.

It's tough, you know, like,
he's almost 18,

and like, I feel like I don't have

that much more time with him
before he's gonna be gone.

I just...

I really miss him.

I was okay and then I walked
out here,

and now it hurts.

Ah, fuck.

In February,

like, I couldn't sleep on my right side,

and I could not lay on my back,
'cause it hurts.

Like, put some of your pressure here.

It hurts so much, for, like, five months.

It was just kinda getting worse
and worse and worse,

and then around the middle of July,
it was like,

I couldn't do really anything.
I couldn't walk. I couldn't sit.

It was just horrible.

You know, it's a day to day stress.

So we live off, like, trying to survive

and doing the math all the time.

Like, counting our square footage,

figure out how much, you know,
money we're making.

At least just give an honest answer.
Don't say,

"I'm gonna pay you tomorrow.
I'm gonna pay you tomorrow."

And then four months go by

and you don't do anything, you know?

Do what you say you're gonna do.

One distributor, he promised the moon

and gave us a line of bullshit.

And now who knows
where our product is.

Plus, Jamie and I, like, we work together,

we live together.

Everything in the whole package
has been stressed.

No, see, you missed this whole thing.

See, that's what I'm trying to...

Same with this.

This is where I cut...
I don't think that...

I think that that's gonna dry
just fine.

But if you wanna cut it up, go ahead.

That's what we've been doing
in the past.

Gonna look at it under the microscope.

I feel like you're going to (unclear).

Well, I'm trying to be cautious.
Don't give me lip.

So we gotta just keep
things good between us

as much as possible and keep going.

And it's not a busy end of tow.

Right.
All the businesses

on the same side of the street
as you have dedicated parking.

So it's really...
It's just...

And the thing is,

and I tried to put in the talking points,

is that planning told them

exactly what they needed
for the parking exception.

Right.
They said, "Do this."

Right.

We did exactly what they
asked us to.

You're right.
Okay. All right.

All right.
I'll talk to you soon.

All right. Take care. Bye bye.
Talk to you soon. Bye.

Even she can't imagine why the hell

the county would hold up
this whole entire project

over parking spaces.

In a town that doesn't even
have a stoplight.

We've been held up

over really ancient parking restrictions,

but we're heading in there today,

and I'm sure we're gonna get
our license

because we've done a parking study.

We've done everything they
asked for.

We got this!

One nation under God,

indivisible, with Liberty and
justice for all.

The first MC Processing LLC Application

contains a conditional use permit

for a dispensary.

And they are proposing retail

of medical and adult use cannabis

and cannabis products.

A parking exception would be
required for these uses

on the site.

Robert Sutherland,

Humboldt Mendocino
Marijuana Advocacy Project.

The organization I represent

is an organization of small producers

who will strongly depend on this facility

at this time of fast approaching
crifical deadlines

for this fledgling industry.

There is a poor parking problem
in Garberville,

but Bear Creek Road
is hardly a road at all,

and it dead ends

a few yards past the project site.

It is basically a little used driveway.

Hi, my name is Sarah Theeley,
I'm a neighbor.

And I am in support of approval.

I am also an employee.

Karyn prefers to hire people local

within the Garberville area.

I'm Production Manager
for (unclear) Processing.

It's been very hard for me
to feed my family of three,

not having this push through

and not having the hours that I need.

I am one of the small growers.

My business plan is relying
on this going through.

You've heard the economic difficulties

for growers.

Without my company,
a manufacturing company,

packaging and processing,

I can't pay growers.

I'm out of business.

If I can't pay them,
they can't pay their taxes.

It's heartbreaking.
It's absolutely heartbreaking.

And I wanted to keep my
business in Southern Humboldt.

My employees are there,
my growers are there,

my roots are there, I live there.

So, just please let me know
what I can do.

I don't wanna be out of business
for another two months.

People are really depending on me.

Thank you.

Thank you, Speaker.

Well, I'm probably not gonna
make a lot of people happy,

but I gotta ask the question
that is just obvious.

Why is this even before us?

I happened to go back through
and look at the picture

that showed the zoning,

and the parking needs to be on site,

as we see in all projects.

Early on, on this project,

there should've been a discussion

with regard to parking.

Is no possible way
that this site can work.

I don't even know
why we're seeing this one,

to be honest.
And it's very frustrating

seeing how things are so different

for the cannabis industry

in comparison to, what I will say,

more mainstream businesses.

I don't really support the idea
of a parking exception...

They might just delay it a short time.

(Whispers)
No! It's another month!

It's another month.
Or more!

This is where people are signing in

and we're engaging them, right?
When they walk up.

I mean, we already have them
in front of us.

So, like,
we shouldn't mince words over a table.

Voters are gonna be coming
probably from that direction

and that direction.

The first thing that you say to
the is "Hi."

"Good morning."

The next thing you're gonna ask them

is, "Who are you supporting?"

And if they say that they're
only supporting

like, one person,
then you talk about Felicia.

Hi, my name's Felicia.

Hi, I'm voting for you.
Thank you. I appreciate it.

I work in cannabis.

I work at that intersection
of social, racial, gender

and economic justice,
so I'm pushing, like,

all of these issues on a daily basis.

I'm already an organizer.

Tomorrow, I'm gonna be back at work,

engaging people, pushing City Hall.

Ever since we got married, really,

and proposition 8 passed,

we've been doing a lot of stuff
in the community.

Felicia's always taken the lead.

I'm sort of like the cheerleader
in the background.

She's been an activist,
like, as long as I've known her.

And I never really expected her
to actually, like,

run for something,
so this is really exciting.

I'm so proud that she's been
part of actually

making change in California
for cannabis users.

She puts herself out there.

Balloon Flower, that's for you.

Maybe my nephew might like it.
Okay.

No more than four tomorrow.

Okay.
And one for the board.

Inside.
Okay, thank you.

Oh, I think they're about
halfway through.

And you know, you're always
looking at the top seven,

'cause that's who goes to the convention.

The top seven men,
the top seven women.

And, you know, within that,
on most of the tables,

it doesn't look like that big a spread.

So, it looks like it's gonna be
very tight.

That's what I'm seeing right now.

Okay.
I'm going to list the top seven

and also the first and second
runner up in each category.

Number six.

(Unclear)
Number seven is (unclear).

The first runner up is...
Carbajal.

Carbajal.
Carbajal.

I'm the first runner up.
I'm the first runner up, right?

I'm just excited 340 people

that I don't really know

decided they'd come out
and vote for me.

'Cause I only knew maybe 50 of them.

So, do you think it was the balloons?

It was definitely the balloons.

Definitely the balloons.
Definitely.

Next time...
Next time, more balloons.

Next time,

we'll have our own balloon person.

We never slowed down,
but that's okay.

Hey!
We got it!

Hi! You may not be seeing us
so much anymore.

Yeah, God darn.
Thank you.

Thank you.

This particular permit should've
took about three weeks

and it took us six months.
It's been a lot.

So, we finally got it issued today.

Construction will resume,

which means we're about
four months out from opening.

So it's monumental.
It's huge.

We plan to open around June,

probably the latter part of June.

And so we're excited about that.

Absolutely.
Yes!

It will be a 12 year dream
coming true.

So, we usually harvest in the morning.

They say that it's better for the terpenes,
the plant,

to harvest it at its peak.

Looks like that thing in the
center going up this way

might have something on it.

And there's a couple
of lower things here.

I think harvest is exciting for people,

but generally,

it's the most stressful time
of the year.

But it's nice to see, you know,
things finishing

and coming into their full potential.

My biggest concern right now

is having enough money
to get through harvest.

This year is different,
financially, from last year.

Last year,
we had money going into harvest

to pay for everything to get done.

This year, we're waiting on
a bunch of distributors

to pay us out for what they
owe us.

You know, it's close to $100,000
and people aren't paying.

River came home, so I'm pretty happy.

And I'm being hopeful,
you know, trying to trust

that it's gonna shake out well.

Learning how to communicate
a little bit better

is a challenge for both of us, I think,

but I think we're trying.

River, if you could make
yourself some breakfast,

that'll be awesome.

This is a beauty.

This has been...
A really difficult time.

My dispensary was never approved
by the Board of Supervisors,

so I just had to walk away.

But through a lawsuit,

I was recently able to recoup
most of that cash

that was taken away from me
by the feds.

Right now, all we're doing
is trying to just stay alive

in the business.

We're just trying to get it done
within the regulations

so that we can survive,
so that we can go forward.

I try not to get too depressed
about it.

I try to just say, okay,

this is just a bump in the road here.

And once we get through
this next hump,

we're gonna be able
to brand our product better

and brand our values better
to the consumer.

And I get discouraged
that that may never happen.

And it goes into then
the bigger conversation

about small business versus big business

versus is there any hope
for any small business,

small farmer,
small anything in our country,

in our society, in our capitalism.

Will the consumer recognize
the value in our values?

I always thought
that would be the case,

and it just doesn't seem to be
the case right now.

Part of the whole permitting process

has just really hurt the small farmer,

the true small farmer.

For anybody that doesn't have
the wealth

or the wealth behind them

and they are trying to be a
small farmer,

the laws and regulations
are weeding that population out.

People are running out,

they're abandoning their land
and leaving.

You got to have hundreds
of thousands of dollars

to permit your peace.

Not a lot of us have that anymore.

I just went in and said
I withdraw from my permit.

Gave them a written thing,
you know, and everything.

And they said, "Oh, cool."

Stamped it, you know.

And so I don't have a permit
any longer,

which I'm glad of,
because now I don't owe them

many thousands of dollars
like they wanted.

So, no, it's a very sad situation

in this whole thing.

It's been very sad.

I wish I was 30 years younger.

I could really start doing this
and have a farm again.

Hlhave a small medical garden,

but, you know,
nothing like I used to.

We're making progress.
Construction is moving forward.

But until that's done,

I've been continuously going
from city to city,

state to state.

What messages about marijuana
do you believe?

The second question:

The messages about marijuana
do you not believe?

Before I started working
in the cannabis industry,

I really didn't know who I was.

Doing the work has really
helped me to love me.

And I love the work that I do.

I'm passionate about it all

because I love the gratification
I get

when I'm talking to seniors
and they said,

"The cannabis has helped me.
Because of you, I'm better.

You ask me am I excited about
getting so close to opening.

We're at the point where

we're doling out money for the projects,

and we're right at the edge of opening.

I don't have any income coming in

other than my social security,

because I used my retirement money

to do this project.

If I focused on that every day,
I wouldn't get out of bed.

So I don't focus on what's
going wrong,

I focus on what's going right.

Me being here in Washington, DC,

and me making a difference.

I focus on my grandkids are healthy.

Jamal and Kiki are healthy.

Kwamin, Khalid are healthy.

Blake is healthy.

But I do fall, and I do cry.

And I can't get up sometimes,
but it changes.

It change...

I surround myself with people
like that

so they can remind me,
no, don't focus on what is.

Just focus on what you wanna achieve.

Focus on how you're gonna get
the money.

Not if you're gonna get it,

when you're gonna get it and how.

Put the energies there.

So let's drink to that.

Can you drink and film?

So I can toast to you. Cheers.
Cheers.

Never in a million years
would I ever have thought

I would be here at the capitol building,

talking about cannabis.

How cool is that?

Changes women have to go through.

All right.
Let's roll.

One of the major
accomplishments I would feel

is when cannabis
is federally legal for all.

Thank you for coming.

I learned what this cannabis
plant can do,

especially for elders.

Most seniors will not touch the plant,

will not touch it...

Because it's still illegal by
federal law.

Seniors don't break the rules.

Now, I've read a lot of research
on the cannabis.

You know what got me

was the people that I worked with

leaving wheelchairs, walkers.

The healing that I witnessed
changed my mind.

The day of the delegate vote,

I received approximately 348 votes.

I lost by 26 votes,

but the assembly leader from
that area

was allowed to appoint specific delegates.

So, because I was first runner up,

I was asked to be a delegate
for my assembly district,

all the same.

I'm still optimistic that cannabis is

and has the potential
to be a vehicle for change.

I still believe cannabis
affords you the opportunity

to be connected to one another.

So, I think this plant's resilient.

She's survived millennias,

even though she's being
whored out currently,

she's gonna be fine.

She's lasted longer
than all of us on this planet.

She'll be fine.

And the THC is the
psychoactive effect,

and the CBD,
you don't get high on it,

but it really helps your system to...

Reduces your swelling

and that really improves your
immune system.

Well, my job here, I'm a Bud Tender.

And I sell the products that we have,

products that are in this dispensary

are all permitted for Humboldt County.

And are you guys experienced,
are you vapers,

or do you do cannabis?
No.

Last time I smoked was, like,
high school.

Oh, okay. Oh, wow.
Almost, like, 14 years ago.

How much are they?
What are their price range?

The large is 50 and the small is 30.

Okay.
Hm-mm.

A lot of this stuff,
I never understood it at all.

Like, the vape pens and all the cartridges.

And now, of course,
I understand all of that stuff

and, you know,

which I've actually started
to vape myself a little.

Let me try this.
Just gimme a few grams.

Gimme a gram of the Royal Kush.

Okay. Okay.
And Blue Green.

I've always been my own boss,

so this has been very
interesting to have a boss,

and that's something
I'm learning at my old age.

That you have to kind
of kiss ass a little bit,

and that's okay.

'Cause I really appreciate this job.

I love my time here.

Yeah.
I think the wonder wine,

'cause it still has a lot of CBD
in there and you'll...

I felt so good about those people,

'cause I knew that they were
gonna walk out of here

and have a whole different life
once they try this medicine.

I've been pretty down
for a couple of years,

you know, the business ending
and everything like that,

but I can see the other side now.

And it's kind of a step for me

into my next whatever
I decide I'm gonna do.

So, I'm reinventing myself.

I've come up with my new
product line.

Sexxpot launched this week.

I've gotta get it out there
in the marketplace.

I haven't made one on one
dispensary sales

in quite a long time.

And I'm taking a meeting with Medmen.

You know, Medmen has been

kinda the bad boy of cannabis, right?

They kind of epitomize

all the big money
that's come into the business

and has not given back,

not supported small legacy farmers.

So, it really will be interesting
to see

is this a group

that is gonna support
a legacy woman producer?

It'd be great if they brought it on.

Have to make it work for me
and for my company, as well.

Never thought I'd be here,
doing this, a year ago.

Excited. Terrified.
I don't know.

It's hard to tell how I feel
about it all.

Mostly, I feel really proud

and ready to take on this next challenge.

That's for sure.
A challenge it is.

I was up in Northern California

and Regulations started to happen

and we were uncertain
about the farm.

That's what made me make changes,

was I didn't have the work that
I had

and wasn't able to generate income.

So I had to, you know,

go back to other ways
of making a living.

And then I slowly just looked

for the perfect place
to make my heart sing.

And the ocean just called me back.

Pearl's life has changed
because of the Regulations.

Ever since I've known her,
she's grown cannabis.

This is the first year

that nobody has been doing
anything on the farm.

And I don't think
it's been easy for Pearl at all.

It's a big change

she didn't ever see
really happening in her life.

Nor me.

I think we'll always
stay extremely good friends.

Well, there's just a special kind
of love

and bond that we have.

I mean, we laugh a lot
when we're together.

I think that's a big part of our friendship,

is that we like to see
the lighter side of life.

We just have a great time together.

You know, she's my sister friend.

I kind of knew that we were
gonna need to make

some kind of changes

in order to have the farm survive.

Basically, we were getting to
the point

where last year nothing sold
between January and July.

We had also got ripped off
by a distribution company

the winter before that.

And we were like, well shit,
how are we gonna survive?

We're just not gonna have
enough money to make it through.

I would have said that you
were crazy

if you would've told me

that I'd be working a full time job

for a distribution company.

I would have never saw myself
doing something like this.

Last time I had a real job

was when I was pregnant with River.

Yeah. It was a big shift for me
to go to work every day

and, like, have a boss,

or actually have five bosses.

One of the things I'm gonna be covering

is the entire week's growth (unclear),

sales calls and meetings
for the coming week.

Cannabis, Flower (unclear).

So I'm going to delegate this out.

Can you just definitely send a report?

But this report has to be in
every Monday morning, right?

Need it by nine o'clock.

Okay.

I talked about this last week,

we have to stay connected.

I Need to know what we're doin,
what's our strategy, you know.

I wanna have more
communication on that side.

And then we need to really
start talking about technique.

So, how we can...

When I walked into the space...

It was amazing.

I am ecstatic,

but more importantly, I am very grateful.

One of the reasons why
we haven't quit

in the 12 or 10 years is because
the passion is deep.

All these new people coming in
to it.

People who are just
coming in it for the money,

they won't last,

because they'll run through obstacles

and they just quit to another venture.

We didn't quit.

Our vision and mission is clear.

She's been at this for years,
and it finally came to pass.

I'm so proud of her.

How she lives her life
is how she also does business.

There's no separation.

I never thought I would live
to see this happening.

This is beautiful.

You see, most other races,
they give legacy.

They have legacies for their family.

African-Americans really don't,

and this is an opportunity
to have a legacy.

And I wanna show them, too,
that don't give up.

I don't care where you find yourself.

No obstacles, nothing.
You keep going.

If it's dear to your heart,
don't let anything stop you.

Nothing at all.

I feel really proud of us.

We have learned more than we
ever thought we would.

We did things we never
expected to do.

We pushed ourselves to the full extent.

We 're freaking pioneers at this point.

Like, we 're gonna look back at
this and laugh,

like, oh my God,
that was crazy then.

Could you imagine we actually
did that?

So that in itself,
it's a pretty epic tale.

Well, that's a wrap for me.

But before I go,
I wanna ask you all something.

Who is the winner here?

A lot of players are gone,

but we are still here standing.

Stay strong, people,

and make sure you're on the
right side.

And always remember,
pass that doobie to the left.

This is Mum signing off
right here on KMUD,

people powered radio.

Thanks for listening.

In the corners of the leaf

you can see this right there

starting to get little feathers
in there.

That's starting to sex out.

Which means?
A female.

It'll have a pod if it was a male.

Is one more potent than another?

Female is much more potent
than male.

It's probably ten times
as potent as the male.