Not only does weed rule the regional economy, many locals feel threatened by the proposed legalization. Prices for pounds of cannabis are already down from a 'high' of $5,000 apiece just a few years ago to $2000 today. This has hit the locals hard, especially as the prices for every other basic commodity has soared tremendously of late.
For the Full Story click here.Along Mendocino County's Redwood Highway, just beyond the sign depicting a hovering alien spaceship, veteran marijuana cultivator Tim Blake sees the future.
He views his Area 101 spiritual retreat as the answer to the looming upheaval for a renowned California pot-growing region challenged by a November state ballot initiative to legalize marijuana for adult recreational use and new growing techniques.
Blake hopes his roadside haven, where local marijuana tenders gather to share smokes and tales of the harvest, will emerge as a nostalgic tourist draw – a destination honoring Mendocino's proud pot traditions.
California produces one-third of America's pot, with an estimated $13.8 billion cash crop, counting legal medicinal grows and vast illicit production. In this county of 90,000 people, it is an uncomfortable topic. Most civic leaders would rather talk about the enchanting Mendocino Coast, the picturesque mountains and the charming towns.
But weed fuels the regional economy.
"There are people who don't want to talk about it because that may seem as if they're endorsing it," said Bert Mosier, chief executive officer of the Chamber of Commerce in the county seat of Ukiah. "But this affects our community."
It isn't just the November initiative that has upset the area's pot culture and stirred calls for new approaches.
Blake and others say the local market is already in free fall. Across California, legal medical marijuana dispensaries and indoor hydroponics warehouses that grow high-potency pot are undercutting Mendocino's outdoor crop.
For years, most Mendocino cultivators have grown their "Northern Lights" and "Super Skunk" strains beneath the stars and coastal redwoods. Increasingly, their weed can't compete with the high-octane "Purple Urkles" and "OG Kushes" that flower under glowing indoor lamps.
Pot from Mendocino County fetched more than $5,000 a pound just a decade ago. Now it goes for closer to $2,000, Blake says.
"Most people up here are growing," he said. "And for every grower, you support the gas station, the dry cleaners, the health food store. But everybody's numbers are down. Nobody has any money."
On Saturday, scores of Mendocino marijuana growers and local officials met in Ukiah to ponder the impact on the county if California voters decide to legalize marijuana beyond current medical use. They brainstormed remedies to economic fallout, including promoting pot tourism and branding local medicinal products to bring recognition to Mendocino's crop and its tenders.
Anna Hamilton, a Mendocino musician who hosts a radio talk show in neighboring Humboldt County, warned that the "legalization of marijuana will be the single most devastating event" to hit the region.
But Matthew Cohen, a Mendocino grower whose Northstone Organics delivers pot to medical marijuana patients in Northern California, saw an economic opportunity. "Mendocino can have a hand-picked, boutique market," he said.