Hoping to address what’s termed mounting equity and economic problems related to local cannabis businesses, Nevada County Supervisors have approved the creation of a Cannabis Equity Program. The focus is on longtime, or “legacy”, farmers, impacted by past criminalization, before the law changed. The program will provide grant funding and more guidance to become a permitted grower. Only two to three percent of thousands of current grows in the county are in compliance with the ordinance. Supervisor Heidi Hall says it should ultimately mean an economic boost…

click to listen to Heidi Hall

The resolution was passed, 4-1, with Supervisor Dan Miller the only “no” vote. He didn’t like some of the wording. The resolution stated that the past arrest and incarceration of growers has, in part, engendered a widespread and deep-seated multi-generational mistrust of government and regulation that significantly inhibits efforts to transform cannabis into a legal industry…

click to listen to Dan Miller

Miller also stated that the new program will take away staff time for enforcing the ordinance and reduce the still large number of egregious grows that have had major adverse environmental impacts.