Marijuana Crop Is Burning in the California Wildfires

[yuiyoshida]

By DANIEL VICTOR and MAYA SALAM
OCTOBER 13, 2017
Fatal fires that have consumed nearly 200,000 acres in Northern California, devastating the region’s vineyards particularly in Napa and Sonoma Counties, are also taking a toll on a fledgling industry just months before its debut: recreational marijuana.

Many of the region’s farms, including those that harvest cannabis, have been scorched, including those in Sonoma County and in Mendocino County, the center of California’s marijuana industry. Mendocino is one of three California counties that comprise Emerald Triangle, where much of the United States’ marijuana is produced.

Hezekiah Allen, the executive director of the California Growers Association, said Thursday that at least seven farms had been destroyed, and that he expected the number to “increase significantly” as people returned to their homes. Tens of thousands of cannabis growers live in Northern California.

The owners of the seven farms include small-scale growers who put their life savings into their farms over the past year, he said. None of them have insurance, he said.

“They leveraged themselves entirely,” Mr. Allen said. “It’s going to hit some families really hard.”

more...
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/10/13/us/california-fires-marijuana.html

I know the jokes will be coming about how everyone there is getting high off the smoke...and firemen high and lost in the woods, but dude, this is some serious fire and we NEED the weed!

[Not Ruth]

1. It just got real for a lot of people

[0rganism]

2. this is really rough news for CA's medical marijuana users

since there is no interstate commerce allowed, expect MMJ prices in CA to spike severely

[yuiyoshida]

3. It wouldn't surprise me to find out

this was arson, just to jack up the price of weed.

[Flaleftist]

4. I hear a lot of people across the country

get their stuff from California. People living in a state with marijuana prohibition whose supply comes from CA might want to up their supply now.

[Kaleva]

5. There's many poor, drifters, illegal immigrants working illegal plots

These people come in during harvest time, live in the woods and my guess is many may have died and wouldn't be included amongst the missing.

[Flaleftist]

6. I didn't even think about that.

I don't know the specifics of running illegal grows there, but somehow I doubt many of the illegal workers were given a means of communication by the people running the grows or even knew exactly where they were.

[Kaleva]

7. Many people come into the area during harvest time

There's also quite a few there during growing season. They live in makeshift camps out in the woods.