Calaveras County Has Screwed Over Every Legal Grower

[calaveras]

Subject= Growers becoming part of the community .With all the changing laws regarding cannabis cultivation in Cali. one thing stands out in my mind, that is how farmers moving into newly opened up counties, such as Calaveras county, while trying to put put a good image of community outreach with $ donations to schools and others, do not seem to be interested in community meetings unless cannabis is on the agenda. At a local potluck [ not that kind of pot] to discuss the community, not one grower attended as marijuana was not on the agenda.
This just enforces the image that big weed only cares about the bottom line, not community. Growers that moved into the county 2 years ago did not integrate into the area very well and now the grow ban is in place.
There is nothing wrong with like minded folks getting together for some smoke, reggae and rally the troops but you people may want to join in on the non-cannabis related community
events also. Just one locals perspective for what it's worth [2 cents]
P.S. The grow ban is in place but the fight goes on. Growers still have hope for the future of commercial cannabis in Calaveras county

 

[Securityfirst]

Well spoken grower

Well spoken grower

Taking chances implies there is a risk. Risk means there is a probability you will fail. There is no need to have spite towards those who have achieved success, but there is also no need to pretend like luck does not factor into cannabis industry success, and those who are not successful are just lazy or not willing to take risks.

Word up mofo!

 

[Growcephus]

cannabis industry success....

Which, in the industry, is pretty much code for "fuck everyone but me"....just like in every other industry.

 

[Mtn. Nectar]

South of Caleveras county.....renewed my script yesterday..........exempt .....but not like previous yr's where they stated 99plants/11lb's........omitted now with so-called legal status.....so I ask if this is protection for Doc when shit hits the fan......and they tried to say it was for my protection as well.....which I say bs to........of course in small print is one must adhere to specific county reg's/etc.......which comes back to six indoors only..........legalization ......not for me.......

 

[MountZionCollec]

Subject= Growers becoming part of the community .With all the changing laws regarding cannabis cultivation in Cali. one thing stands out in my mind, that is how farmers moving into newly opened up counties, such as Calaveras county, while trying to put put a good image of community outreach with $ donations to schools and others, do not seem to be interested in community meetings unless cannabis is on the agenda. At a local potluck [ not that kind of pot] to discuss the community, not one grower attended as marijuana was not on the agenda.
This just enforces the image that big weed only cares about the bottom line, not community. Growers that moved into the county 2 years ago did not integrate into the area very well and now the grow ban is in place.
There is nothing wrong with like minded folks getting together for some smoke, reggae and rally the troops but you people may want to join in on the non-cannabis related community
events also. Just one locals perspective for what it's worth [2 cents]
P.S. The grow ban is in place but the fight goes on. Growers still have hope for the future of commercial cannabis in Calaveras county

this is only partially true. I agree that's the truth for 90% of the permitted licensed farms and for probably 99% for the unregulated ones. However, about 10% of the farms between 50-75 are very active in their community in noncannabis issues and more active then the average business owner in that community. Not all cannabis owners are 30 year old white men with beards and long hair reeking of Ganja so u can't be sure when a cannabis person is in a organization or meeting because they don't always look the same. I know farmers in very respectable positions in organizations all over the county but u wouldn't know they grew cannabis unless they told you.

 

[MountZionCollec]

The banners from other districts outside district 2 that were running the recall campaign on Jack gharamendi of the board of supervisors for his stance on being pro cannabis regulation have FAILED!! They did not gather enough signatures, they needed like 1300+ by a couple days ago but they didn't get enough so he will not be up for recall in June!

http://www.uniondemocrat.com/localn...recall-calaveras-county-district-2-supervisor

 

[krunchbubble]

Something big went down the other day that has not made the news yet. A big cop convoy with S.W.A.T looking armored truck heading up R.R. flat road.

They were looking into a biker gang murder that happened at a bar...

 

[calaveras]

Calaveras chronicles #45= This whole thing started with Calaveras county has screwed over registered growers. It seems they have done it the the growers 2X now with the ban in place. That's another example of how government big or small continues to stick it to the people. Growers still hold out hope for reinstatement with a new supervisors election in June. Most people are sick of all the big marijuana stuff, feeling that 6 plants is plenty for one person.
The mom and pop high quality, hand trimmed, organic bud growing operations are becoming a thing of the past in the age of $500.00 per pound wholesale prices.
The chinese grow house scene is still giving cops something to do with a 5000 plant grow going down last week.
Guys are finishing their last legal light dep. crops here now before the actual ban date in June.
High volume trim machines crank out enough volume of buds that it is not feasible to pay hand trimmers $175.00-$200 lb. with low dispensary prices. It seems the people who are getting a decent (1500. lb.) price are shipping out of state. Either high risk driving cross country or 5 pound packages through the mail.
I visited the big grow store in town again. They still have very well stocked shelves ( I have never seen so many brands of fertilizer), parking lot is overflowing with pallets of premium soil. Everything a farmer would need and then some. The only thing missing was customers. One young 20ish farmer guy was looking for advice from the clueless counter help. It always surprises me when a stranger whips out their phone and openly shows pictures to someone they have never met before showing hundreds of spindly 5 foot tall plants. Said he spent 1 1/2 hours a day moving plants inside and outside and they were not sexed yet. He was looking for advice on how to transition plants to outdoors full time after starting them under 18 hour light in February for a full term outdoor grow. I gave him a few tips for this years crop and told him next year start plants March 1st under 12 hours light and bump up light 15 minutes every 2 weeks . It seems despite the ban some people are proceeding with huge operations.
It is tough to hide a few hundred plants from airplanes and satellites.
Many new FOR SALE signs have been going up on sites that had farms last year and it is a buyers market now since many parcels were over priced when the influx of new growers hit in 2016.
P.S. Despite the weirdness with the weed scene up here, it sure beats the heck out of the bay area ( the pit of despair )

 

[calaveras]

Calaveras chronicles #46= June 6, One day ahead of the date for the ban on commercial growing in Calaveras county. A helicopter got my attention this morning. It flew right by and did a couple of circles around sites that had big registered farms last year. No mistaking why a helicopter is doing tight banking turns above a farm.Smile you're on candid camera.It is a good feeling when the choppers don't slow down or circle over my place. But then it would be just wasted fuel. They are definitely keeping an eye on previously registered sites. The chopper was small and dark green, no markings, for anyone interested.
Lawsuits and legal wrangling continue as the county deals with multiple lawsuits from registered growers and their attorneys= scum dogs.
Land that had registered and unregistered growers is for sale in many locations . A lot of the land for sale is fire burnt land from 2015. It sold quickly for inflated prices in 2016 to new growers and was quite valuable as a grow site but has low real value to non-growers.
Bay Area money tends to make it's way up here especially for people retiring or Googleheads with excess $ . One million buys you a 3 bedroom fixer with neighbors 10 feet away in Mountain View.In Calaveras county One million buys a incredible custom showpiece home on 100 acres with sierra and burnt forest views. Most Bay Area money does not want to be surrounded by pot farms. They prefer vineyards for neighbors.
Speaking of neighbors, most people I talk to are glad the ban is in place. The commercial marijuana experiment was poorly implemented and caused more problems than benefit.
The county government does miss the money. They are talking of raising tax $ on hotels for tourists which is a pittance compared to big weed fees.
The election yesterday doesn't seem like it will change anything.
The big mega-grow store seems to have far more employees than customers.

P.S. The high country sierras are just incredible, tourists are welcome, we have lots of good restaurants, wine tasting, live music and a couple of dispensaries are still open for business. Everyone is welcome

 

[MountZionCollec]

I have heard a few reports of dark helicopters circling overhead of former 22,000 square foot grows. Have yet to hear of them flying over anything smaller yet. They only busted 80 farms last year with the sheriffs department and their are hundreds if not over a thousand of grows at or larger then 1/2 acre so that should keep them off the small people.

The election yesterday is going to change EVERYTHING. It is almost assured that we will have 3 or more pro regulation supervisors this coming January. Lets look at the election results

-District 1: Pro Ban Gary Toffinelli has the recall that needs to collect the signatures by June 28th. Not clear what will happen here.

District 2-Pro regulation Jack Gharamendi recall effort failed so he will remain in office.

District 3 Pro Regulation Meritta Callaway received 47% of the vote, likely to win in the fall. PRO REGULATION Oliveira came in 2nd with 29%. PRO BAN Ed Langen with 24% is out of the race.

District 4: Pro Ban Mills recall effort just turned in 2300 signatures looking to recall him, they only need 1555 for it to go to the fall ballot. Mills only had 1700 vote for him, so more people have now signed for him to be replaced meaning it is a high potential this will flip to become pro regulation in January.

District 5-Pro Ban Clapp is going to be replaced. He got elected in a recall effort and only had 33% vote for him last election. This time that dropped and he only had 31.5%. PRO REGULATION Ben stopper Received 32.5% and will face off with Clapp in the fall. Clapp has not chance. The third place went to HIGHLY PRO REGULATION Bruce Guidici with 29%. 9% went to Gustafensen in 4th who never commented on cannabis.

Sheriffs Office: Lukewarm/Pro Regulation Rick Basillio got 49% of the vote. Pro Regulation Pat Garrahan got 22%, and PRO BAN Gary stevens got 29%.

This very clearly shows that the banners represent a loud minority in the county of between 25% and 33% of the population depending on which district you are in. THeir is about an equal number of hardcore cannabis supporters with the rest of the people in the middle, likely preferring some sort of compromise.

I have been meeting Many people moving out here from the Bay, all types of people from Liberals-conservatives-libertarians-Socialists but I have yet to meet one that believes Prohibition of cannabis is the best strategy. I agree they dont want cannabis farms surrounding them, but most of the farms are illegal anyway so from my conversations people would be fine with a few hundred farms in the county if they were regulated and OUTSIDE residential areas on larger parcels.. As more people move here from the Bay the numbers of voters who would like some amount of cannabis to be regulated and taxed to pay for the eradication of illegal grows is only going to increase.

 

[MountZionCollec]

http://elections.calaverasgov.us/Results

 

[Chunkypigs]

did you plant your patch?

I have heard a few reports of dark helicopters circling overhead of former 22,000 square foot grows. Have yet to hear of them flying over anything smaller yet. They only busted 80 farms last year with the sheriffs department and their are hundreds if not over a thousand of grows at or larger then 1/2 acre so that should keep them off the small people.

The election yesterday is going to change EVERYTHING. It is almost assured that we will have 3 or more pro regulation supervisors this coming January. Lets look at the election results

-District 1: Pro Ban Gary Toffinelli has the recall that needs to collect the signatures by June 28th. Not clear what will happen here.

District 2-Pro regulation Jack Gharamendi recall effort failed so he will remain in office.

District 3 Pro Regulation Meritta Callaway received 47% of the vote, likely to win in the fall. PRO REGULATION Oliveira came in 2nd with 29%. PRO BAN Ed Langen with 24% is out of the race.

District 4: Pro Ban Mills recall effort just turned in 2300 signatures looking to recall him, they only need 1555 for it to go to the fall ballot. Mills only had 1700 vote for him, so more people have now signed for him to be replaced meaning it is a high potential this will flip to become pro regulation in January.

District 5-Pro Ban Clapp is going to be replaced. He got elected in a recall effort and only had 33% vote for him last election. This time that dropped and he only had 31.5%. PRO REGULATION Ben stopper Received 32.5% and will face off with Clapp in the fall. Clapp has not chance. The third place went to HIGHLY PRO REGULATION Bruce Guidici with 29%. 9% went to Gustafensen in 4th who never commented on cannabis.

Sheriffs Office: Lukewarm/Pro Regulation Rick Basillio got 49% of the vote. Pro Regulation Pat Garrahan got 22%, and PRO BAN Gary stevens got 29%.

This very clearly shows that the banners represent a loud minority in the county of between 25% and 33% of the population depending on which district you are in. THeir is about an equal number of hardcore cannabis supporters with the rest of the people in the middle, likely preferring some sort of compromise.

I have been meeting Many people moving out here from the Bay, all types of people from Liberals-conservatives-libertarians-Socialists but I have yet to meet one that believes Prohibition of cannabis is the best strategy. I agree they dont want cannabis farms surrounding them, but most of the farms are illegal anyway so from my conversations people would be fine with a few hundred farms in the county if they were regulated and OUTSIDE residential areas on larger parcels.. As more people move here from the Bay the numbers of voters who would like some amount of cannabis to be regulated and taxed to pay for the eradication of illegal grows is only going to increase.

 

[MountZionCollec]

did you plant your patch?

I'm just growing this year for my personal consumption..

As long as we're able to grow commercially next year I'll good on my money to keep going in 2019 and beyond.

 

[calaveras]

Helicopter update: I talked to a friend who was a registered grower. He told me that the same previously described marijuana helicopter has visited him twice this spring. His grow was under 10,000 square feet. He says the copter spends about half a minute hovering about 200 feet elevation. The cops are definitely going from one GPS coordinate to another of registered grows.Mt. Zion offers hope for previously registered growers future but even if legal growing is reinstated California seems to be killing any prospects for small operations to be competitive with the massive greenhouse and other mega - grows that I thought were supposed to be limited in size with regulations.
Here in Calaveras county the general consensus is the experiment was a colossal failure.
In the meantime growers have the potential to totally bankrupt one of the poorer counties in the state.
It is time to learn a trade in California besides pot farming. Have a backup plan to get by because the future of marijuana here is bleak at best for all but the big $ players.
P.S. Hell , even Melissa Ethridge bought 47 acres in the Santa Cruz mountains to farm on and market her hot flash haze.

 

[calaveras]

Calaveras chronicles #46= It aint over til its over. So the latest proposal by our quite brilliant county supervisors is to allow a actual vote by residents of Calaveras county whether to allow commercial registered marijuana farming. Too bad they couldn't have had this before things got all weird up here. If it happens it will be in November. Mt. Zion chronicled recall efforts and hope for supervisor change.
The county is feeling the $ pinch now that cannabis funds have dried up. A large deficit looms, formerly registered farmers want their money back, the sheriffs dept. is running 26% short of employees primarily because of the low pay offered compared to high population areas.
Although the sheriffs dept. is running short of manpower they still have the resources to bust a 1300 plant grow at a formerly registered farm. The GPS coordinates are well known if you registered a grow. The couple of formerly registered growers I know are not pushing their luck and are just growing personal this season. Most guys are still trying to unload last years crop at low prices. Even if commercial farming is reinstated here the business has been ruined by corporate mega-weed , the future looks bleak for boutique marijuana.The guys shipping product back east are having problems with the changing market too.
The big marijuana grow supply stores are keeping doors open , I guess hoping for a reversal of fortunes. It is tough to stay open when farmers are buying a few bags of ocean forest rather than a pallet.
More former grow site land is for sale or in foreclosure. All the high visibility roadside operations are gone along with the fragrance.
P.S. As the great Buddy Ebson once said , " We're still living, so everythings O.K."

 

[MountZionCollec]

Supervisor Mills proposal to put something before the ballot is not for a vote that would have any actual power. He wants to put an "advisory" vote before the people...which means all it will do is advise the board on if the public is happy with their current ban. Which really doesnt provide much information and it wont have any binding effect. Mr. Mills said he was doing it to end the great divide that continues to exist in our county and somehow this divisive vote that wont change anyones mind is somehow supposed to heal the divide. Its a poltiical stunt he is doing to drive up support amongst the bansters. Now they have the ban ON THE BALLOT so they will be extra motivated to get out the vote from their friends, family and neighbors. He saw how poorly the bansters did in the last election.

Did you see the deficit they will have this year? $9.2 million dollars those assholes somehow almost doubled their deficit from last year and they keep voting on more and more money for everybody. THey cannot have 2 years like that so basically they have one year to destroy the majority of what still hangs on of our industry in the county. Mills wants 5 code enforcement officials working on cannabis, but theyll likely just have 2-3 working on cannabis and everything else in the county as people keep leaving just like the officers. Mills in a recent meeting said they should be going after ALL nuisances in the county as aggressively as they are approaching cannabis. Ive heard reports of multiple nongrowers getting citations for having shipping contaiiner.

They have only busted 1 grow so far this season and I think they are worried they violated the law in the process which is why theyve only busted one. The claim I am hearing is if that grower was still in good standing as far as his registration that they needed to give him 10 days to come into compliance prior to plant removal. I havent read ban ordinance in awhile so dont remember what the law says. But they came in and shut it down on day 1 so itll be interesting to see how this plays out. Banners are mad McManus lead banner says the eradication program is looking more like crickets as opposed to Shock and awe. And he also is unhappy with the lack of enthusiasm from county employees in enforcing the Ban, and that only if people could take pride and joy in this process they could destroy so many more grows.

Code enforcements goal is to get 300 grows even though last year they got 228 with more employees. They say they can do it because they will be busting people all year as they focus more on indoor and greenhouse grows as opposed to outdoor which only had a limited season to find them and eradicate them. Their planning on having code enforcement looking at electricity usage of houses to find indoor grows.

Sheriff actually only got like 65-70 grows last year not the 80 i thought. They need to get 1/3 of the growers they say to deter others from growing. They say they have 1000 growers but that is definitely more like 2000-2500.

The only thing that is going to save Californias weed industry is for Trump to allow for sales between regulated states. This would pressure the government of California to fix the failures in their current design. Their is SOOOO much money being poured into the industry far more then can be earned back in profits anytime soon MANY people are about to go out of business. Once cannabis is normalized California will be a major center of production like many other Ag products so people are investing on this future hope but it may be Many years away so prices will race to the bottom with over supply. I can see plainly I wont be able to compete with commercial greenhouse growers, but I do believe I will be able to compete for cheap high quality clean organic outdoor for manufactured goods and/or for the cheaper flowers available at the dispensaries and just grow enough square footage to earn a profit with very low cost process. I am prepared to hold out for at least 2-3 more years and since the county can not go through 3 year of 9 million deficits I am confident Calaveras will have commercial production in the future at some point. The climate is too perfect, with great access to water and close access to markets and Ports which will be key for future exportation of product.

 

[MountZionCollec]

First casualty of the Calaveras 2018 Ban was a buyer/armed robber that either jumped out of the car during the high speed chase or was shoved out and was already dead??

https://www.calaverasenterprise.com/news/article_d6d18254-78a5-11e8-a0f3-cfc9294566b6.html

Apparently it was a grow that had registered in 2016 but was denied I believe for not paying measure C tax last year? So they weren't an approved grow but former registered.

The sheriff released a few different sets of info and if I recall right from the last one the farmers had arranged to make a sale to the armed robbers. The farmers had 6 people on site thought that made them safe but the "buyers" showed up 7 deep guns pulled out sort of ambushed them took them by surprise.

2 robbers are still on the run, 4 were caught and one is dead.

 

[Jellyfish]

I don't why any of these stories are surprising to anybody. There are people out there that HATE AND DESPISE people that grow/ingest marijuana.



Now that it's becoming 'legal', do you think they are going to stop hating you? Or trying to fuck you? Really?

 

[MountZionCollec]

https://local.nixle.com/alert/6648584/

Latest release of info from the Sheriff

 

[calaveras]

It seems every couple of years some really weird marijuana and ripper related event happens in Calaveras county. Mt. Zion references the article above. This one was fairly scary. Sounds like a big quantity being sold to people who thought it should be free. People tied up, tased and beat up, guns out , cars stolen. Theft was from a previously registered grow site. Cops were alerted and spotted the convoy heading out of town. Someone either bailed out of a car at high speed on a corner or what everyone is wondering is if it was a dead body pushed out. Either way they the person was D.O.A. Four bad guys and girls were caught and two got away. Foreign language heard from badguys . Not spanish. It seems the cops did a good job.
Speaking of cops. Get this: Calaveras county has a large financial deficit , The sheriffs dept. cannot fill all deputy positions supposedly because of low pay compared to nearby valley counties competition. The sheriffs department is spending $$$400,000 on a new, big, super scary looking S.W.A.T. tank type assault vehicle. Mind blowing