Double dealing: Legal, illicit blur in California pot market

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Industry experts say a growing number of license holders are secretly operating in the illegal market — working both sides of the economy to make ends meet.

On an isolated farm, greenhouses stand in regimental order, sheltered by a fringe of trees. Inside are hundreds of head-high

Industry insiders say the practice of working simultaneously in the legal and illicit markets is all too commonplace, a financial reality brought on by the difficulties and costs of doing business with a product they call the most heavily regulated in America. Kristi Knoblich Palmer, co-founder of top edibles brand KIVA Confections, lamented that the migration of business into the illegal market was damaging the effort to establish a stable, consumer-friendly marketplace.

In October, California law enforcement officials announced the destruction of over 1 million illegal plants statewide but said they were finding larger illicit growing operations. In the cannabis heartland of Humboldt County, many illegal growers are moving indoors to avoid detection.

The thriving illegal markets in California, Oregon and elsewhere are a "product of the dysfunction, the lack of resources and the fact that we don’t have a national market that is regulated," he said. California’s effort to establish itself as the preeminent player in the legal cannabis economy has never felt more imperiled, and talk is spreading of a Boston Tea Party-like rebellion against state policies. In a December letter to Newsom, about two dozen industry executives said the state was crippling the marijuana economy.

 

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Good for them.

National legalization please

Big surprise

i just smoked a fatty.

Duhhhhhhhhhh. They all do it

Make it illegal again.

.. and that's shocking how? This is just some of the fallout from legalizing this bs. .. but then again we all know this is nothing but a cash cow for the state. Statistically speaking.. a good demographic % of young teens today are all frequent users aka potheads.

When they say it's legal but fine and fee you so much you lose money after making a sale. Seems pretty 2021 CALIFORNIA to me.

The taxes are insane

Old news

If california would stop rugging people for taxes than it wouldnt happen 💡

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