It is no surprise that California Gov. Gavin Newson unveiled a new ban on unregulated hemp products as his state's legal cannabis industry continues to falter. Products such as THCA pre-rolls, flower, and edibles like gummies and sodas that contain any detectible amount of THC will be banned, while the remaining legal hemp products will be regulated to the likeness of legal cannabis at licensed dispensaries. In his own words, Newson painted smoke shop, gas station, and other retail owners and franchises as "drug peddlers" who "target our children with dangerous and unregulated hemp products." The governor believes children are the target clientele of these shops while fully committing to the belief that unregulated hemp will cause illnesses and disruptions to a child's brain development. It is the classic War on Drugs type of propaganda that Newsom is peddling himself to try and justify this attack on small businesses; a justification that is simply untrue. While the public still tries to understand what THCA is and whether this ban is necessary, retailers are well aware of the actual reason for this "emergency ban."
You see, it is incredibly easy to fool the public by using children as victims to a complex and controversial legal phenomenon like weed. We'll get into that in a minute. Now, what many citizens don't know is that the state of California is constantly targeting its own small businesses that sell hemp, such as smoke shops and gas stations, because sales made at these retail locations take away from sales potentially made at licensed cannabis dispensaries. For context, the city of Los Angeles has been breeding grounds for unlicensed cannabis dispensaries for what seems like forever, but more so in the last 5 years. To be a licensed dispensary, you need millions of dollars and a posse of shareholders. As local police crack down, raid, and close unlicensed dispensaries, more businesses begin to open up that follow the same illegal approach as their predecessors by presenting themselves as legal dispensaries online and in-person. That is because these unlicensed storefronts collect thousands of dollars in profits before getting caught, and when these business owners get caught they're slapped with a fine that can be paid off. Combine that with the affordable costs of opening up a new small business, and the cycle continues. A cycle that the city of Los Angeles has no answer to.
In 2023, San Diego police conducted numerous drug busts on smoke shops and businesses affiliated with Canably, a shop that proclaimed itself as a retail location and wholesale distributor of THC products. Canably was not permitted to sell such products as they didn't possess the necessary licenses to do so. Police were tipped off about Canably and their affiliates, leading to several arrests and the closures of certain retail locations like Elevated in Pacific Beach. The owners of both businesses, as well as several black market cannabis cultivators within the city, claim the dispensary March and Ash tried buying Canably before the arrests, but when Canably denied, March and Ash tipped off city officials about the "illegal" sales of THC products. Whether this is true or not, the divide between large corporations paying the state to play and small businesses acting as competition is visible and an ongoing battle. San Diego claims that illegal and underground cannabis dispensaries aren't an issue anymore, yet businesses all around the city can be seen selling products containing THC.
What did this in-state fight really stem from?
In 2016, California legalized recreational marijuana, and the state's legal cannabis industry has since been squeezed by the tight grips of Governor Newsom and state lawmakers. In 2018, the Trump Administration released a nationwide Farm Bill that legalized hemp products containing less than 1% THC, meaning if hemp products on retail shelves had the necessary labels and QR codes that abided to federal guidelines, then they were legal to sell and profit from. Many new businesses and brands started popping up after the Farm Bill was passed, and they started with Delta-8 weed products, moved to altnoids (alternative cannabinoids) like HHC, THCP, and THCO when the federal government cracked down on Delta-8. Leading to today where we have THCA products, which is just a label for regular weed before it's lit up and converted to THC. This was all due to the 2018 Farm Bill which made these products federally legal to sell.
The bottom line is money; money that the state believes should go into their pockets because weed is already legal in California. However, because the federal government allows THC products labeled under 1% available for sale, new business are taking advantage of the federal guidelines and creating their own wealth. In other words, people are putting regular weed in bags, labeling it within federal standards, and are making a killing in profits. Said people are making a killing because it is expensive as hell to buy weed at licensed dispensaries with the additional 30% sales, state, and city taxes attached to the price. Marking their prices lower allows customers to still get high at a fraction of the price by choosing to go to these small shops instead of dispensaries, because who really wants to constantly pay $60 for an eighth? Not me.
This clash of state and federal laws that somewhat contradict each other created this legal civil war between California and its small businesses, which California claims children are a victim of.
So, how are children involved in this?
There is a broad range of explanations that can answer this question, but for the sake of this argument let's use what the San Diego police and local District Attorney highlighted as the biggest issue from the aforementioned drug busts: Canably and Elevated were operating within 1,000 feet from public schools and their products were found in households with children inside. While offering no context or proof of which household with children had unlicensed THC products, the idea of such stores operating within a school zone is sure to affect the sentiments of parents. Combine this argument with the popular claim that cannabis affects youth brain development, and you have yourself some vintage Reefer Madness anti-weed propaganda for locals to support.
Nevermind the liquor stores, convenience stores, and supermarkets selling liquor that are set up within walking distances of San Diego elementary schools like Florence Elementary, John A. Otis Elementary, Green Elementary, Madison Elementary, and many others. The city instead focuses on smoke shops and blames them for putting children in harms way (in 2023, there were over 4,000 DUI arrests and 25+ drunk-driving fatalities in San Diego). And don't get me started on how the city allows the homeless to set up tents at any corner of their choosing, where they get to shoot heroin up their veins, smoke meth, and not pay any taxes next to a taxpayer-funded elementary school. It's the classic scare tactic; the government used it to keep gay marriage illegal, to censor and place parental warnings on heavy metal and rap music, to "build a wall" in 2016, and now to ban THC products. It's lazy, uninspiring, and a slap to the face to business owners abiding by federal guidelines.
Overview
I work at a smoke shop. Children aren't coming in here in the first place, and if they were to, they'd be immediately ID'd. THCA products aren't commercialized or sold to children in any way, and a child would be really stupid to even try buying that shit at a smoke shop. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but a worker and store-owner understand what's at stake if they were to sell to a minor. Smoke shops and other small business selling THCA products are no different than your local dive bar with their front door wide open. Yet, we don't blame the dive bars for selling someone a few too many and letting them drive off after. Governor Newsom is just looking for an easy excuse to stop his pockets from drying up because he botched the legal cannabis experience. He allowed corporations to run the recreational market, and corporations don't know dick about weed. He punished small farms, and when these small farms started a new wave because the federal government allowed it, Newsom decided to punish them again. So, instead of admitting his shortcomings, he's having children be his human shield from accountability. It paints small business and weed smokers as sketchy and untrustworthy. That's fucked.
Here are some of my favorite quotes on the THCA ban:
“We will not sit on our hands as drug peddlers target our children with dangerous and unregulated hemp products containing THC at our retail stores. We’re taking action to close loopholes and increase enforcement to prevent children from accessing these dangerous hemp and cannabis products.” -Gavin Newsom, Governor of California
“Intoxicating industrial hemp products can cause illness and injury to California consumers...We are working to ensure products in the marketplace comply with state laws that protect consumers against these public health risks and have proposed emergency regulations that will improve protections for consumers.” -Tomas Aragon, State Public Health Officer
“These rules are a critical step in ensuring the products in the marketplace align with the law’s original intent, and we are committed to working with our state partners to enforce state law.” -Nicole Elliot, Director of the Department of Cannabis Control
Interesting that there is no mention about harmful pesticides in legal cannabis dispensaries.
What do you think? Is California right in its fight against unlicensed dispensaries? Should the state ban THCA products? Should California revamp the recreational market? Are small business selling THCA products really harming children?
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