California's marijuana industry was already in crisis. Then the ICE raids started

San Francisco Chronicle​

3 days ago

Recent immigration raids on Southern California cannabis facilities have shaken California's already beleaguered marijuana industry as leaders worry about a renewed federal assault on farms and dispensaries that could scare workers into staying home and further cripple the state's multibillion-dollar industry.
Cannabis industry leaders and advocates have been huddling about how to react to a federal immigration raid this month on grow sites in Camarillo and Carpinteria that led to the arrests of 361 allegedly undocumented immigrants. The sites are owned by Glass House Farms one of California's largest growers. The raid became a chaotic, violent mess in which at least one person lost their life and U.S. citizens were detained, including a CSU professor.
One worker, Jaime Alanís Garcia, died after he fled federal agents, climbed on top of a greenhouse then fell 30 feet. Federal officials say they arrested 'at least 14 migrant children.'
The California Department of Cannabis Control said it conducted a site visit to the Glass House Farms facility in May 'and observed no minors on the premises.' After receiving a subsequent complaint, the department opened an investigation into the facility that is ongoing.
Those raids may shock the generation of California cannabis industry workers who have grown up without fearing regular para-military style raids that the Drug Enforcement Agency conducted for years in the state until 2014, when federal lawmakers banned the agency from interfering with state-licensed medicinal cannabis operations.
But some advocates worry that ethos may be changing. The Republicans who control Congress are not cannabis-friendly. On Wednesday, a House committee passed legislation that will halt the Department of Justice from spending money to reclassify cannabis from a Schedule 1 drug on par with heroin, a move initiated by the Biden administration. A House committee also recently approved provisions that would increase the federal penalties for distributing cannabis within 1,000 feet of an elementary school, college, playground, vocational school or public housing unit. These tougher penalties could 'open the door for federal interference in state medical cannabis programs again,' according to Americans for Safe Access, a cannabis advocacy organization.
Industry leaders in California, which has long been a national leader in cannabis consumption and production, are on a high alert after the recent raids, unsure if the industry is being targeted or if the feds are more focused on finding undocumented immigrants.
'We are being vigilant to see if this is a one-and-done situation, or whether we can expect more, and need to brace ourselves for that action,' said Caren Woodson, president of the board of directors of the California Cannabis Industry Association.
Given the recent cannabis-unfriendly moves in Washington, Woodson said, 'it definitely suggests that if you are in the cannabis space, you should be vigilant and on watch for what happens next.'
Woodson's organization is working with advocates and cannabis businesses to train employees about what to do if federal agents raid a facility, even if it is state-licensed.
Meanwhile, public support for Trump's immigration policies is dropping. A new PBS/Marist poll found that only 43% of respondents approved of Trump's handling of immigration, one of several polls that show support dropping for a key piece of Trump's agenda in the wake of a series of high-profile raids on agriculture and other workers. Woodson worries that, given the $165 billion increase in the Department of Homeland Security's budget, with much of that targeted toward immigration enforcement and security, that the administration might increase its focus on California's cannabis industry, whose workers may not be as sympathetic as those who provide Americans with grocery staples.
'As raids on traditional (agriculture) become more unpopular, something like this could be seen as a culture war wedge, and that is concerning,' Woodson said.
And then there is the potential financial impact. For one, the raids could scare members of their workforce to stay home.
On Tuesday, the United Farm Workers urged workers 'who are not U.S. citizens to avoid working in the cannabis industry, even at state licensed operations.'
For some in California's decades-old cannabis industry, which long predates voter-approved statewide legalization in 2016, Woodson said the raids were a 'triggering' reminder of the hundreds of federal raids conducted in the state for years.
A generation of California cannabis industry workers has grown up working with little fear of federal law enforcement agents kicking in the doors, guns drawn.
'People have gotten very comfortable with the idea that cannabis is legal, even though it is still federally illegal,' said Steph Sherer, president of Americans for Safe Access. 'I'm a little worried what that might look like under this administration.'
This rising concern of renewed federal interference is yet another headache for California's beleaguered industry. That's because cannabis consumers — and retailers — just felt the state cannabis excise tax jump from 15% to 19% on July 1. (Although state legislators are considering a measure that would reverse the increase.) The tax bump couldn't come at a worse time: An estimated 15% of state retailers are behind on their taxes, and legal California weed is already the most expensive in the country.
The high tax rate is a big reason an estimated 60% of the cannabis consumed in the state is illegal. The annual state of the industry report by the California Department of Cannabis Control found '1.4 million pounds of licensed cannabis are produced and consumed in California. California consumption is around 3.8 million pounds, meaning that 2.4 million pounds are supplied from unlicensed cannabis operations and consumed in California.'
And now, the raids pose another existential threat.