Two major national illegal cannabis programs recently issued press releases hailing their collective seizures of illicit weed worth some $544 million.
But when it comes to reining in California’s sprawling black market, experts say it’s just a drop in the bucket.
Those at the heart of the fight against illegal pot, like Mendocino County Sheriff Matthew Kendall, can’t help but roll their eyes.
“Don’t get me wrong, I love it when these guys [state law enforcement officers] “I’m showing up to help,” he said, “but I’ll need 50 police officers for 50 days to start stopping it.”
Mendocino County Sheriff Matt Kendall stands near an illegal cannabis grow in January 2022 in the Halls Valley area near Covelo, California.
(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
So far this year, about $353 million worth of illicit plants have been seized under a California Department of Justice program, while a task force from the governor’s office has seized about $191 million dollars.
Despite these alarming numbers, some law enforcement officials say the raids are barely slowing the black market — which, according to a study by Beau Whitney, founder of the cannabis economics research firm Whitney Economics, accounts for more than of half of the state’s marijuana sales.
“If we look at the statistics, it is clear that these operations are not effectively or aggressively reducing the illegal market,” said Siskiyou County Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue.
For example, operations by the state Department of Justice’s Illicit Cannabis Eradication and Prevention Program (EPIC) seized approximately 77,000 cannabis plants in 36 counties this year. Yet Siskiyou County alone produces between 12 and 16 million illegal plants per year. Therefore, if EPIC focused solely on Siskiyou for a year, it would eradicate only 6% of the estimated local black market, he said.
A member of the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Task Force removes cannabis plants from a greenhouse to bury them during a raid on Mount Shasta Vista.
(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
That sentiment was echoed by Kendall, who noted that in Mendocino County’s 35-square-mile Round Valley alone, there were about 1 million illegal marijuana plants.
“The black market is bigger and more harmful than ever,” he said.
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Marijuana Enforcement Team told the Times that there is still much work to be done to combat that county’s black market, which has not diminished in the past two years .
In 2022, a Times investigation found that California’s massive illegal marijuana market is pushing legal growers into financial ruin, exacerbating community violence, causing massive environmental degradation, and forcing workers to work in harsh conditions. sordid and often dangerous.
Since then, many law enforcement officials say the state has done little to address the problems that fuel the black market — onerous taxation and regulations for legal producers, few consequences for illegal operators and a limited access to legal marijuana in large areas of California.
“It’s like [state leaders] came into our counties, they doused everything with gasoline and set it on fire,” Kendall said. “Then they start talking about EPIC doing this work which is basically showing up with a garden hose.”
A spokesperson for Gov. Gavin Newsom referred questions about concerns raised by local law enforcement officials to the state Department of Cannabis Control, which did not respond to a request for comment.
California legalized weed through Proposition 64, a 2016 ballot measure that promised to “tax the cultivation and sale of marijuana in a manner that drives out the illicit market.” Eight years later, the illicit market continues to thrive.
“California has done a horrible job of incentivizing [illegal] cultivators to convert,” said Whitney, the cannabis economist. “They taxed them heavily, they regulated them heavily, they couldn’t make any money.”
California imposes a 15% excise tax on marijuana sales, in addition to additional local marijuana taxes. A recent study by cannabis industry research and analytics firm GreenWave Advisors found that legal weed companies owe the state more than $730 million in back taxes, including $72 % are owed by companies that have gone bankrupt.
Johnny Casali, center, and his partner Rose Moberly talk with state cannabis control inspectors at Casali’s farm in Garberville in 2022. Casali and other growers face high taxes and onerous rules.
(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
Another challenge is that more than half of California’s counties don’t allow marijuana sales, restricting access to legal weed in large areas of the state and pushing demand toward the black market.
There are also major incentives for sellers to enter the illegal market: they can avoid taxes and licensing fees, while knowing that the penalty for selling or transporting marijuana without a required license is only a crime.
“From a criminal perspective, there is a minimal downside and a huge upside to growing marijuana illegally and selling it on the black market,” said San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Lt. Larry Lopez.
Sheriff LaRue of Siskiyou County said that while there are enhanced penalties for some offenses related to tax evasion and environmental crimes, most illegal cultivation offenses do not have penalties harsh enough to deter production.
Because enforcement is limited, Mendocino County Sheriff Kendall said raids by state agencies are akin to a game of Whac-A-Mole.
“We can cut it and, dammit, it’ll show up again the next day,” he said.
Mendocino County sheriff’s deputies destroy cannabis during 2022 raid.
(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
Raids are also a limited law enforcement tool, as they primarily lead to the arrest of workers, not owners.
“Black market organizers often have a strategy of hiding behind labor and remaining hidden from law enforcement,” LaRue said. “It is rare for high-level organizers to be near growing areas. »
Despite the inconveniences and frustrations, Sheriffs LaRue, Kendall and Lt. Lopez still support conducting raids and welcome assistance from the state.
But they say that, to have a significant effect, the raids must be accompanied by policy changes that address the low profit margins of legal growers and the minor penalties for illegal growers.
And after years of calls for change, there is a growing sense of exasperation among those on the front lines.
“We have reached a point in the state of California where the architects of these laws – the governor, the legislators – refuse to talk with the carpenters, that is, the sheriffs and police chiefs,” said Kendall. “When we say this won’t work, it falls on deaf ears.”
