As more and more states have legalized recreational marijuana use in recent years, there’s been a lot of “buzz” in the travel industry about the future of cannabis vacations and what shape this would take. But like everything else in the world of travel, the global coronavirus pandemic and spread of COVID-19 changed the landscape and slowed everything down. Now, slowly but surely, travel is coming back, and Northern California’s Scotia Lodge is front and center as an instant hotspot for those whose travel decisions are influenced by all things cannabis.

On July 12, 2021, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 141 (AB-141), which creates the Department of Cannabis Control (DCC). The DCC will consolidate the three state cannabis programs – the Bureau of Cannabis Control (BCC), the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s (CDFA) CalCannabis Cultivation Licensing Division, and the California Department of Public Health’s (CDPH) Manufactured Cannabis Safety Branch – under a single department in an effort to centralize and simplify regulatory and licensing oversight in California. Governor Newsom has appointed Nicole Elliott as the initial Director of the DCC.

California just signed a new law into effect that will consolidate the state’s cannabis programs into one department. 

This was done to help simplify regulatory oversight and make access to licenses more clear and straightforward for those seeking to find them. 

It would consolidate the three agencies that already exist to regulate legal cannabis in the state, which are the Bureau of Cannabis Control, CalCannabis within the Department of Food and Agriculture as well as the Cannabis Manufacturing branch within the Department of Public Health into just one, single agency, the new Department of Cannabis Control.

Since 2012, 19 states and Washington, DC, have legalized marijuana for adults over the age of 21. And 37 states have legalized medical marijuana – meaning that a majority of Americans have access to cannabis, whether medically or recreationally.

Three states-New Mexico, Virginia, and South Dakota-passed legalization in recent months, and the laws took effect in late June and early July.

In South Dakota, medical and recreational cannabis ballot measures passed in the November elections. But only the medical program appears to be underway as recreational marijuana faces challenges.

Cannabis businesses need to remain vigilant and consider whatever regulatory measures can be taken to mitigate losses caused by fires.

Summer’s here, a massive heatwave just hit the west coast, and fire season is right around the corner. This is the harsh reality for west coast residents and it doesn’t look like that’ll change anytime soon. Wildfires have a severe impact on entire communities and everyone can be impacted. But there are some unique issues for cannabis businesses that I’ll get into in this post.

The University of California Berkley Cannabis Research Center has been studying water use on cannabis farms since 2017.

The work has relied mostly on water use reports from farmers enrolled in California’s cannabis cultivation program, as well as anonymous farmer surveys.

And while the data surrounding cannabis use, especially on nonpermitted grows, remains limited, the Cannabis Research Center is beginning to form a better understanding of how outdoor cultivation impacts local environments.

Nickolas Jarosh started smoking marijuana after his shifts as a 911 dispatcher. He’d flip between working days and nights, and the inconsistent schedule made it difficult to fall asleep. Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, helped, he said.

Jarosh, 29, who now lives outside Houston, no longer works a job that forces him to keep inconsistent hours. He also no longer has access to marijuana, which he said had also been helping to ease his anxiety and depression.

A House committee is backing federal efforts to track down illicit grows on public lands in California. This will become a reality if issues around cybersecurity and domestic production can be resolved so that the drones can be fully trusted to carry out their mission. 

The wildfires came early this year. Flames are already raging across California, threatening cannabis cultivation operations as well as homes, individuals and many livelihoods. The high-pressure dome that continues to trap heat over much of the U.S., likely caused the fires to start earlier than normal.

Worse each year

As bad as last year's wildfire season was, 2021's could be even worse as excruciating heatwaves become more frequent and more intense every year.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection disclosed Tuesday that the Lava Fire burning brush and timber in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest had grown from 1,446 acres on Monday to 13,300.