Turnover at CCVH?

◼ Richard Marks no longer affiliated with CCVH? - John Chiv/Wordsworth

◼ Richard Marks Resigns from California Cannabis Voice Humboldt - Ryan Burns/Lost Coast Outpost

After a busy year organizing local marijuana growers into a formidable political action group, Richard Marks has resigned as executive director of California Cannabis Voice Humboldt (CCVH).

Marks told the Outpost he parted ways with the group because he didn’t have enough time to commit the effort he feels is required.

“I think I was doing them an injustice by doing something part time when [the job] really needs a lot more,” Marks said. He added that there’s no ill will from either side, and he complimented the group’s board of directors, calling it “one of the hardest-working nonprofit boards you’re gonna find.”

◼ Richard's post on CCVH: CCVH: Love us or hate us we get stuff done! - Samoa Softball
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What is CCVH?

◼ Yesterday’s Pot Bust Involved Members of California Cannabis Voice Humboldt - Ryan Burns/Lost Coast Outpost June 23
◼ Despite Raids, California Cannabis Voice Humboldt to Release Draft Ordinance, Hold Rally on Courthouse Steps - Ryan Burns/Lost Coast Outpost June 25

Over the past year, local marijuana growers and activists, led by the political action group California Cannabis Voice-Humboldt (CCVH), have worked hard to legitimize the industry — drafting legislation, packing the Board of Supervisors chambers and urging “farmers” to come out of the shadows and be regulated. So when law enforcement this week raided grow operations on Island Mountain, including at least one belonging to a member of the group, activists viewed it as a betrayal of their trust.

The identity of the growers and/or property owners targeted in the raids have yet to be disclosed....

Meanwhile, CCVH still hopes to get a countywide outdoor cultivation ordinance on the books before the year is out. Local environmental leaders have pushed back against the group’s agenda and methods, comparing the situation to allowing timber companies to write their own rulebook.

Yesterday’s multi-agency marijuana raid at Island Mountain involved people currently active in the political action group California Cannabis Voice-Humboldt (CCVH), the group’s executive director, Richard Marks, confirmed this morning.

◼ ‘A Great Victory’: California Cannabis Voice Humboldt Unveils Land Use Ordinance - Ryan Burns/Lost Coast Outpost June 30
◼ Board of Supes Talk Weed Regulation, Part One - Ryan Burns/Lost Coast Outpost

Weed is littered across the agenda for today’s meeting of the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors, and during the morning session the board quibbled over two main issues: First was a letter of support for Assembly Bill 243, a piece of statewide legislation written by the North Coast’s own Assemblymember Jim Wood.

The bill, called the Marijuana Watershed Protection Act, passed the Assembly last month in May and is now being considered on the floor of the Senate. Wood has said his bill is aimed at addressing the environmental impacts of medical marijuana farms, in part by creating “a structure to tag permitted medical cannabis plants with a unique identifier for each plant.”...

◼ Board of Supes Talk Weed Regulation, Part Two: CCVH Ordinance Lands With a Splat - Ryan Burns/Lost Coast Outpost

Luke Bruner, the enthusiastic young co-founder and public figurehead of the political action group California Cannabis Voice Humboldt (CCVH), spent nearly two hours this afternoon outlining the major provisions in his group’s ambitious Land Use Ordinance to the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors. The document, more than a year in the making and now in its seventh draft, aims not only to bring Humboldt County’s rampaging marijuana industry into some semblance of order through a series of governmental regulations but also to serve as a template for regulation throughout rural California.

It’s the product of considerable effort and organization from a group few had heard of a year ago, and the task they undertook — trying to entice a profitable black market into the bonds of regulation and taxation on the one hand while, on the other, trying to convince the government to let an industry draft its own regulatory laws — could aptly be described as Herculean....

As the Outpost noted in a previous post, the proposed ordinance hinges on the addition of “cannabis” to the county’s definition of general agriculture. Once that change was in the books, Bruner explained, cannabis could be grown on any parcel in the county where general ag is currently allowed — including land zoned for timber production (TPZ). The exception would be within the Coastal Zone since the California Coastal Commission won’t allow it.

◼ HUMBOLDT COUNTY CANNABIS CULTIVATION COMPLIANCE INITIATIVE

◼ Chiv has questions: Why should a group that won't identify it's board be trusted with input on an ordinance they seek to gain from? - John Chiv/Words Worth
◼ Chiv updates: California Cannabis Voice Humboldt's new site with board member list - John Chiv/Words Worth