Agata Popęda here, thinking about cannabis, which dominated the news section of the current issue of the Weekly. There are two stories this week devoted to this curious crop that is perceived as an economic blessing but it is also still associated with crime. 

While Pam Marino writes about a cannabis competition going on in Pacific Grove, which has multiple companies interested in the one permit approved by the city, Katie Rodriguez describes a big cannabis bust on a farm near Pajaro that resulted in the Department of Cannabis Control destroying thousands of pounds of the crop, worth over $125 million.

It’s easy to simplify the issue and say that in the first case we are dealing with legal cannabis, and the other is a matter of punishing allegedly illegal activity. Another way to look at it is to go beyond what’s legal and illegal (after all, law changes over time) and go straight to the essence: Is cannabis good for our communities? Is it a crop we actually benefit from as consumers, or is the benefit simply economic?

Once perceived as a gateway drug that leads youth toward stuff like heroin, these days cannabis is presented as a tool to increase well-being, with a whole industry built around medicinal marijuana. There’s no doubt that cannabis can serve—as morphine and opioids do—as a physical or psychological pain relief. That said, recent reports indicate that high-potency cannabis (some with over 80-percent THC) poses public health concerns in California, potentially leading to mental health problems, especially among youth. Based on my personal experience, getting a CBD- or CBN-only (no “high,” just relief benefits) product in local stores has become harder over the last few years, while the amount of “fun” (attractive to the youth) flavors only increased—blueberry, bubble gum, lemon mint, pear blossom, etc.

I do not claim to have an answer to the question if cannabis is good for our community overall. If yes, then why capture thousands of pounds of the crop to be destroyed just to prove a point? If no, why are we opening another dispensary in a county that has more than a dozen already?