California bill allowing pot farmers to sell directly at farmers markets advances

Consumers would be able to buy cannabis directly from cultivators at farmers markets just like they do for produce, under legislation approved Tuesday by the state Assembly Committee on Business and Professions.

The push to allow small farmers to sell directly comes as the cultivators are seeing their most daunting financial challenges since the legalization of cannabis in 2018.

The wholesale prices farmers receive for outdoor grown marijuana collapsed to $488 a pound for the week ending April 15, a more than 55 percent drop from from 15 months earlier, shows research firm Cannabis Benchmarks.

The legislation still needs to clear the Assembly Appropriations Committee and the full Assembly Chamber and then go through the Senate before reaching the governor’s desk.

Still, it’s a first step that pleased several dozen farmers that showed up for Tuesday’s vote.

“This is an important first step that will help our cash flow by being able to sell directly at farmer’s markets,” said Kristen Callahan, owner of Magic Meadows Farms in Middletown in Lake County.

The bill only allows farmers to sell at eight cannabis farmers markets a year but Callahan and other farmers see ii as a way to add to their profits in difficult times by allowing them to collect the fees normally paid to distributor middlemen and dispensaries.

They also see the direct sales as a potential beginning of cannabis tourism in California, though that would require more legislation, where visitors could sample different varieties of marijuana at a pot farm, similar to what they do at a winery.

The bill’s main opponents are dispensary owners, who are concerned about competition. to their exclusive franchise. Under Proposition 64, the legislation that made marijuana sales legal in California, only dispensaries and delivery services can sell cannabis to consumers.

Assemblyman Phillip Chen, R-Brea, said before Tuesday’s vote that he was concerned about the farmers markets adding too many places to buy cannabis.

“As I represent Orange County, there will be an over saturation of these retailers in my communities,” he said.

The bill sponsor, Assemblyman Jim Wood, D-Santa Rosa, countered that the legislation was about,”giving the little guy a chance.”

“We are talking about eight events, “ he said. “We’re not talking about everyone getting a separate license.”

The farmers insist that allowing consumers to sample their product at farmers markets will only promote marijuana more, benefiting all players in the state’s legal cannabis industry.

Farmers can show their products currently at cannabis farmers markets but the convoluted system doesn’t allow them to make a direct sale. Consumers then have to go to another booth at the market and buy the marijuana from a licensed retail operator.

The Emerald Club Pot Fair is the largest such event, held each December in Santa Rosa.

This story was originally published April 27, 2022 at 10:36 AM.