Rigging the Game with "Real CA Cannabis": "Taming & Taxing" Time in Corporate Capture

So they say the grass is greener in California, but is it really? With state after state modernizing their stance and alignment with this petty little plant, we apparently can't wait to make the same mistakes over and over again. In a bid to claim name recognition and eliminate competition, “Real Cannabis CA” looks like the latest corporate scheme to rig another industry to unfair advantage, wasting tax dollars on "public persuasion" campaigns, while the streets are lined with homelessness.

According to the Department of Cannabis Control, Real Cannabis CA is a widespread "education and public persuasion campaign to teach Californians about the importance of purchasing exclusively from licensed retailers and the crucial differences between regulated and unregulated cannabis.” This Department of Cannabis Control initiative is "designed to educate consumers on the importance of purchasing cannabis products from licensed retailers, and make it easier to locate and identify them". Sounds good in theory, but is completely unnecessary.

Real Ca Cannabis Ad. But is it really?

You’d be hard pressed to find an unlicensed dispensary anywhere, except for a few in each of California’s major cities. It doesn’t require a brain surgeon to find a regulated local dispensary. They’re everywhere. What requires work is finding black market brands. Is this all a marketing campaign? What happened to all of the laws that should already outline safe testing and licensing? After failing to implement useful legislation, we’re supposed to take your word for it the second time around?

Rather than using tax dollars generated from cannabis sales to right the wrongs of the last hundred years or help the businesses they claim to support, Real CA is using the money to attack cannabis growers and hash makers, with public persuasion campaigns in a desperate attempt to destroy black markets. Their idea of safe and effective products are a far cry from quality herb. A far cry from safe either, if judged by the last six (or 60) years, as previously written upon here.

California's Entitled: The Proud History of Violent Persecution

They say the grass is greener in California, but is it really? "Real Cannabis CA" certainly thinks so, claiming its stake as a state-product, backed by the history of CA cultivation on their website.  Yes, the recent history of cannabis is tied to California, but largely for reasons unrelated to the actual plants. A wine inspired land-grab seeks to profit from the dark and disturbing history of CA cultivation. As if to say, after ruining your lives for decades, we now want to claim cannabis from California as “special”.  How cute.

CAMP. Never Forget

Tame, Tax, & Tamper

Here’s where corporate capture takes its next advancing steps, never receding, by creating commissions operated and overseen by the corporations who seek to profit from cannabis. An inside job, paid for by tax dollars, creating regulations and opinions in favor of corporations by corporations, steering the market through public awareness campaigns. The old notion of letting the corporations monitor and control themselves, without real oversight, but mass-incarceration and veteran-drug-war tactics at their complete disposal. 

Real Cananbis CA's Website is nearly identical to Mood Cannabis'. Same Color Theme, Similar Fonts. Coincidence? Doubtful.

Is this latest chapter in the world of weed worth the hang-up and hold, or is this the early making of more gate-keeping? The kind of gate-keeping and bureaucracy destroying the nation, while producing immense wealth to the many middle-men along the way. This piece provides insight:

“Outlaw businesses in America tend to get squashed by cops and rescued by capitalists. Every era has its examples. Dingy gambling dens become Las Vegas hotels. Music-pirating apps give way to Apple Music and Spotify. Investors and politicians notice that a black market can be lifted into the light, and then it is tamed and taxed and generally made safe for cities and states and corporate empires to benefit.  Yet there is often a Wild West moment in the middle, when the rules are still shifting, vast fortunes can be seeded or squandered, and everyone with a stake is scrambling for position: lawmakers, entrepreneurs, & cops". Everyone but the consumer has a stake in “taming and taxing” through regulatory capture.

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Is California Actually Special to Cannabis?

This territorial claim brings up a topic to ponder... Does the California climate make this area unique to cultivation or is it simply the place where many modern genetics originated and eventually thrived? The classic-cannabis tale of seed hunting and importing land race cultivars from far off places, came together in Humboldt County, for its uninhabited hills and year round growing seasons. It's true that Humboldt falls along the same latitudes as the famed cannabis growing regions of the Himalayas in Tibet, where land race genes were collected, exported, & introduced into American stock. Many growers branched off from the Haight-Ashbury, the soul center of the hippie universe, at the start of the 1970’s to grow weed. There’s a host of reasons for early cannabis cultivation in California's densely wooded and unpopulated outdoors, but none so special as to warrant “ownership” when it was a matter of strategic necessity.

California's Cannabis Comes From Indoors

Yet, the majority of California grown cannabis could have been accomplished anywhere with the Terror Squad  sending the military in to destroy early cannabis crops and forcing many growers to head indoors.  You heard that right, the majority of California's quality cannabis was grown indoors beginning in the mid 1990's after operation C.A.M.P. took it up another notch (Campaign Against Marijuana Planting). This challenges the notion of California's unique suitability for cannabis cultivation and questions the authenticity of "California cannabis" as a product.

Terror Squads

According to the archives, "The 1990 CAMP efforts made the “war on drugs” idea more literal: The U.S. Army got involved. One Humboldt County operation involved 50 federal agents, 75 California National Guard troops, 60 soldiers and seven helicopters from Fort Ord". Despite failing to reduce cannabis cultivation, CAMP would continue terrorizing residents from the mid 1980's through the 2000's. It would take years if not decades before NorCal growers dared venture back outdoors, while proving cannabis can be grown indoors, anywhere.

One of the more exciting aspects of legalization is finding other areas and climates across the country and learning what effect they have on the plant. This plant has an incredible ability to adapt and thrive in almost any environment, making genetics, expertise, and experience the main factor in quality CA cannabis. Not its borders. Preparing for Nation-wide sales, this tactic seeks to brand California cannabis, while the plant knows no boundaries.

Rather than Lowering taxes and improving prices and products, or god-forbid, choosing to decrease their profits and margins, it’s easier to cut the legs out from under the competition.

Now the same people responsible for the destruction of early farms and farmers, want to wrangle the narrative back into their tightly controlled, money-grubbing-grips. "What you see is what you get," they claim. “No more guesswork. Products at licensed retailers are carefully packaged and accurately labeled so you always get the right dose and strain. This means more predictable effects and confident shopping for you and your friends," regardless of whether this is possible or not. It really isn't, but appearances are all they're really after.

This is Real, But What and Who isn’t?

"A stamp of approval you can trust," is truly laughable. Launched by the California Department of Cannabis Control, Real CA Cannabis "tells you where to find high-quality products statewide—responsibly grown, locally sourced, and regulated by the state to protect consumers." Unfortunately, the state has already proven itself to be wholly incapable of implementing useful standards. This “campaign” is an admission of failure and a lobbying effort in favor of the corporate agenda.

In case you missed it, labs and lab reports do not provide the consumer with useful information, but check off a long list of contaminants and hazards, covering the producers asses and ensuring a modestly-safe, but low-quality cannabis product. The lack of cannabinoids and terpene testing results, furthered by poorly written and designed legislation, made inaccurate test results a regular occurrence  thus far. A failure to properly clean lab equipment leading to false-positives in solventless products, made it blatantly clear by 2021 that testing motives were geared toward the producer, not for the consumer.

Here's what makes CA Cannabis "Real" according to their website:

• 1. Consumer protection Real CA Cannabis is regulated to meet consumer health and safety standards and provides vital information about where and how it was grown as well as the substances contained in each product.          
  

• 2  Environmental standards  Real CA Cannabis is grown, harvested, and processed using more environmentally responsible practices than cannabis sold at unlicensed dispensaries. (Poor sentence and no proof.)          
  

• 3 Locally sourced  Real CA Cannabis is 100% California-grown, cultivated exclusively on the state’s world-renowned licensed farms. Because of this, all products can be closely tracked to ensure they’re grown, prepared, and distributed according to state standards from seed to sale..." 

And for all the cannabis that doesn’t come from the “state’s world-renowned farms,” it isn’t “California cannabis”. Here's a funny side note, the majority of black market hash and rosin comes from the state's world-renowned licensed farms. If they only knew. Clearly the industry has serious problems when farmers are forced to straddle the legalization fence just to stay afloat.

Ulterior Motives

"The Real CA Cannabis campaign was launched by the California Department of Cannabis Control to support licensed cannabis businesses and consumers,” or to vanquish the real competition of the black market. “The campaign is paid for using funds generated through cannabis sales in California." The program keeping us safe from their earlier program to keep us safe,  is paid for in-part by the unsafe sale of cannabis. This is going to go wrong in a number of ways, like throwing away tax dollars on targeted ad campaigns like the ones appearing on  hashwriter.org. Rather than lowering taxes and helping these businesses, the money is squandered to support corporate tactics, while law enforcement embezzles millions.

SORRY You Had to See This, I couldn't help myself. Lunacy I tell you. Lunacy. I heard all the "heads" are rocking the Trump-Force-Ones.

Danger Sets In

Dangerous statements such as, "Ensuring all consumers have convenient access  to licensed cannabis dispensaries must be a statewide priority to promote safe consumption" can be interpreted as the continued War on Drugs.  Colorado showed us just how quick criminality is brought back into the picture of legalization. Felonies for underage use, felonies for trading, selling, or buying cannabis without paying state taxes, and a whole list of new Drug Felony Statutes (DF-1 to DF-6) were the immediate result of Colorado's 2012-2013 legalization. It looks as though this experience is far enough away to be forgotten, re-implemented, and brought back to the forefront.

After perusing their "blog," it confirmed every suspicion. Four articles in total, each including criminality and crack-downs. "California Program to Fight Illegal Cannabis," "$312 million in illegal cannabis seized," and "Illicit Marijuana Having Negative Impact on Legal Dispensaries" makes it quite clear that criminality and corporate positioning is the intention. Besides, what is "illegal cannabis" if cannabis is legal? Do they mean unregulated cannabis? They're already scrunching and smashing words together in contradiction to the programs they claim, all unsupported by Federal Legislation. Meanwhile, police departments claiming to recover $312 million dollars in cannabis, could probably cover the cost of consumer campaigns. Where does all this money go?

Creating A Predictable & Profitable Market

Forcing these state licensed dispensaries into regulation, compliance, and taxation, can only happen if the dispensaries succeed and most are not. Rather than improving prices and products, or god-forbid, choosing to decrease their profits and margins, it’s easier to cut the legs out from under the competition. This is a form of corporate capture, where rules, laws, and legislation provide advantages to companies and corporations, but more importantly, they create major disadvantages to the little guys. This works to ensure the success and stability of the market long before major corporations put a foot in.

The same sad story, leading to big pharma not quality healthcare, corporate-owned colleges concerned with numbers not knowledge, and mass incarceration rather than treatment, services, or mental health hospitals, leading only to higher crime rates. Oh, and a war on drugs leading to more dangerous drugs than ever before. Dare I say it, legalization has turned a corner with quality decreasing over the last two to three years.

Another piece of bureaucratic bull-shit, creating needs for law-enforcement and more middle-men, since they don't know what it means to "play fair". Without criminalization, limited access, insider dealings, and inflated licensing & regulatory costs, corporate cannabis can't (and won't) compete and instead of using their time and energy to provide better products for less, they're building the corporate-inspired mechanisms, machinery, and systems that have created our enormous wealth divide. Here comes, or there goes, the next phase in the  corporate capture of cannabis, disguised as a consumer-focused initiative. Look for legislation right around the corner.

Clearly something needs to be changed, but what that entails depends upon your belief in this Nation. The principles we stand for are forever tarnished and desperately in need of a total revision and complete overhaul. We’re led by spineless individuals and traitors who only value their personal wealth. Remain highly skeptical. Until the state proves otherwise, they certainly are not to be trusted or taken at their word. Like everything cannabis related so-far, they put the horse before the cart.

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