You’ve probably heard or even uttered the sentiment “tending plants is easy, it’s managing people that is hard”. Yep, people have needs and there are reasons why labor laws and regulations exist to protect California’s workforce. Decades of case law and civil rights advocacy for labor rights have resulted in many checks and balances, and once again compliancy is going to give cannabis a close-up of how it's done. We got this!

At the close of 2018 there was a flurry, not of snow, but of applications and approvals for Temporary Licenses. According to Cannabis Permits' analysis, there was an overall increase of 111% in cultivation licensing across the state between December 1 and 31. The final proposed version of regulations is currently pending review from the Office of Administrative Law (OAL). Keep an eye out for an upcoming Oxalis edition of The Understory specific to the final changes to help you streamline what might need to change in your own application and operations.

For this edition, we’ve interviewed the hard-working folks at the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board and State Resource Water Control Board to get a better understanding of implementing the new Cannabis Cultivation General Order, which recognizes the cannabis industry with an eye on watershed health. A special thank you to Joshua Luders from the North Coast Water Quality Control Board and Robert Cervantes from the State Resources Water Control Board for taking the time to talk with us for this edition.

As we near the end of 2018, we hope you can put away your task list and enjoy some rest and visioning time, and celebrate all your successes. The Final Regulation drafts were submitted to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) on December 3rd, and released publically this week. The OAL has at least 30 business days to review, make technical edits, and announce when they will take effect. This will likely be in mid-January. The links below will take you to the final drafts.

We’ve been thinking a lot about how incredibly adaptive Humboldt has always been; how this versatility has offered advantages and challenges to our community, and ultimately how we can use our strengths to remain viable in the statewide marketplace. Oxalis’s vision is to keep our community, traditions and industry vibrant as cannabis is normalized across the world. Our mission is to support Southern Humboldt’s traditional sun-grown farms, businesses, and families with back-end office and compliance services. You are our focus, and we want to hear from you.

It’s been a packed couple of weeks since we last wrote, approaching the eleventh hour for Temporary and Provisional licensing, the proposed regulation comment period which ended on Nov 5th, midterm elections last Tuesday, and everyone’s hard work across the supply chain operations from farm to table. We’re going to ground down this week with the Heavy Metal edition of The Understory and talk about testing, soils and the incredible chemistry and biology of the plant we love.

This week’s edition is all about tracking. We’ve seen folks in various stages of Track and Trace from never having entered to rolling out compliant sales with trade partners. We’re going to start at the beginning and briefly walk through regulations and implementation. As most of you already know CalOrgin, the track and trace system Humboldt implemented is a condition of Humboldt County permits. The Humboldt County agricultural department in Eureka offers the mandatory classes for all permit holders and are a friendly source of information.

The tradition in Humboldt of hosting harvesters and trimmers to pull in and prepare the work you’ve been doing all year into sellable units, may, like many things, look a little different within a regulated paradigm. While there may be implied leniency in the enforcement of operations this year, it is technically true that the conditions of your permit and license are to follow the operations plans submitted. That said, we’ll explore in this section what is possible for on-site processing.

Thank you for checking out this edition of The Understory. We've been thrilled to meet so many wonderful people and recognize all of you out in the fields for your incredible stamina and efforts in moving forward with the challenges of industry while keeping our region's traditions and morals alive. Oxalis has formed a clear mission for the month of October: To provide as much information and support as possible for folks to submit complete Temporary State Licenses to be issued before the end of the year.