MENDOCINO CO., 8/5/26 — Mendocino County Sheriff Matt Kendall and the president of the Mendocino Cannabis Alliance aren’t often on the same side of the county’s cannabis arguments. But on one point they agree: legalization was rolled out in a way that set licensed growers up to fail.
“The legalization of marijuana was rolled out in fashion to kind of put the legal growers against the law before they even started,” Kendall said in an Aug. 3 phone interview. “I’m blown away by some of the things that our licensed growers have got to go through, whereas the unlicensed do the exact opposite. So, are we setting up a fair system?”
Steve Amato heard the sheriff’s words read back to him the next day and didn’t hesitate. Amato is president of the Mendocino Cannabis Alliance, the trade group for the county’s licensed cultivators, and farms both cannabis and wine grapes outside Hopland.
“It’s been a very onerous process, without a doubt, on all levels,” he said. “And it is a very onerous process, for sure, that no other agricultural product even remotely goes through. And part of that is because we’re not allowed to be defined as agriculture yet, which is part of the major problem.”
A licensed cultivator, Amato said, answers to the state and regional water boards, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the county and the state Department of Cannabis Control: “You’re talking about four to five different agencies in order to just try to get a cultivation license and operate it.”
The county wrote its cultivation ordinance around 2015 and rolled it out in 2016, before Proposition 64 passed statewide, Amato said, and allowing 10,000 square feet of cultivation felt “very adventurous” then — it was supposed to be a stepping stone. “And then we just kind of fell into, like, that became a law of the land forever,” he said, recalling that supervisors at the time described the ordinance as a starting point that would be revised over time. That “never really happened,” he said.
The ordinance resulted in regulatory management no other crop faces, he said. Removing a shade tree near an active cannabis garden could draw a violation or block a license. “Meanwhile, how many trees do you think were removed in the name of the vineyard process?” he said. “But there was no parity, you know, to any other agriculture.”
The growers who remain have a sympathetic ear inside county government. Angela Godwin, the county’s agricultural commissioner since June 2024, put it plainly in a phone interview Wednesday: “I even have a soft spot for the cannabis people. They come in and they work really, really hard.” She knows the county’s outlaw-growing history, she said, “but everybody I see works really hard.”
Where it goes down a rabbit hole, in her telling, is exactly where Amato started: cannabis still isn’t considered agriculture. Pesticide regulation runs through federal EPA labels, Godwin said, and because the federal government won’t recognize cannabis as a crop, even fully licensed growers fighting spider mites are left interpreting broad labels written for other crops. Cannabis is “one of those stepchildren,” she said. “It is an ag crop. It absolutely is.”
The sheriff’s explanation for the rabbit hole reached back to his youth. “I think it was Ronald Reagan that was talking about government,” Kendall said, recalling the former president’s line that when something works well, government steps in and regulates it out of existence.
“I don’t know that some of the regulations that were put into place were there for any reason.”
Yep, Mendo basically took a big steaming dump on its number one crop and all of the small farmers committed to a high quality product. The greed of the county and asinine regulations combined with dirtbag Humboldt and Lake growers killed this business.
Those of us left will claim our rightful crown as the best weed farmers in the world. The county wasted their opportunity. Us weed farmers did not. We know who we are and what we grow and that we are the best at what we do. The truth is out. The county failed us, but WE did not fail, we overcame. We who remain stand strong and proud, as stewards of what we know is a sacred herb that’s been around longer than the men who make these stupid laws and will remain long after. Legends never die. When the stories all are told, we are victorious… And more importantly, so is our weed. Smoke that! : )
Dirtbag? As a Mendocino Native who commutes to Lake county where I can grow a licensed crop of 40 acres without being hassled I take that personally.
I’m far from being a dirt bag. You have no idea what you are talking about.
Just another jealous loser is what you are.
Try the yokels and the good old boys of Ukiah if you’re looking to lay blame for killing the crop business. Instead of paying attention to the weed boom and booming with it they focused on eradicating and starving the un housed population instead ” don’t feed the homeless people because it makes them think it’s okay to be that way” huh? Excuse me but no homeless person believes it’s”okay” to be homeless because they were given a meal…
This was a group effort and Mendo’s BOS and cannabis reps owns this blunder. https://mendovoice.com/2017/03/ord-introduced/
This was mistake number one and two (among many others) – “The county wrote its cultivation ordinance around 2015 and rolled it out in 2016, before Proposition 64 passed statewide, Amato said, and allowing 10,000 square feet of cultivation felt “very adventurous” then — it was supposed to be a stepping stone. “And then we just kind of fell into, like, that became a law of the land forever,”
The BOS went in blind and restricted its own farmers to 10K sqft of growing room? That’s a mega oversight or a massive error in judgement. No mention of the legacy grower amendment, or the water access, or zoning conflicts that plagued most of these wannabe legal growers.
There is no one to blame. Santa Barbara was never known as a cannabis community but in only a few short years they blossomed into one. Clearly they approached this legalization very differently and did their homework. Mendo gave it away.
https://www.newspress.com/2026/07/15/santa-barbara-county-leads-california-in-reported-cannabis-production/
This is only true in Mendocino county.
I went to work in Lake county growing legally where things were done in a way that helped the industry boom. Lake county did it the right way & the numbers reflect that.
Mendocino county leadership, including the Sheriff are at fault for our county being a pathetic, poverty stricken, drug haven now.
Thanks a lot assholes.
It is all your fault.
This issue seems to constantly be resurrected with people pointing fingers at various boogeymen. Rolling Stone has the best article ever to tell the actual story of why cannabis legalization failed to produce any economic benefit for the region, and in fact all but killed it. Hint: It was by design: https://kymkemp.com/2022/02/24/rolling-stone-article-delves-into-the-california-cannabis-crisis/ or direct to the article: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/california-weed-cannabis-crisis-emerald-triangle-1302545/
Tony Linegar, former Ag Chief for Mendo also predicted this outcome in one of Prop 64’s first public meetings held in Ukiah.
Why does your comment links get posted and mine are being withheld under moderation by the Mendocino Voice?
Cash crop or not, cannabis ruined my life and my childhood. So did alcohol
But I digress.
marijuana-anonymous.org
Sounds like people ruined your life… people with substance abuse issues with weed and alcohol. There is a difference. But I digress…
Bumpkin, marijuana anonymous? How about narcotics anonymous, the fellowship that deals directly with addiction not a specific drug. ✌🏼❤️😊
Robert, Marijuana Annonymous is a real 12 step program that deals with Marijuana addiction, for those whose life has become unmanageable due to Marijuana use. I don’t know why you would say to go to meetings for other drugs when I wasn’t on those. Just like I wouldn’t go to alcoholic meetings if I wasn’t an alcoholic. People still think pot can’t take over your life. I’ve heard it all before. I’m not saying pot shouldn’t have its place in ag, but at the end of the day, it’s not food. Just like wine grapes aren’t food. Yes, addicted people, pot addicted parents, who cared more about buying pot than their kids, shaped my life. If pot is no big deal, try quitting. See if you’re addicted or not. But don’t knock other people for wanting to quit ruining their lungs, and who don’t wanna normalize escapism for their kids.
30 minutes esst of ukiah in lake county of all fucking places things are still trending in the right direction
30 minutes south in sonoma county life goes on like the rest of the world
santa rosa added the population of the city of ukiah last year and no one noticed
meanwhile mendo circles the drain
incompetent people running everything who literally dont understand what the dept they work for does
our rural areas have been just forfeited to dtos who between thier cheating and stealing and exploiting and the over regulation and cynical exploitation of people trying to do it right
have driven some of the best people out of the county
the sheriff says they can’t hire anyone but their recruiter doesn’t even call candidates back
fucking clown car being chased by the apple dumpling gang
while the most regulated people in the stare have cdfw swim up thier urethras
really dangerous criminals run wild with impunity
thanks Matt
Say it again please. Thanks!
Do people like Bumpkin really exist?
They shouldn’t.
I exist. And now that pot is fairly legal, more people like me will come forward. People who were stoned since childhood, who realized they couldn’t stop even if they wanted. Go ahead and smoke. I don’t care. But it’s not medicine. And I’m not alone. The list of meetings country wide on Marijuana Annonymous.org on the hour everyday proves it. People are sick of hacking up lungs, of illegal grows, of buying it in sketchy ways in states where its fully illegal. No, it’s no heroine, but it isn’t good for your health. I myself was constantly stoned for 30 years. It’s so nice to breath again. But thanks for the support.
Whoa that’s not necessary. Bumpkin makes a lot of sense. It does and it can ruin families. Take away children’s childhood and their adulthood take grandchildren away from grandparents. It is addicting it does ruin lives.
Just to be clear, if you’re growing 40 acres of weed, your product is shit. You’re a greedy pig and using pesticides and all kind of nasty products that are likely turning any lakes that might be nearby into bright green dog killers.
Exactly, monoculture is monoculture whether it’s wine grapes or weed or pears or almonds. And fertilizers, although not demonized like they should be and as pesticides are, cause algal blooms and are truly responsible for water quality destruction. Intensive ag is just water mining. If healthy food isn’t being grown for locals then farmers are no better than a.i. data centers stealing community water for personal gain.
You anti MJ folks have done zero research and no nothing about what you are talking about. There are far more studies about the benefits MJ than any negative stories you think you have seen. Instead of spouting off with your gut feelings read the facts for yourself. Or maybe you know weak people who use other drugs along with MJ and were addicted to them. It is a god given plant used to heal and help people for 1000’s of years before politicos decided they wanted it illegal for their own personal gain and F the people who use if for health, healing a yes, recreation. Google “what are the benefits of marijuana” and fill your thick skulls with the truth.