Raging wildfires vent their rage on Californian cannabis growers

What is already known as the worst wave of fires in the history of California couldn't have come at a worse time for the cannabis market: in the middle of the harvest season and just a few months before the 2018 release of a programme on recreational marijuana approved over a year ago that would make cannabis legal for any person over 21. But, will the damage caused be enough to prevent the biggest cannabis market in the world to grow even bigger? The equivalent of millions of dollars has been destroyed and, to that sorrow at the tragic loss of their plantations, we have to add the dismay at knowing no insurance will ever make up for their investment. The fire has destroyed their unique source of revenue. The wildfires have mostly vented their rage on the counties of Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino, where growing cannabis for therapeutic and recreational purposes is the way of life of many families. Now, their profits have turned into ash. And not only plants have been destroyed; also the greenhouses, growing materials and processing centers. According to the California Growers Association, some 50 farms have been affected by the flames, a figure that is expected to rise as the producers go back home and assess the damage.

50 farms destroyed may seem a rather insignificant figure for a state where there are more than 50 000 legal cannabis growers. However, due to the evacuation orders and to the fact the cannabis is incredibly valuable, thieves have decided to have a bit of fun too: abandoned farms and fully mature crops are too tempting to simply let the opportunity go away. This way, according to analysts, the market is already suffering from stock-outs and the interruptions of the supply-chain could lead to a 10 %-20 % rise in the price of Californian cannabis in the months to come. The problem is that all this has happened in autumn, the most crucial moment for cannabis growers in California because it is then that the harvest kicks off. Consequently, they don't have anything to sell and pay for the damaged caused by fire, so they have to start from scratch germinating seeds for a new cultivation. Some growers, in fact, at the sight of the approaching fire, decided to harvest as quickly as possible, and before the right time, in order to save part of their annual revenue. Others even overlooked the evacuation orders for fear of what might happen to their crops.

There were growers who, as soon as the firefighters put out the fire, rushed to check their properties. That was the case of Ashley Oldman, who had already got over a mite infestation in July and had had to restart her crop. Late at night, she escaped with her 4-year-old daughter and, when coming back, one of the greenhouses was still standing. Nonetheless, she still has to check if the buds have been contaminated by the smoke, another major issue those who go back home have to face. The point is that the plants that have been exposed to smoke are more likely to come down with illnesses, which could eventually end up giving rise to the development of fungi and mould. Besides, cannabis can also smell of smoke, significantly reducing its value. Many crops will be saved but many others won't. Some people, who have for years been underground cannabis growers, found in legality their downfall. That's what happened to Andrew Lopas, who last year regularised his situation to grow cannabis for the medicinal market in Santa Rosa, where he moved to in November 2016. He had to escape from the advance of the flames and left 900 plants behind but not only that. He lost 1100 kg of cannabis with an estimated value of $2 million (€1.69 million), $10 000 (over €8 400) in cash for the worker's wages and for the mortgage, some vehicles and an 18^th-century farm. Everything just vanished.

No insurance companies, no banks

Taking out insurance to cover the costs when catastrophes such as these take place is not an option because insurance companies don't have any kind of insurance for this. And, while it's true that some insurance companies specialized in cannabis have started to appear, they're quite unlikely to cover the plants destroyed by fire. On top of it, growers generally struggle to work with traditional banks because cannabis is prohibited at the federal level. That's why, without any type of financing, they'll have to pay for all the reconstruction expenses. No wonder the hopes and dreams of many people who had invested on legal cannabis have turned into smoke: without a product for funding the growing licenses or the expensive fees for irrigation, the unfortunate growers who have been hit by fire may find it very difficult to take part in this new market. And, as if fearing the fires wasn't enough, the inability to work with the banks (which could be accused of laundering money if they work with these profits) obliges some growers to bury their savings in their yards, gardens or greenhouses, far from the plants. Cheryl Dumont, for example, had a box full of coins buried under some pines in Mendocino. There are some who bury gold or silver too.

Money under the pot

There's a reason why people bury their money instead of hiding it under the mattress like many people used to do: since they don't have any bank accounts, their houses are more likely to be broken into. Looking for a box buried somewhere in the woods scares any potential thief. However, if the crop bursts into flames, so will these boxes too. They are generally buried at shallow depths so that they're easy to find. That's why combustion can easily turn the money into ashes and so make their lifetime savings or money for emergencies go away forever. There are all kinds of stories among growers, like the one about a guy who lost $250 000 (almost €212 000) after a fire or that one about a person who succeeded in saving all his gold and silver because the amount buried was so great that it didn't melt down. For all this (and for the deep secrecy in which many people grow outside the legal fold), it's very difficult to estimate the cost of the losses provoked by the fire to the Californian cannabis industry. For instance, Mystic Spring Farms had 900 cannabis plants and expected to obtain $2 million (€1.63 million) this season, but the flames swallowed them all. Its co-founder, Kelvin Craver, claimed that he was aware of the existence of some companies that insured marijuana cultivations. They were a bit wary of them, though, and didn't take out any insurance: "We didn't know if they'd really cover the whole cultivation".

The establishment of a state-owned bank for the management of the incomes and profits of cannabis has been proposed, but a similar initiative has been blocked by the courts in Colorado, so many people think the same thing will happen here too. Grapevine growers, making up another major agricultural holding of California, won't have to face this kind of problems. In fact, the authorities didn't let cannabis growers who asked to return to the evacuated zone go back there and check their land, but they did let grapevine producers who asked for the same thing. The rise of cryptocurrencies and a greater acceptance of cannabis may soon change the picture. Still, if no steps are taken at the federal level, natural disasters will continue to hit hard the helpless growers of cannabis who will, on top of that, continue to be regarded as second-class entrepreneurs.