Budding Interests | ‘Farmers feel desperation in a big way’: Cannabis community rallies to suspend Measure S

“We are asking our community to give us a lifeline by suspending Measure S,” said Natalynne DeLapp, executive director for the Humboldt County Growers Alliance. Measure S, which was approved by Humboldt County voters in November 2016, imposed a cannabis cultivation tax of $1 to $3 per square foot to maintain and improve county services. “When Measure S was written and voted on in 2016 over six years ago, the wholesale price of cannabis was at least four times higher and propped up by prohibition. Since 2017, permitted cannabis farmers have paid over 80% of Measure S payments in full. “In 2017, the price of properties ballooned because of the perceived value caused by the limited number of properties that would benefit from the cultivation permit in Humboldt County.