If you read the paper or watch the news as it relates to Sonoma County Cannabis, by now you’ve heard these terms: Regenerative, Biodynamic, Organic, Sun-Grown, Light-Dep, and Sustainable Practices.

Sure, you know it’s better than the stuff that comes from a warehouse or worse, grown with who-knows-what, added to it. But do you know why it’s better? More importantly, do you know where you can get it?

Sonoma County Cannabis (the Department that regulates the local industry), states that of the 222 applications that they have been received, 26 have been approved, 43 were withdrawn and 27 were deemed “incomplete,” while 121 are waiting for approval. Only 19 were approved for cultivation.

It’s unfortunate that the County is so far behind in permitting cultivation since it means that the black market will continue to flourish in an unregulated manner. This is true in other parts of the famed Emerald Triangle as well.

Just for comparison, in Humboldt County alone, there are as many as 15,000 private grows.