LAYTONVILLE >> Spring Market Day north of Laytonville was more than just a farmers’ market for medical marijuana. According to organizer Tim Blake and vendors, the event was an opportunity for Mendocino County’s small-scale, outdoor cannabis farms and their appreciative patients to reinforce the community bonds of the region’s most famous industry, an indispensable asset at a time of rapidly growing competition from around the state.
Farmers from around the Emerald Triangle sold a variety of buds, oils, salves, tinctures, and even THC-infused suppositories to about half a thousand patients, most of whom came from out of the area. Vendors were happy to take advantage of the opportunity to sell their branded medicines directly to patients without the markup of a dispensary or other middleman, and patients appreciated the chance to sample and purchase their medicine from craft vendors in the Bordeaux of weed.
Now in its third year, the event functions not just as a commercial opportunity or an enthusiasts’ social retreat but as a bulwark against corporate consolidation, a source of anxiety among many cultivators in the famed North Coast growing region, Blake said. Vendors can gain recognition for their brands, giving them leverage to compete with growers who are scaling up and branding their operations around the state.
Cannabis cultivation is booming around the state, and much of it will have a distinct advantage over the county’s signature agricultural industry. Products from large, incorporated cultivators, some bearing the names of famous cannabis enthusiasts like Willie Nelson and Bob Marley, will have the financial backing and industrial scale to muscle out smaller producers unless they can effectively market their own brands, he said.
Indeed, Blake has seen a more conscientious effort to brand their products at this year’s festival than in prior years. That marketing effort, together with events like Spring Market Day and the Emerald Cup as well as industrial facilities like the Flow Cannabis Institute in Redwood Valley, are all part of a decentralized but enthusiastic push to maintain the Emerald Triangle’s prestigious place in the cannabis market, a place that growers find increasingly under siege from heavily capitalized ventures around the state.
“It’s been the backbone economically [of the county] all these years, and we don’t want to see them get wiped out,” Blake said. “We want to see them have a chance to thrive.”
The event was a good way for patients to keep their money within a cherished homegrown industry, said Dan, owner of Rebel Grown, which markets an inventory of organic, sun-grown cannabis strains. Sitting at a table with patients and rolling joints with his signature products, Dan, who declined to give his last name, marveled at the market’s sense of community spirit.
“This is the most authentic part of the cannabis community,” Dan said.
For all the challenges ahead, the buzz of commerce and camaraderie at the market generated a palpable sense of enthusiasm.
“I have a hard time calming down about the cannabis industry because of how awesome it’s become,” Dan said. “Which is why I should smoke some indica at the end of the day.”
