Commentary: Cannabis as the new normal? It’s not the end of the world.

We’ve all heard the term thrown around for the last year and a half — “the new normal.” It’s been used to describe the ways that our world is changing, most often the difficult aspects that we as a society need to learn to adjust to. This dwelling on problems can be draining, but ignoring them is not possible. There is an alternative. Define the problem, focus on what to improve, and chart a course of action to get there. Become a change-agent!

Downer moment- the Problem: We are simultaneously facing globally the sixth major extinction, Climate Change, pandemic, war on drugs versus a health campaign, racial and gender inequalities, extreme poverty, hunger, and homelessness, perpetual war, and more. Which ones of these are you most passionate about?

Now if you were Queen for the day, what would you improve? Can you solve multiple problems with one solution? Find your passion as a change-agent and make a plan. A good example is how more are growing their own food and medicine during the pandemic. Similar to Victory Gardens, people see the major problem of an interrupted supply and are implementing solutions. This one act sinks carbon, develops habitat for endangered bees and butterflies, grows food, reduces fuel for resource transport, and for the cannabis aficionado offers an opportunity to grow a very effective home remedy.

Another good example is cannabis policy reform. As a lifelong environmentalist, cannabis reform is part of my action-plan for success. Imagine the millions in taxes we have saved in California via reform, freeing prisoners, instead collecting taxes on regulated cannabis. This money is now available for solar and wind projects, helping house homeless, and more. No more shareholders of private prisons profiting off mass-incarceration. We must not tolerate imprisoning people for growing a natural plant!

Imagine a new normal without people imprisoned for cannabis charges, in all 50 states! Imagine those who have been victims of cannabis incarceration being given justice and finding peace. Imagine the lingering stigma and stereotypes of cannabis to vanish, and for the real representation of cannabis to take its place: as an alternative medicine for anxiety, stress, depression, and even cancer, alternatives that everyone can benefit from.

Imagine our country reaching full legalization, and our federal regulation of cannabis being a model for other countries to follow. State legalizations alone have inspired some development of international cannabis regulations. Imagine the new normal when our nation finally legalizes cannabis, as it has hemp!

Imagine a time in which Sonoma County offers efficient commercial cannabis permitting, one that advocates for growers and retailers and sees them as an opportunity for economic and cultural growth. Imagine Sonoma County upholding its long-standing reputation as an agricultural hub by giving cultivators of cannabis farmers the same opportunities as cultivators of vineyards and other crop farms. Imagine farms of all sizes being able to incorporate cultivation of hemp or cannabis on their properties so they can participate in a diverse, demanding market.

The new normal will most certainly include a more robust return to the use of industrial hemp, a crop utilized for thousands of years. From food, fibre, fuel, and shelter, hemp has myriad uses that make it uniquely poised to help us in cooling the planet. Hemp is an annual crop, efficiently taking carbon out of the atmosphere and bringing it back into the earth, faster even than a forest. The potential is here for radical and rapid change.

What most of these idealistic realities surrounding the future of cannabis boil down to is a shift in perspective. For so long, the cannabis industry has been stifled by those who are afraid or unwilling to look at the potential of all the good that comes with reasonable regulation and afull embrace of cannabis as an industry worth investing in. All of these steps toward real, positive change are possible, and much of that change has already begun. Please join the movement. Are you ready? Are you a change-agent?

Craig Litwin was a top signature gatherer for Prop 215, and served as mayor of Sebastopol where he co-authored one of the nation’s first dispensary ordinances. He is the CEO of 421 Group, a California cannabis consultancy with a HQ in Sebastopol, and a co-creator of Resourcery, a Sebastopol permitted and state licensed cannabis oil extractor, tincture and salve maker, and distributor.