Tribal Cannabis Agriculture Law

Stoa, Ryan

doi:10.2139/ssrn.4376371

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…4 Unifying the complex and costly licensing system, reducing the costs of required product testing for legal sales, and advancing effective licensing equity programs would enable more businesses to transition to the legal market, making available the relatively robust worker safety protections existing in California's Medicinal and Adult Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA). 4 , 48 , 49 The licensing program requires one worker and one manager at licensed cannabis businesses with more than one employee to complete an authorized OSHA 30-h general industry safety course; the United Food and Commercial Workers union developed the first cannabis-specific course, which includes a module about workplace stress. 50 Becoming licensed also provides employers access to health and safety resources such as Cal/OSHA consultation services and small business assistance programs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stress, Mental Health, and Coping Among Workers in the Northern California Cannabis Industry: A Qualitative Descriptive Analysis

Beckman,

Castañeda,

Rivas

et al. 2023

New Solut

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California is home to a multibillion-dollar cannabis (marijuana) industry, but little is known about the occupational health and safety hazards faced by cannabis workers and even less of the stress, mental health, and coping mechanisms among these workers. Previous research has been based on long-term workers at legal businesses, but most California cannabis is produced and sold unlawfully. There are many seasonal workers whose experiences have not been studied. A qualitative study based on focus group discussions and key informant interviews was performed to understand cannabis workers’ experiences, knowledge, and perceptions of occupational hazards. Participants reported sources of stress including production pressure and isolation, and mental health outcomes such as depression and mental fatigue. They described primarily maladaptive coping mechanisms. Unique characteristics of the cannabis industry, including criminalization and isolated, remote farms, make interventions challenging. However, policy approaches that involve community organizations could promote worker health.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stress, Mental Health, and Coping Among Workers in the Northern California Cannabis Industry: A Qualitative Descriptive Analysis

Beckman,

Castañeda,

Rivas

et al. 2023

New Solut

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“…In addition to expanding access to licensing, banking, and occupational health resources, federal legalization or decriminalization will likely reduce workers' interactions with law enforcement. There is potential for a unified, streamlined licensing approach at the federal, state, and local levels that includes equity programs to advance the health of marginalized workers (Stoa, 2021). The difficulty and expense of licensing and regulatory compliance in California is likely responsible for the large market share of illegally grown cannabis in the state (Sumner et al, 2020).…”

Section: Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experiences of structural violence and wage theft among immigrant workers in the California cannabis industry

Beckman,

Castañeda,

del Rivero

et al. 2023

J. Agric. Food Syst. Community Dev.

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The multibillion-dollar California cannabis (Cannabis sativa, marijuana) industry employs an unknown number of seasonal workers, including many immigrants. Most production occurs in the remote, rural, far-northern counties where farms may be hours by vehicle from the nearest town. While licenses for cannabis cultivation became available following legalization in California for adult recreational use in 2016, most cannabis—about 80%—is still grown on unlicensed farms. Cannabis is a labor-intensive crop, and the skilled and time-consuming task of hand-trimming flowers is the most common seasonal job in the industry. Some immigrant workers return for multiple cannabis harvest seasons and are attracted to the work by an interest in the cannabis culture and consumption or the opportunity to earn enough money in several months to live the rest of the year in their home country. Others are farmworkers moving from work in traditional crops for the relatively higher pay in the cannabis industry. Seasonal cannabis workers are exposed to many of the physical hazards found in all agricultural workplaces, like dust, pesticides, and injuries; another commonality with California’s traditional agricultural workforce is vulnerability to structural violence stemming from factors related to race, gender, immigration status, and employer/employee power imbalance. Cannabis workers are also uniquely affected by the intersections of these structural factors with the isolated and remote nature of cannabis farms and the ongoing criminalization of the industry. In this article we present the results of a qualitative study of the occupational health and safety of Mexican and South American immigrant seasonal cannabis workers who have previous cannabis-industry-specific skills and experience. Workers were recruited using a peer-recruitment method, with 25 participants in three online focus group discussions on a range of occupational health and safety topics. This qualitative descriptive analysis is focused on experiences of structural violence and wage theft.

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Section: Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%