The booming (and budding) legalized marijuana industry appears to be going bust in some areas. Now what?
Just a few years ago, unionizing the budding pot industry seemed to by high on union officials’ agenda.
Indeed, realizing the political lobbying strength that unions had, in exchange for union endorsements, some pot growers even formed alliances with unions to voluntarily recognize unions for their workers.
Since [Teamsters] Local 70 signed on its new members, [business agent] Marchetti says that many other union leaders in the state have called him to see if they can get in on the business of organizing growers.
Now, however, it seems that–at least in California–like so many other unionized industries, marijuana manufacturers are hitting hard times, according to the LA Times.
A leader of California’s marijuana industry warned Wednesday that the state’s cannabis growers produce eight times the pot that is consumed in the state so some will face “painful” pressure to reduce crops under new state regulations that will ban exports after Jan. 1.
Some marijuana growers will stay in the black market and continue to illegally send cannabis to other states, which is also not allowed under federal law, said Hezekiah Allen, executive director of the California Growers’ Assn.
“We are producing too much,” Allen said, adding state-licensed growers “are going to have to scale back. We are on a painful downsizing curve.”
As often happens when the supply-to-demand ratio becomes imbalanced, prices fall. And, of course, when prices fall and there is an oversupply of workers, wages and–eventually–jobs are reduced.
While the fallout from the pot overproduction has not yet been tallied, it appears the once-high-flying industry is headed for some sobering times.
