Community

We study cannabis culture, politics, and economy.

 

Cannabis brings income to rural regions, supports urban economies and influences local culture. Historically, cannabis offered an alternative path to economic freedom for communities left out of mainstream enterprise. Regulation that serves a market-driven industry undermines these communities. Our studies investigate the effects of practices, policies and programs by engaging with the people who depend on the cannabis industry.

What we’ve learned

  • Rural economies in cannabis-growing regions of California need increased support to withstand rapid policy shifts. Small-scale growers face financial, administrative and psychological barriers to comply with onerous permitting requirements.
    Polson et al. 2023Bodwitch et al. 2021
  • Legalization of cannabis production disrupts supportive, collective systems of cultivation that formed during prohibition. Policies that recognize and build from traditions of “commoning” protect community-based practices that sustain collective benefits.
    Polson and Bodwitch 2021
  • In rural counties of California, cannabis legalization has ignited political struggles that shape exurban development, regional planning, and land use regimes with implications for social inclusion and political power.
    Polson 2020Polson 2017Polson 2015
  • Environmental concerns about cannabis production can mask discriminatory policies that perpetuate prohibition stigmas. When farmers inform policies as legitimate stakeholders and environmental stewards, benefits abound for cannabis-producing communities and the environment.
    Polson 2019
  • Following legalized cannabis production, large-scale landowners in Humboldt County reported direct negative effects of cannabis production on their livelihoods including illegal cultivation on private property, issues with shared roads and the increased cost of labor, but also increased property values.
    Valachovic et al. 2019

Science and Policy Briefs

OPEN PDF

English – Outcomes of Local Cannabis Cultivation Bans on California Communities

Local commercial cannabis cultivation bans add administrative cost and lead to economic and social inequities.

OPEN PDF

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Kev lag luam cannabis cog qoob loo hauv zos txwv tsis pub ntxiv cov nqi tswj hwm thiab ua rau kev lag luam thiab kev tsis sib xws.

Researchers

Photo of Michael Polson

Michael Polson

Director

Associate Research Scientist

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Hekia Bodwitch

Researcher

Postdoctoral Fellow

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Phoebe Parker-Shames

Researcher

Wildlife Ecologist

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Christopher Dillis

Researcher

Postdoctoral Reseacher

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Margiana Petersen-Rockney

Researcher

Assistant Professor

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Laura Herrera

Researcher

Fiscal Grant Manager, Instructor

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Jennifer Carah

Researcher

Senior Scientist

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Jeff Vance Martin

Researcher

Research Social Scientist

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Christy Getz

Researcher

Associate Cooperative Extension Specialist

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Genoa Starrs

Researcher

Geographic Information System Programmer

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Seth LaRosa

Researcher

PhD Candidate

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Jeremy Sorgen

Researcher

Assistant Research Professor

Mary Power

Researcher

Professor, Integrative Biology and Faculty Manager, Angelo Coast Range Reserve

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Stephanie Carlson

Researcher

Professor and A.S. Leopold Chair in Wildlife Biology

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Nathan Sayre

Researcher

Faculty

Photo of Justin Brashares

Justin Brashares

Researcher

Professor of Wildlife Ecology & Conservation

Joanna Hossack

Cannabis Law Specialist

Attorney

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Van Butsic

Researcher

Assistant Cooperative Extension Specialist and Adjunct Professor

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Ted Grantham

Researcher

Associate Professor of Cooperative Extension

Eric Biber

Researcher

Edward C. Halbach, Jr. Professor of Law

Related Publications

2024

California Cannabis Research Briefing, Meeting Summary

Kulik, M.C., Lee, Y.O., Butsic, V., Cermak, T.L., Cooper, Z.D., Corva, D., Marcotte, T.D., Uskup, D.K., McKnight, T.R., Balla, A.

Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research

2024

Final Report to DCC – Cannabis Bans, Local Control, the Effects & Efficacy Of Prop 64

Getz, C., Petersen-Rockney, M., Polson, M

Berkeley Cannabis Research Center

photograph of workers harvesting marijuana plants in a field

2023

Where money grows on trees: A socio-ecological assessment of land use change in an agricultural frontier

Parker-Shames, P., Bodwitch, H., Brashares, J., Butsic, V.

Landscape and Urban Planning

Two photographs of cannabis. On the left, a densely planted field where budding live plants are covered by a green plastic mesh. On the right, an indoor storage space with bagged cannabis flower.

2023

Smaller Cultivation & California Cannabis Policy: Recommendations for a Multi-Scale Cultivation Sector

Polson, M., Bodwitch, H., Corva, D., Getz, C., Laudati, A., Petersen-Rockney, M., Runsten, D., Taylor, K.

2022

Policy Findings & Recommendations Regarding California Cannabis: Farming, Regulation and the Environment

Polson, M., Butsic, V., Dillis, C., de Genova, H., Grantham, T., Herrera, L.R., Hossack, J., Laudati, A., Martin, J.V., Parker-Shames, P., Petersen-Rockney, M., Sorgen, J., Starrs, G.

Deputy from Sierra County sheriff inspects a cannabis farm

2021

Legalization and Prohibition: Breaks, continuities, and the shifting terms of racial-capitalist governance

Polson, M.

The Routledge Handbook of Interdisciplinary Cannabis Research

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