Tag: cannabis

Siskiyou County new frontier for resisting anti-Asian violence Hmong father killed by officers, escalating tensions

photo courtesy of Zurg Xiong’s Facebook support page
A July 17 rally in Yreka drew participants from Chico and from across the country.

by Sandy Close / Ethnic Media Services

YREKA — Over 600 Hmong Americans from across California and from as far away as Milwaukee and Minneapolis converged on a recent Saturday at the Siskiyou County courthouse in Yreka to demand a federal investigation into the June 28 fatal shooting of a Hmong father of three by law enforcement agencies.

Chico State University students and Chico-area residents were among those participating in the July 17 rally.

The protest has turned this sparsely-populated county nestled in the foothills of Mount Shasta into the newest flashpoint of resistance by Asian Americans against a surge of anti-Asian violence in the state, according to Mai Vang, a Sacramento City Council member who spoke at the rally.

In this case the targets are Asian Americans of Hmong, Cambodian, Lao and Chinese descent who have settled in growing numbers in the county, many to grow small cannabis plots much as their families cultivated in Laos and Cambodia. The shooting intensified escalating racial tensions between county authorities and cannabis growers. While cannabis is legal in California, outdoor cultivation is forbidden in Siskiyou County. Farmers can grow up to 12 plants indoors. read more

Huber: Take time to do cannabis sales carefully Chico council hopeful visited pot-selling Colorado city

Scott Huber, a candidate in the Nov. 6 Chico City Council election, visited Boulder, Colo., in early August to find out first-hand how cannabis dispensary sales have gone there. ChicoSol News Director Dave Waddell explored with Huber in this Q & A what he learned and how it might apply to Chico and Oroville.

In 2016, California voters backed state Proposition 64 that allowed cities, beginning in 2018, to authorize the sale and taxation of recreational marijuana.

video by Guillermo Mash

ChicoSol: Tell us a little about the city you visited.

Huber: My wife and I flew to Boulder, Colo., specifically to learn how that city has managed the conversion to a cannabis-legal community. We chose to visit Boulder because of its superficial similarities to Chico. Boulder is a lot like Chico, and it isn’t. With a population of 108,000 to Chico’s 96,000 it’s slightly larger, but feels twice as big. The boulevards are wider, the buildings are larger, the lawns are greener and the affluence is palpable. read more