California’s hemp and CBD legislation –

 Smokable hemp emerged as the touchstone issue, pitting small farmers against operators with much greater capitalization, or geographical reach.  The bill in its final form does allow for smokable hemp, but there’s a catch. 

The state must first develop a scheme for levying taxes on smokable flower.  In the short term, it puts small and medium sized producers in a difficult position with their 2021 or even 2022 harvest.  This is unfortunate, and the state should provide some relief in the form of an interim scheme to allow farmers to cash flow their operations. 

The state…