California’s crackdown on illegal cannabis farms keeps turning up something darker: workers who appear to be victims of human trafficking. The pattern is fueling fresh calls to rethink how the state regulates cannabis.
Trafficking Victims Who Resist Being Rescued
Many of the workers trimming and cutting plants on these black market grows fit the profile of trafficking victims, yet authorities say they often resist assistance. Unlike victims taken from their homes against their will, these individuals chose to leave in search of a better life, and a large share won’t admit to being trafficked or won’t name their traffickers.
Four months ago, nine suspected victims of trafficking were arrested during a morning raid in a secluded farm out in California’s Mojave Desert. All arrested workers were Chinese nationalists who had traveled from New York to seek a better life. When reviewing the job listings that enticed these workers, NBC News reported that some of these job ads were found on Chinese websites and did not discuss any wages or salaries, stating that it would be negotiated in person. All of these workers were formerly in the restaurant industry with little success. In the pursuit of the American Dream, these people felt as though they had no choice but to follow through with the recruitment with little to no money to their names.
Promises That Turned Into Indentured Labor
What began as a hopeful opportunity quickly turned into indentured servitude. Employers held their wages over their heads, forcing long hours and cramped, unkempt trailer housing right next to the illegal operation. Even under harsh conditions, the hope of returning home to their families kept them going, which helps explain their reluctance to be arrested or to cooperate with investigators.
One worker who had left her 8 year old son in New York described her living conditions and where she slept to be “very dirty and messy.” Through further investigation, it was also found that her employer had lied about the job description, and had listed a completely different job description than what she had to do.
From these nine employees, 25 illegal greenhouses had been tended to with an estimated revenue of about $20 million annually. All of them did not admit to being trafficked, and have all been given misdemeanors and released. Sergeant James Roy of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said it is common for people to deny being trafficked in worry of their own safety from the police and their employers.
Attorney Xiaosheng Huang, who represents the victims, states that his clients were presented with predatory job listings at a time when they were most vulnerable. The pandemic had already cost them their jobs in the hospitality industry, setting off the downward spiral that led them to take whatever employment they could find.
A Statewide Crackdown on Illegal Grows
San Bernardino County law enforcement has shut down about 10,000 illegal marijuana operations, with over 8,600 of them being greenhouse grows. Between Los Angeles and Riverside County, the California Department of Cannabis Control (CDCC) reports that authorities have been able to seize over $1 billion worth of cannabis products
Nicole Elliot, the director of the CDCC, released in a statement mentioning their efforts combined with their local, state, and federal partners has allowed them to stop illegal activities that not only include the illegal sale of marijuana, but also other harmful acts such as water theft, threats of violence, elder abuse, and human trafficking.
Why Legal Cannabis Still Can’t Outcompete the Black Market
Ever since Proposition 64 legalized recreational cannabis in California in 2016, the black market has only strengthened its foothold, leaning on cheap trafficked labor and the absence of the taxes legal operators must pay. Legalization alone has not been enough to push out black market weed, since licensed shops simply can’t match the prices.
Earlier this year, Governor Gavin Newsom removed the state cultivation tax on cannabis growers, leaving it up to counties to set their own taxes. Many industry players critique that this move was either too late or not enough.
Meanwhile, the legal supply of cannabis in California now exceeds demand, and cultivation profits have fallen by more than 70%.
California was the first state to legalize medical marijuana, and it has generally stayed ahead of the curve on cannabis reform. Even so, this pattern of exploitation shows there’s still considerable work left before regulation becomes truly sustainable.
