In this week’s feature (and accompanying slideshow!), our intrepid pot columnist, David Downs, takes a long, hard look at the institutional dangers posed by Oakland’s current marijuana production and distribution system, which allows for cannabis dispensaries but doesn’t have a safe and legal mechanism in place for supplying them. What this means, essentially, is that the city is riddled with small, illegal grows that are basically a firefighter’s nightmare — lots of flammable substances, dozens of super-high energy lights, heavy insulation, poor ventilation, blocked paths to entrance and exit, and jerry-rigged electricity systems — in addition to being ill-regulated with regards to pesticides and bacteria. And with the city’s large-scale pot farms plan under firefrom the feds as well as the city and district attorneys, there appears to be no end in sight.
Buzzkill!
