Cannabis Community Comes Together in Wake of California Fires

This week, many have said that “California is on fire.” And although the state is large, two of its most populated areas have been affected by massive wildfires. While a fire has been burning Anaheim Hills in southern California since Monday, destroying 23 structures and damaging 36, another more devastating wildfire continues to spread across Sonoma and Mendocino County in northern California.

Reports have stated that at least 23 people have been killed in the northern California fire, and even more are missing. It was reported that 191,000 acres of land have been burned as a result. During times like these, it’s necessary to come together as a community to help those in need, and the cannabis community is working to help in any way it can.

In a press release from October 11, CannaCraft, a Northern-California based cannabis producer and distributor, announced that it has donated over $40,000 worth of medical cannabis products to any patients who have been evacuated or whose homes have been destroyed in the fires. To accomplish this, the company has partnered with Mercy Wellness in Cotati, Sparc/Peace in Medicine in Santa Rosa, Solful in Sebastopol and Emerald Pharms in Hopland.

Any patients who seek out these participating locations will also receive either a complimentary AbsoluteXtracts vape pen or Be Kind cannabis flower. CannaCraft is also opening up office space in its Santa Rosa headquarters for evacuees as well as first responders in the area. The press release notes that they expect up to 80 people to be housed by the time the weekend arrives.

Other cannabis advocates like Hezekiah Allen (who is also CULTURE’s featured Industry Insider this month) has organized for compassionate crowdfunding website called YouCaring to raise money for those who have been affected by the fires. “The opportunity of legal cannabis is in ashes for many longtime California growers and their communities,” according to the YouCaring campaign. “Over the course of the last 18 months, these growers have spent their life savings getting permits and preparing for state licenses. Recovery will be especially difficult because cannabis is a dramatically under-insured crop, growers can’t get loans and won’t qualify for federal recovery funds. For these reasons we have launched this wildfire recovery fund.”

As of 2:15 p.m. on October 12, $8, 055 has been raised out of a goal of $20,000. Please do what you can to provide support to those in our community who most desperately need our assistance.