In an apparent first, Fiona Ma, District 2 representative on the California Board of Equalization, hand delivered a California seller’s permit to a cannabis farmer in Humboldt County on Monday.
As written in yesterday’s post, Representative Ma came to Humboldt not just to hold a small business/nonprofit seminar geared towards cannabis entrepreneurs, she also came to personally hand over the framed permit – complete with an image of a cannabis leaf – to Ziggy 
from Wildcat Farms, who had promised her to do his part to become a legitimate business (including paying taxes), if she would do her part to push state regulators to provide a path for cannabis farmers to do so without fear of prosecution.
In a phone interview with The Witness, Ziggy said while he can’t be sure he’s the first cannabis farmer to be granted a seller’s permit in California, every indication points to him being the first to be officially recognized by the state.
“I’m not saying my way is the right way, but I will praise those that [get seller’s permits],” said Ziggy, who has grown cannabis for 30 years. “Change is inevitable. It’s here and we have an opportunity to move forward.”
Ziggy credits Ma with showing a lot of courage for being open to working with cannabis farmers and standing up for them at a state level. He hopes that more growers will apply for seller’s permits in order to have a voice with local and state legislators. “If 25 percent of Humboldt’s supposed 30,000 farms speak up, we can let them know if they’re on the right track,” he said.
An example of being on the right track for Ziggy is the way California law makers have built on some of the shortcomings found in states like Colorado and Washington. For example, eliminating vertical integration (one company controlling all aspects of production, distribution, marketing, etc.), as well as designating Humboldt as an appellation region, where only cannabis grown in Humboldt can carry the Humboldt name – similar to the way that only sparkling wine produced in Champagne, France can be called champagne. “We already have international brand and horizontal integration will maintain the stability of the family farm,” said Ziggy.
Paying taxes and fees may not seem like a high priority for cannabis growers, but it should, said Ziggy, “Just look at our roads.” The majority of growers aren’t the international criminals pulled from headlines, but rather Humboldt residents who have children and need to pay their fair share in order to benefit the community as a whole.
Asked if he worries about being singled out via his new permit and made an example of by the feds, Ziggy said, “I’m certainly not doing this to be a martyr. Every day is fearful, I always wonder is today the day [I get raided]? I just took it upon myself to take the risk, besides, can you imagine the political fiasco if I was?” ”
The Humboldt Witness 