![]() ![]() It has refused to discuss its handling of worker exploitation since before September, when The Times published an expose on the state’s runaway illegal cannabis market. The cannabis agency verified the squad’s existence only after The Times said it had obtained a copy of the bulletin. He said publicizing the crackdown on exploitation “would not deter crime” but would instead warn criminals to better conceal their activities. Hafner would not provide further details or discuss outreach to crime victims or worker advocates. The team is also poised to provide police training on trafficking investigations. But many of the promises of legalization have proved elusive.Ī spokesman for the cannabis agency, David Hafner, said the sworn officers were free to work cases and refer the results to prosecutors or federal agencies. ![]() It found 35 cannabis workers killed on the job in a five-year span, a toll that has since risen to at least 37.Ĭalifornia Legal Weed, Broken Promises: A Times series on the fallout of legal pot in CaliforniaĬalifornia’s legalization of recreational cannabis in 2016 ushered in a multibillion-dollar industry. The newspaper identified abuse allegations against nearly 200 cannabis farms or contractors - half of them licensed by the state- since legalization. Its launch followed the December publication of “Dying for Your High,” a Times investigation detailing the plight of cannabis workers who are cheated, threatened with violence or even die because of unsafe working conditions. The April 13 bulletin, obtained by The Times, said the unit seeks to create a “central repository” of cannabis-related human trafficking investigations. ![]() The new unit, housed within the Department of Cannabis Control, recently solicited help from law enforcement agencies statewide to investigate cannabis operators who coerce or threaten workers, subject them to hazardous conditions or deny them pay. Acknowledging growing concern over the mistreatment of cannabis workers, California regulators have quietly assembled a team to pursue labor exploitation in the state’s burgeoning weed industry. ![]()
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