After my 6-part series on the cannabis industry, certain news stories jump out at me, especially when they have to do with the business side of pot. That's why a recent meeting in Northern California caught my eye.

It wasn’t your typical town hall meeting, even by Humboldt County standards. Marijuana growers, county officials, business people, non-profits, and community members came together in a Garberville community center at the end of March to ask the question: What's After Pot?

Or perhaps more precisely, "What's after illegal pot?" The meeting was organized by Anne Hamilton, founder of What’s After Pot? (WAP), to address issues concerning the future of the region’s cannabis industry. With the Tax and Regulate Cannabis initiative on November’s ballot, the question of what form the region’s pot economy will take has never been more pressing.

Many assume, as I once did, that pot growers are necessarily proponents of legalization. But for pot farmers and others who rely on an underground economy, legalization raises serious questions regarding their economic survival: What will legalization do to an industry that has thrived under prohibition?  What will happen to a county’s economy that pulls in an estimated hundreds of millions from illegal cannabis sales?

It has been estimated that 30,000 residents in Humboldt County are involved in some aspect of the marjiuana industry. For the growers of Humboldt County, the transition from behind-the-scenes illicit operators to regulated business entities that might have to pay taxes to “the Man” and provide 1099 forms to independent contractors is not necessarily a welcome one. 

And it might not be as profitable. 

Many came north in the 1960s as “back-to-the-landers” to hide-out, to find serenity in a beautiful landscape, to become self-sufficient, and to grow marijuana behind the scenes. And of course to cash in on a premium product that brought in premium prices. Being part of a regulated market probably wasn’t in their plans. Legalization will bring more growers and less federal raids, which in turn will likely drive down the price per pound of marijuana.

The question now is how they are going to find their niche as the business transforms itself. On April 24, a similar meeting will be held in Ukiah, Mendocino's county seat, to discuss "The Future of Cannabis in Northern California."

To be sure, Northern California’s Emerald Triangle is studying Oakland. In particular, the city’s Measures Z and F that tax and regulate cannabis businesses offer models--good or bad, depending on your point of view—of how to transform an underground cannabis economy into an above ground regulated industry. Others are studying Oaksterdam University and envision Humboldt County as a more natural place for studying cannabis.

"We're the place where people should come to learn to grow," said Kathy Moxon, Director of Community Strategies at an area non-profit called the Humboldt Area Foundation. "Who wants to go to Oakland to learn to grow?"

Well, lots of people, it would seem. But hey, there's plenty of room for educational institutions, right? But you might have to wait a while for student Pell grants to study cannabis cultivation.

Modeling itself after Napa Valley is another proposed route. Just as Napa has its specialty wines, its boutique brands, its vineyard tourism, so too can California's northern counties develop a similar artisanal business culture for pot, some say.

It makes me wonder if my mom and aunt visiting from the Midwest would be as excited to tour the "pot-yards" of Mendocino as they were to visit the vinyards of Napa and Sonoma.