HOW CALIFORNIA’S CANNABIS LOBBY RESHAPED THE INDUSTRY

RISE OF AXIOM ADVISORS

In 2018, as Gavin Newsom prepared to take office, longtime ally Jason Kinney spun up Axiom Advisors out of California Strategies. Closely tied to the new governor, Axiom quickly became the shortcut for Sacramento access. For corporate operators, this meant a seat at the table long before small farmers even had a voice.

THE FRENCH LAUNDRY MOMENT

In November 2020, Kinney’s birthday dinner at the French Laundry sparked outrage after Newsom attended in violation of his own COVID guidelines. While the scandal made headlines, Axiom’s billings reportedly rose by roughly 25% the following quarter. To some, this was coincidence and market growth; to others, it was proof that access “buys” advantage.

BIG CANNABIS STEPS IN

By 2021, large-scale operators began formally retaining Axiom. Greenhouse giants Glass House and Pacific Stone signed on at $12,500 per month. Weedmaps soon followed. On paper, this was regulated cannabis aligning with professional lobbyists. In practice, it tilted the field away from community operators who lacked comparable resources.

COUNTY MANEUVERS

Local politics often decided winners and losers. Monterey County capped permits to pre-2016 greenhouses just as Harborside was buying them—effectively boxing out land-rich but cash-poor legacy growers. In Santa Barbara County, consultants from California Strategies were allegedly involved in drafting supervisor letters to expand coastal greenhouse cultivation. Proponents framed these moves as reusing existing agricultural land. Critics called them rules written for incumbents.

THE MEGA-FARM ERA

By the early 2020s, scale redefined the market. Glass House expanded to more than 2 million square feet, harvesting over 165,000 pounds per quarter by late 2024. The fallout was brutal: wholesale prices slid from over $2,000 per pound in 2020–21 to $100–$300 by 2022. Sungrown farms—already stretched by compliance costs—either surrendered licenses or returned underground.

THE MISSED LIFELINE

In 2024, Newsom vetoed a bill that would have allowed small farmers to sell directly at farmers’ markets. Officially, the veto was to avoid tax leakage and regulatory complications. Practically, it cut heritage growers off from one of the few survival pathways left.

LEGACY IN QUESTION

Axiom and California Strategies were not the only power brokers, but their fingerprints appear at key inflection points. Supporters argue the firms brought investment, stability, and jobs. Opponents point to craft farm collapses, bankruptcies, foreclosures, and mental health crises across the Emerald Triangle.

California’s cannabis lobbying machine built stability for corporations while small farmers bore the cost. The result: a regulated market shaped less by legacy values than by who could afford a seat at the table.

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— Nugg Notes