Gavin Newsom, Jared Huffman to hold public forum on pot

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom will join North Coast lawmakers in Garberville in southern Humboldt County on Friday at a public forum to discuss the effects marijuana legalization would have in the Emerald Triangle region.

Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, convened the meeting to be held with Assemblyman Jim Wood, D-Healdsburg, local law enforcement representatives, medical marijuana cultivators and advocates and environmental activists to hear community concerns about marijuana legalization.

Newsom, chairman of a commission studying how the state might tax and regulate marijuana if it is legalized, is on an information-gathering tour of the region. Before the forum, Newsom, Huffman and Wood will take a private tour of a Humboldt County medical marijuana farm.

The Blue Ribbon Commission on Marijuana Policy was formed in collaboration with the ACLU of Northern California to anticipate the policy issues that could emerge if California voters legalize marijuana in 2016, when a ballot initiative is expected.

Friday’s forum will be held from 1 to 2:30 p.m. at the Redwood Playhouse at 286 Sprowel Creek Road, Garberville.

You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jjpressdem.