DOUGLAS CITY, Calif. — Xong Vang and Chia Xiong arrived in Douglas City, a town of the Gold Rush era, hoping to make good from the next big California boom.
After the state legalized cannabis in 2016, they joined a wave of newcomers settling in this mountainous, lushly forested Northern California region known to produce some of the world’s best weed. They believed that here in remote Trinity County, they could find their own “Green Rush,” growing pot for what was promised to be a profitable legal market.
Today, the couple are struggling to keep their 3.4-acre farm going. They live in a trailer on the side of a mountain, where they eke out a modest farm life, raising pigeons for eggs. They worry about providing for their children amid what seem like endless delays to regain licenses needed to legally cultivate their cannabis crop.
