Jason Matthys, a cannabis breeder and activist in Mendocino County, said almost every entrepreneur he knows has left California’s legal cannabis market because regulations have made it impossible for small businesses to be profitable.

This enormous supply of cannabis has sent wholesale prices into a free fall. A pound of cannabis could sell for $2,000 prior to legalization; now it can go for as little as $100. Dropping prices have subsequently put family farms across Northern California out of business. In 2016, about 2,000 farmers applied for cultivation licenses in Humboldt. Only about 1,000 remain today.