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Cannabis growing – even in a state like California – is something that has remained in the shadows; but that is going to have to change if legalization is ever to become a reality.

There are cities in northern CA that are working to bring cannabis growing out into the open, like Oakland, Berkeley, and Eureka.

On Monday, Oakland will begin the application process for four permits to run industrial-scale marijuana farms within city limits.

In Berkeley, a successful ballot measure to allow medical pot cultivation in industrial zones has would-be growers scrambling to score scarce real estate.

Farther north, the Sonoma County wine country town of Sebastopol passed an ordinance Tuesday allowing for the creation of two large gardens for medical marijuana dispensaries, and two more “collective” gardens where patients could grow their own.

As can be imagined, the DEA is keeping a close eye on the situation – but to what end remains to be seen.

Oakland City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan, who co-sponsored that city’s cultivation ordinance, said the DEA had contacted her office but only to request copies of the regulations and background materials. She said the agency advised her that they were conducting research into the ways various cities were handling medical marijuana regulation.

“I think that’s a very hopeful sign,” Kaplan said.

Maybe, but when it comes to the DEA, good intentions are not what one would expect. Their entire purpose for existence is busting people, and cannabis is the easiest bust there is.

But like I said, if legalization is ever going to happen, marijuana growing must come out into the open – even if growers run the risk of the DEA coming down on them.

Of course, cities could care less about legalization – they plan on getting tax money from cannabis either way. But there lust for money can be used to our advantage; as more local governments get used to the increased revenue, they will begin to realize how much money is still being left untaxed in the black market. That is something they will want to remedy.

Every step toward full legalization is an important one, and should be supported by the cannabis law reform movement. Hopefully this is a lesson we have learned from the failure of Prop 19.