Even as he celebrated the end of a big year for his cannabis-focused company, Terra Tech, Derek Peterson was scrambling to cope with some bad news.

On the one hand, in 2016, his Newport Beach business raised close to $20 million to produce and sell marijuana products across the country, tripled its workforce and applauded as Californians voted to legalize recreational marijuana.

But as the year ended, just weeks after Proposition 64 passed, Peterson learned the company that for two years had managed Terra Tech’s payroll and health benefits would drop it Dec. 31 because of concern over its role in the cannabis industry.

“The decision came out of nowhere,” he said. “We have almost 200 employees that spent their holiday season stressed about the possibility of not having their health benefits available in the new year, let alone a reliable pay schedule.”

It was disheartening, he said, but it was also nothing new. [Read more at The Press Enterprise]