Pubdate: Thu, 21 Nov 2013
Source: Chico News & Review, The (CA)
Copyright: 2013 Chico Community Publishing, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.newsreview.com/chico/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/559

ENDING POT PROHIBITION

Undoing the Unintended Consequences of Illegality

The CN&R has long been writing about the environmental degradation 
happening in Butte County and beyond due to the proliferation of 
marijuana farms in nonagricultural regions, the foothills in particular.

Pot profiteers don't grow there because the soil is good and the 
water is bountiful. In fact, quite the opposite is true. Clay soil 
isn't hospitable to the plants and there's a dearth of water to feed 
them. In truth, the reason cannabis cultivators have chosen to grow 
in the mountainous regions of the state is to shield their operations 
from law enforcement by setting up shop among the trees and other 
greenery that cover the landscape.

Only these days, it's impossible for them to go unnoticed. There are 
simply too many people attempting to cash in on the pot trade during 
this Gold Rush era in the realm of marijuana. The foothills, as 
described in this week's Cover feature (see "Blame the policy, not 
the plant," page 20) are dotted with extensive grows on clear-cut 
hilltops where cultivators are siphoning water from already limited 
supplies, leaching chemical fertilizers into nearby watersheds, and 
poisoning wildlife.

So, what's the answer? As we've said time and time again, the only 
way to truly solve the environmental harms resulting from the 
proliferation of pot grows is to legalize marijuana. That will bring 
cultivation into the open, eliminating the unintended consequences of 
illegality, including blight to the earth as well as crime.

A move to legalize has slowly been gaining steam as the public and 
lawmakers come to realize that prohibition serves only to keep the 
profit motive in place. Indeed, even Butte County Supervisor Bill 
Connelly, who has seen firsthand the consequences of the war on 
drugs, in his District 1, which includes Oroville and the eastern 
foothills, is calling for legalization. He is joining a cadre of 
other conservatives who have seen the light. We encourage other local 
lawmakers to take up the cause.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom