Pubdate: Mon, 13 Jan 2014
Source: Sacramento Bee (CA)
Copyright: 2014 The Sacramento Bee
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/0n4cG7L1
Website: http://www.sacbee.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/376

MARIJUANA FARMS COME AT A HIGH COST: $3.3 MILLION

Marijuana legalization advocates contend that the weed is harmless. Hardly.

As advocates contemplate an initiative that would further 
commercialize marijuana, Gov. Jerry Brown is earmarking $3.3 million 
to curb the environmental degradation caused by its cultivation. The 
effort is long past due.

In his budget released last week, the governor proposes to assign 11 
state water board and seven Fish and Wildlife inspectors and 
investigators to confront the problem.

"Currently, marijuana cultivation is threatening water supply, water 
quality and the sensitive habitat of endangered species," the 
governor's budget summary says.

The addition of the money is a testament to Republican Assemblyman 
Dan Logue's persistence.

Liberal environmentalist groups would never count Logue as one of 
their pets. But unlike many establishment environmentalists and 
Democratic legislators who claim to be environmentalists, the Butte 
County lawmaker became outraged at how legal and illegal growers 
brazenly tear out trees and cut terraces into mountainsides to grow 
their crops. They also make heavy use of chemical fertilizers and rat 
poison, polluting waterways and killing wildlife.

Logue has been pushing the administration to step in, while Democrats 
sat silently, probably not wanting to upset marijuana advocates, many 
of whom support Democratic politicians.

As The Sacramento Bee's editorial board wrote in August: "For 
decades, California lawmakers have imposed ever tighter restrictions 
on logging, farming, and other activities that can foul water and 
damage the environment. But they aren't showing the same 
aggressiveness about halting damage being done by marijuana farmers. 
That timidity needs to end."

Brown has taken a step toward dealing with the issue. Democratic 
lawmakers who control the Legislature should embrace the proposal. 
While they're at it, they should thank Logue for being politically 
incorrect enough to bring the issue to the fore.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom