Pubdate: Tue, 07 Jul 2015
Source: Fresno Bee, The (CA)
Copyright: 2015 The Fresno Bee
Contact:  http://www.fresnobee.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/161
Note: Does not publish letters from outside their circulation area.

MARIJUANA GROWERS ARE WRECKING CALIFORNIA

The cost of inaction couldn't be more clear.

Acres of ancient trees are disappearing and illegal marijuana farms 
are popping up in their place. Streams and rivers are being sucked 
dry, diverted sometimes miles away through plastic pipes into tanks. 
Several species of fish, along with a rare breed of wild rodent, are 
on the verge of extinction.

All of this is happening now, all across California, but particularly 
in the North Coast and in our national parks in the San Joaquin 
Valley. All of this environmental destruction is occurring to grow 
marijuana and meet consumer demand.

While there's plenty of blame to go around for how things have turned 
out in the nearly 20 years since California legalized medical 
marijuana, much of it must land at the feet of consumers, and of lawmakers.

Apathetic consumers seem unaffected by the environmental damage that 
weed causes. We buy fair-trade coffee and free-range chickens. 
Where's the outrage about the environmental impact of marijuana?

Through the inaction of lawmakers, pot remains unregulated and 
spreads like weeds. Add to this the drought and speculation that 
California will soon join Washington and Oregon in making pot legal 
for recreational use, and our state has the makings of an ecological 
disaster on its hands.

This was the sobering message that came through July 1 at a hearing 
of the state Senate's Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture. 
Official after official testified about the negative effects that 
illegal pot farming has had on the environment and in unfairly 
exacerbating the drought.

Charlton Bonham, director of the California Department of Fish and 
Wildlife, talked about his "existential crisis" while watching 
species of salmon dwindle to dangerously low numbers.

Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman spoke of how, at a recent bust 
near Island Mountain, illegal growers had depleted the mighty Eel 
River to the point that it was full of moss. He estimated the farmers 
needed about 500,000 precious gallons of water a day to support the 
nearly 87,000 plants they found.

Thousands of growers are doing the same despicable things to the 
environment all over California. These aren't the "old hippies" who 
have been growing pot for years in California, but the "rich white 
people growers," as Allman calls them, who are moving here in droves, 
hoping to claim a stake in our unregulated market before demand 
really ramps up for legal recreational use.

"It's hard to ask everyone to cut their water and deal with water 
cuts when we're not dealing with this," said Resources Secretary John Laird.

The way to curb the environmental destruction is for users to 
consider the implications of their purchases, and to regulate the 
industry. Sen. Mike McGuire and Assembly Member Jim Wood, both North 
Coast Democrats, have bills to do that.

The cost of inaction is too high.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom