Pubdate: Wed, 23 Sep 2015
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2015 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248

CLEANING UP AFTER POT FARMERS

Long known as the nation's "salad bowl," California has also become 
its marijuana bowl. The state produces as much as 70% of the cannabis 
sold in the United States, and its landscape bears the scars of both 
legal and illegal cultivation. Pristine habitat has been clear-cut to 
make way for pot farms, roads have been carved into hillsides, creeks 
have been pumped dry for irrigation and wildlife has been poisoned by 
pesticides and rodenticides. The effects of irresponsible 
cultivation, coupled with the drought, could doom the survival of 
some salmon species in Northern California.

Environmentalists now worry that damage to the state's flora and 
fauna from marijuana growing will only increase as more states vote 
to legalize the recreational use of the drug. It's essential that the 
various ballot measures being floated for California's November 2016 
election include not only rules for regulating marijuana farms but 
enough funding to enforce them and to mitigate the damage that's 
already occurred.

Too often, however, the environmental impacts of cultivation are an 
afterthought. California legalized medical marijuana nearly 20 years 
ago, but state lawmakers largely ignored the exponential increase in 
cannabis cultivation. Now, officials estimate there are 50,000 
marijuana plantations across the state.

Yet the California Department of Fish and Game has 16 people to 
police pot farms and has been able to inspect fewer than 1% of the sites.

Gov. Jerry Brown budgeted $3.3 million in 2014 to boost enforcement, 
but experts estimate that the state needs $25 million a year to 
regulate these plantations and enforce environmental laws.

Recent legislation around the country hasn't made environmental 
protection a priority either.

Neither Washington nor Colorado earmark tax revenue from the sale of 
recreational marijuana to help enforce rules on growers. (To be fair, 
those states have more indoor growing and haven't experienced damage 
on the scale of California.) The California Legislature recently 
passed bills that regulate medical cannabis, but lawmakers removed a 
proposed excise tax that would have generated $60 million for 
environmental cleanup and enforcement. Instead, the bills would let 
state agencies raise fees on licenses to cover enforcement. The high 
cost of licenses, however, could prompt some growers to remain in the 
black market rather than come into compliance.

Until recently, there has been little opportunity and no incentive 
for growers to act responsibly. Any effort to legalize marijuana must 
ensure that this billion-dollar industry repairs the legacy of damage 
and becomes a responsible steward of the land.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom