RHT447 brings the troubling story of toxic pot pollution in our forests to our attention. Did the story in Reuters grab your attention over the weekend? if not, here’s the scoop:
Growers use fertilizers and pesticides long restricted or banned in the United States, including carbofuran and zinc phosphide. In previous years, it was commonly sold fertilizers and pesticides that were used illegally, law enforcement officials said. …
… Use of any chemicals in national forests is against federal law, as pesticides have killed sensitive species and fertilizers can cause algae blooms and bacteria problems in rivers and streams.
According to unpublished data seen by Reuters, Gabriel, who has visited more than 100 sites in California and is widely considered the top expert on toxics at marijuana farms, calculated that federal land in California contains 731,000 pounds of solid fertilizer, 491,000 ounces of concentrated liquid fertilizer and 200,000 ounces of toxic pesticides.
These toxic sites cost $100,000 to clean up. In California that bill for taxpayers could reach $100 million or more. Even with clean up, officials indicate that “30-50 percent” of the chemicals remain. Mother nature will have to finish the job that humans cannot do.
Awareness of this problem goes back to at least 2011 when Live Science published an article, “Pot Growers Destroying National Forests,” to highlight the problem and provide information in the ongoing legalization debate. But large pot farms have been detected in our forests since the mid-nineteen nineties when farms managed by drug cartels were discovered in California forest land.
Legalization might make a difference, however, legalization in Colorado and Washington has not solved some problems that proponents anticipated would be resolved once the drug was legalized and taxes imposed:
In Washington, the black market has exploded since voters legalized marijuana in 2012, with scores of legally dubious medical dispensaries opening and some pot delivery services brazenly advertising that they sell outside the legal system.
Licensed shops say taxes are so onerous that they can’t compete. …
… Officials in both states say they must do more to drive customers into the recreational stores. They’re looking at reining in their medical systems and fixing the big tax differential between medical and recreational weed without harming patients.
Can legalization make a difference in terms of illegal deep forest pot growers or would it exacerbate the pollution problem as black market growers see an opportunity to offer tax free, lower priced product to customers that can smoke, and buy, freely? Will our governments greed for more revenue trump our governments environmental concerns? Will the left suddenly find a reason to control our borders to keep the cartels out and give up silly accusations of “racism?”
It seems the controversy has become even more complicated. Your thoughts?