Month: June 2018

OPINION: PD’s Recent Cannabis Poll

By Grace Guthrie The Press Democrat published an article on June 3 of their cannabis poll results from 500 county voters; three questions asked about cannabis safety, grow location, and crime. I’d like to provide two statistics not explicitly stated in the article and explain why I think they are important to your readers. First, 77%…
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Cannabis crop expansion into forests threatens wildlife habitat, causes other environmental damage

November 2, 2017, Ithaca College Cannabis is grown in a greenhouse. Credit: Seastock Planting cannabis for commercial production in remote locations is creating forest fragmentation, stream modification, soil erosion and landslides. Without land-use policies to limit its environmental footprint, the impacts of cannabis farming could get worse, according to a new study published in the November…
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Legal pot in California brings host of environmental rules

December 22, 2017 by Ellen Knickmeyer In this undated photo provided by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, are fallen trees amidst a marijuana farm in the Klamath River watershed, just outside the Yurok Reservation near Klamath, Calif. California pot growers …more At a state briefing on environmental rules that await growers entering California’s soon-to-be-legal…
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Illegal Pot Farms Are Poisoning California’s Forests

Secret growers are taking advantage of the state’s remote stretches of public land—and the environmental impact is severe. In the gray half-light of dawn, eight figures creep through the dry pine forest near Quincy, California. Seven of them wear camo uniforms bearing the logos of various government agencies: U.S. Forest Service, National Guard, California Fish…
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Toxic pesticide increasingly used in CA marijuana grows, authorities warn

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — An alarming increase in the use of a highly toxic and banned pesticide at illegal marijuana farms hidden on public land in California is leading U.S. and state officials to team up on an issue that recently divided them: pot. They announced Tuesday that they will use $2.5 million in federal money…
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Toxic pesticide use rising at illegal California pot farms

But not to worry – when pot farms go legal these stellar operators see the light of green environmentalism and immediately convert their practices to holistic, organic methods – they switch to ginger and rosemary instead of these chemicals. Researchers and U.S. authorities are finding what they say is an alarming increase in the use…
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U.S. Attorney Joins Forces with Federal, State and Local Leaders and Experts to Combat the Devastating Environmental Effects of Public-Land Marijuana Grows

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Today, federal, state, and local leaders joined with experts to highlight the devastating damage that illegal, public-land marijuana grows do to our national forests, the wildlife who inhabit them, and the streams and waterways that flow through them. Making the announcement today were U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott; U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest…
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A rural county legalized marijuana farms. It took their tax money – then voted to ban them

Dennis Mills peered over his shoulder at the green hills below, where marijuana farms dotted the Calaveras County landscape. “There’s another one!” he told the pilot with a laugh. The Cessna doubled back so Mills, a county supervisor, could steal a second look at a slope where trees had recently been removed. From above, Mills…
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Unexpected industry (PD)

EDITOR: What is it that people who report on marijuana don’t understand about the vote in 2016? Pretty much everyone I know voted to decriminalize the use of cannabis and private grows. No one envisioned the booming industry that is attempting to insert itself into our local lifestyles. Not one person would have imagined an…
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If you think pot cultivation is about small, local farms – Grow Up

Pot businesses rush to fill Santa Rosa industrial buildings “A group of New York investors with a $30 million real estate fund recently visited the area looking to buy properties for industrial and agricultural cannabis businesses”, said Sherri Haskell, founder of Sausalito-based CannaAngels investment firm, who helped the New York group make local connections.” Full…
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