The High Environmental Cost Of Illicit Marijuana Cultivation

Evan Miranda

Toomey, Diane. “The High Environmental Cost Of Illicit Marijuana Cultivation.” Yale E360, 2015 e360.yale.edu/feature/the_high_environmental_cost_of_illicit_marijuana_cultivation/2895/.

1. I'm well versed in marijuana legislation and the various impacts illegal activities throughout the supply chain can have on the environment. These impacts can be traced to something as basic as supply and demand and the control of prices. If there's a large enough demand (which there surely is) associated with a low supply (those growers who risk incarceration and tough growing cycles), then the operation continues.

2. Something I learned was just how much water marijuana plants need to grow healthily and the amount of pesticides being used in illegal operations. Eight to ten gallons of water per day per plant is even more than grapes require, and most of the time this water is being taken from natural resources. In places like California, the usual drought could spell disaster for many ecosystems due to this drainage of water. Whatever water is left then carries pesticides and fertilizers into ecosystems where it's transferred across various food chains.

3. This article is relevant to our class because it talks about the unsustainable practices of marijuana cultivation, a widely used and accepted plant, and the ways in which these unsustainable practices cause harm to the environment. Even beyond the makeshift roads and deforestation, things one can easily see, there is widespread drought, loss of species and increases in toxicity that are only perpetuated by these harmful growing practices.

4. I agree that the "quasi-legal status of marijuana cultivation impedes the ability to address its environmental harm." If marijuana was regulated at both the state and federal levels, things like water consumption and pesticide use could be controlled. Not to mention many of the operations could be conducted inside to further reduce environmental harm (assuming the energy for lights and pumps comes from renewable sources). I also think there needs to be a greater focus on cleanup efforts for what's already been harmed; this must be an extremely tough subject for a government that was super anti-weed not even a few years ago.