Indopedia All Things Marijuana
California lawmakers are still trying to figure out how to regulate the state’s impending recreational cannabis industry, but while the debate over new rules rages on, there is one thing that the Golden State officials can agree on – a need to right the environmental wrongs caused by illegal cannabis cultivation in the Northern California hills.
According to a press release sent out by the office of North Coast Assemblyman Jim Woods, Governor Jerry Brown has allocated $1.5 million of state funds to help curb the damage done to the north coast’s environment by black market cannabis grows.
“These illegal grow sites do untold damage to forests and wildlife along the North Coast and with Assemblymember Wood’s leadership, we’re doing something about it,” Governor Brown said.
Reports from ecological scientist Mourad Gabriel, who has been studying wildlife in the region for the past 10 years suggests that illegal grow-ops are killing local wildlife with illegal rodenticide use and clearing swaths of the forests to create their cultivation sites.
“Our beautiful pristine forests have become havens for these illegal grow sites,” Assemblymember Wood said….
