The State of California is in the midst of a drought, and fingers are being pointed at several particularly thirsty crops: almonds, alfalfa and, yes, cannabis.

Illegal marijuana growers divert rivers and streams to water their plants, clear-cut sections of forest and often use polluting chemicals that run off into nearby waters.

But a leading environmental organization says the plant’s anticipated legalization in the Golden State provides a chance to better protect natural resources by regulating growers.

Legalization efforts “present a significant opportunity to make sure California gets on the right track towards reducing, regulating, and mitigating environmental harms associated with marijuana cultivation,” says a prominent post on the website of the California chapter of The Nature Conservancy.

The group says that existing state efforts to enforce environmental laws on lands used for marijuana cultivation are badly underfunded, and points out that tax revenue from legalization could provide helpful resources to better protect waterways and forests.

“The scale of the existing marijuana markets in California and elsewhere suggest that taxation and fines could fund these measures,” the post says. “If legalization for recreational purposes moves forward in California, sales may generate between $650 million to $1.5 billion in tax revenue. We’d like to see a portion of the tax revenue generated from these marijuana markets go to regulating and enforcing land and water use, cleaning up pollution at grow sites, and restoring land and waters damaged by marijuana cultivation.”

Noting that neither Colorado nor Washington State earmark a portion of marijuana tax revenues to the environment, The Nature Conservancy says that “California can and should become the first state to build strong environmental protections into marijuana policies, and do the right thing by the environment.”

In a separate document mailed to supporters, Mike Sweeney, the group’s executive director, compares the currently …read more

Source:: Weed Feed