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Cannabis: The most destructive plant in the century
Illegal marijuana farms are poisoning Oklahoma's land with pesticides. Even legal weed has a carbon footprint, which is in the amount of greenhouse gases it produces.
Indoor cannabis cultivation is energy-consuming, mainly due to heating and lighting. This process consumes large amounts of electricity that contribute towards greenhouse gas emissions in our environment.
The report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) states we need urgent action on how best to handle this global problem if want to avoid possible irreversible consequences like severe disruption or change caused because humans have been impacting natural systems relentlessly over decades now with little regard whatsoever for its long term impact. Both legal and illegal markets are contributing to the deterioration of the environment as cannabis starts to gain mainstream acceptance.
The Black Market Effects
In recent years, there has been a boom in the illegal cultivation of cannabis on both federal and private land in the United States. This illicit activity is often carried out by organized crime groups who take advantage of the fact that marijuana is still federally illegal. These grow operations are often located in remote areas, making them difficult to detect and disrupt.
In addition, they often use sophisticated irrigation systems and pesticides, which can contaminate nearby water sources. Not only is this illegal activity harmful to the environment, but it also poses a serious threat to public safety. Illegally cultivated cannabis is often of poor quality and black market growers will use banned insecticides and other chemicals to ward off pests. Using these banned substances has negative environmental consequences for nearby wildlife and water supplies.
Black Market's Attack on Wildlife
The environmental impact of cannabis cultivation can be significant, especially when done illegally. Illegally grown cannabis can use toxicants like Bromethalin and carbofuran, which can be harmful to wildlife and are banned by the Environmental Protection Agency. These toxicants can remain in an ecosystem for a long period of time, causing long-term damage.
Wildlife ecologist Greta Wengert of the Integral Ecology Research Center (IERC) tells NPR, [carbofuran] "It is incredibly toxic. A quarter teaspoon could kill a 600-pound black bear. So obviously just a tiny amount can kill a human. It remains in an ecosystem for a long period of time."
Cannabis cultivation can also lead to deforestation, as growers clear land to make way for their crops. This deforestation can have a significant impact on local wildlife, as it destroys their habitat and leaves them vulnerable to predators.
Because cannabis plants are particularly thirsty, streams are often diverted in many areas to water these illicit grows. By diverting these streams these grows are not only affecting the aquatic life within the stream but they are also contaminating the fish living within them with poisonous chemicals. In some cases, these fish are eaten by other wildlife affecting them, or like in northern California, those fish are then caught later downstream for human consumption.
Legal Cultivation Effects
With the legalization of cannabis in multiple states either recreationally or medically the legal cannabis boom has people sparking up as easy as ordering a beer with your next meal.
Legal cannabis markets regardless of medical or recreational are causing some significant issues in the environment as well. Cannabis is a very needy plant and if you've never toured a cannabis cultivation facility the plants require an extreme amount of lighting and water, and to be in temperature-controlled rooms which all promote growth. In today's cannabis market most people prefer indoor flowers over outdoor flowers because the plant has not only been in a controlled environment which allows for less room for messups and because the indoor-grown flower is typically a higher yield of cannabis with bigger buds and higher THC content.
Because marijuana plants need all this attention the second and third-order effects of the legal indoor grow facility is that it has a very large carbon footprint because they require more equipment like large air conditioning units and hundreds of lights and this is where it starts to get dirty.
In a recent study by Colorado State University (CSU) research team, they found that marijuana facilities produce a shocking amount of emissions which can be dangerous to humans.
The study coming out of CSU "investigated these common practices of growing cannabis indoors not only in Colorado but around the U.S. to understand the greenhouse gas emissions.” according to the lead author Hailey Summers.
The researchers found that greenhouse emissions varied widely across the U.S. but took baseline reading across the country and then made a direct correlation between higher and lower emissions. States that have legal marijuana facilities tend to
have higher emissions and in some states like Colorado, the research shows that emissions can even vary from city to city. The significant contributing factor to higher emissions is the facilities is their HVAC systems which contribute up to "230 percent difference in a facility's emissions.
Make Cannabis Green Again
When it comes to making cannabis a cleaner crop to grow both legal and illegal it's a multi-pronged approach that can not only reduce the amount of illegal grows but also lower the carbon footprint that licensed grows produce.
Legal marijuana grow facilities can reduce their carbon footprint by investing in cleanenergy equipment and optimizing the facility's heating, ventilation and air conditing (HVAC) systems.
Greenhouse and outdoor grows also significantly reduce greenhouse emissions by "42 percent and 96 percent". Outdoor/greenhouse grows have their own problems like land development, chemicals, and water diversion. Switching over entirely is not a solution for many licensed grows and therefore a combination of indoor and outdoor could be used to reduce the footprint.
Lowering emissions matter because in states like Colorado and cannabis cultivation facilities are putting out just as much emissions and pollution as coal and waste management.
Legalization could also be used to make cannabis green again. Legalizing cannabis and making the plant more accessible on the legal market will reduce the amount of illegal grows. It is important to note that the black market isn't going anywhere and will still be around in a legal market but it will be less enticing for those that use cannabis to purchase from the black market due to the accessibility. This point was researched and proven in states like Oregon and Washington where they saw a significant decrease in illegal grows and less deforestation and overall contamination from the black market grows.
The environmental impact of marijuana cultivation is an important issue to consider. While it's clear that there are some benefits to legalization, we need to make sure that the negative effects are minimized. As more
states legalize weed, it will be important for policymakers and growers, and all those in the cannabis industry to think about ways to reduce the carbon footprint of cannabis production.
