Would Legalizing Pot Help the Environment?

Many folks lump tree-hugging types into the pot-smoking-hippie camp. But ironically, marijuana growers actually aren't so green. According to a recent report on NPR, both legal and illegal pot-growing operations cause significant environmental devastation.

NPR's Lisa Morehouse examined this problem by focusing on California's Humboldt County. Two kinds of illegal pot-growing operations exist in the area, outdoor and indoor cultivation sites. Illegal, outdoor farms have been around as long as the hills. At these large-scale growing sites, pot growers oftentimes use illegal, toxic pesticides and divert creek water to irrigate plants. Other drug producers grow marijuana crops in national parks, a big problem considering that land is protected as a conservation site.

About 20 years ago, Humboldt County started cracking down on illegal, outdoor pot farms, prompting the latest enviro-wrecking scheme—indoor pot-growing operations. In many cases, indoor marijuana farms cause even more devastation to land and wildlife than outdoor operations do. Off-the-grid, indoor sites are often set way back in the woods, relying on diesel generators for power. Recently, 1,000 gallons of diesel spilled from a pot-growing site into a tributary of Salmon Creek. Other indoor operations spill diesel, improperly store motor oil and antifreeze, and transport diesel through inadequate pipe systems, allowing toxic substances to leak into soil and water. According to NPR, since 2001, the Humboldt County Division of Environmental Health has dealt with violations at 50 diesel-powered, indoor pot-growing operations.

What many folks may not know is that even legal pot-producing facilities harm the environment. At the Humboldt Patient Resource Center, which grows medical marijuana, plants need a ton of electricity to thrive. According to NPR, with all the lights, fans, dehumidifiers, and security cameras needed to grow the plants, the facility racks up a $4,500 electricity bill each month, more than the center's rent. Just thinking about all those carbon emissions is enough to make anyone need some cannabis to calm down.

So all of this information really leads to what is assuredly a multi-million-dollar question: Would legalizing marijuana benefit the environment?

The legalizing marijuana debate involves a lot of social, economic, and political factors that, as a food and environment writer, I'm admittedly ill-equipped to deal with. But from an environmental perspective, it stands to reason the legalizing marijuana would prompt more ecologically friendly methods of producing pot. NPR notes that many growers think that if pot were legal, the price of the drug would drop dramatically, so the high cost of electricity and diesel fuel wouldn't be worth it. That would push growers to rely on more natural farming methods rather than resource-intensive operations.

Plus, the major issue with growing pot now is that it can't be done in the public eye. Growers seek these off-the-beaten-path locations, where they need to rely on things like diesel generators and illegal pesticides. If growers could produce pot out in the open on organic farms, just think about all the carbon emissions and pollution that could be prevented.

Obviously many factors need to be weighed when considering the legalization of marijuana. All I'm saying is that the environment faces enough problems right now. If a law and tax change could eliminate even just one of those stressors, it's got my vote.

Photo credit: US Fish and Wildlife Service via Wikimedia Commons