First-of-their-kind regulations for marijuana grows were approved last week by the northern section of California’s water board.
At a somewhat tumultuous Santa Rosa meeting on Aug. 13, the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board adopted a registration program that it originally released in draft form in May.
The program requires anyone with a cannabis cultivation area 2,000 square feet or larger to enroll by Feb. 15, and will regulate how those sites discharge wastewater and impact waterways.
The program has three tiers of cultivation: grow sites under 5,000 square feet that pose no risk of waste discharge, grow sites that are larger or pose risks, and grow sites that are already in need of remediation, according to a report in the Press Democrat.
Tier 2 participants must provide a water resource protection plan and Tier 3 sites need that as well as a clean-up and restoration plan.
Waste discharge risk factors include drainage features, stream crossings, water diversion or storage, and the use of fertilizers. As the Journal noted when the draft regulation was released, it’s almost impossible to imagine a 2,000-square-foot grow that doesn’t fit at least one of those criteria.
The water board voted 5-1 to adopt the plan, with only board member Greg Giusti of Ukiah opposing, saying he was worried that registering growers in the statewide regulatory program would put them at risk of federal scrutiny. The regulation includes the option for growers to register through approved third-party organizations to lower the risk that their information could be seized by the feds. It is also worded vaguely enough, officials said, that no one registering is admitting to growing marijuana specifically.
When the water board’s enforcement arm began a pilot program, visiting grows in Southern Humboldt watersheds in January, officials said that residents were eager to hear what they needed to do to come into compliance.
But according to a Record-Bee report, several Sproul Creek residents spoke at last week’s meeting about “difficulties in following up with site notification, with one threatening to take the board to court.”
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Business leaders in Israel, an international leader in medical marijuana research, may look to export the product as a future revenue generator for the nation.
The Jerusalem Times reports that a recent conference saw the leader of the Israel Loss Adjusters Association call for the government to dedicate land to export-oriented medical marijuana, a move that some predicted could outpace the country’s natural gas sales.
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Montana marijuana advocates are holding their breath for a state Supreme Court decision that could make or break the state’s medical marijuana framework. In effect since 2004, the program came under fire when thousands of dispensaries popped up around the state, near churches and schools.
“As medical marijuana consumers cry foul, state legislators and grassroots opposition have sought to undermine the industry, saying business grew too large, too fast — in effect becoming recreational marijuana operating under the guise of medicine,” writes the Washington Post.
Sound familiar? Unlike California (and other states, where marijuana prohibition is becoming more relaxed), Montana legislators later imposed major restrictions in 2011, hampering marijuana businesses and patient access. It’s those restrictions that are subject to the outcome of a current Supreme Court case.
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Tennis phenom Novak Djokovic took a break between sets at Montreal’s Rogers Cup recently to complain to the umpire about crowd interference. Djokovic had won the first set, and would go on to win the second, but not without overcoming the racket-dulling effects of marijuana smoke wafting across the stadium.
“Someone is smoking weed, I can smell it, I’m getting dizzy,” Djokovic complained, according to a Sydney Morning Herald report. And it wasn’t the first time — a few days prior, he’d been bothered by a toker during a doubles match. “Somebody’s really enjoying his life around the tennis court,” Djokovic said.
This article appears in Free and Afraid.
I, for one, can barely wait for the Feds to legalize recreational canabis. Most users are too lazy to grow or make their own vice, whether it be tobacco, weed, or alcohol. Legalization will drastically lower the cost, and Giants in the industry will use economies of scale to out produce the locals just like giant tobacco does now. When they have crowded out the myriad growers in it for obscene, forest destroying profit, that will leave very few in business in Humbolt County! Sure, just like Humbolt has more boutique craft beer breweries and probably a few more home brewers than the average per capita California county, there will be a few more growers here than elsewhere. But that number will be MUCH smaller than the numbers of growers here now. Property values will stabilize without illegal grows, and the damage to our environment will slow. People will be able to hike and hunt and fish without fear in our forests, and the heavy stench of growing cannabis will slow to a trickle.
Also, for people that are interested in shortening the amount of time that their backyards are near unusable because of the stench of growing weed, I’ve found a trick that works well! Plain old fashioned Hemp plants! You want pollen dispensing males growing around your yard. The stench of growing weed comes from the resin that pollen starved female buds are producing. By providing pollinators in your neighborhood, the duration of the stench is greatly reduced! And no, industrial hemp doesn’t stink. Hemp seeds are irradiated here in the states prior to importation, but I’ve found that you can get a five to ten percent sprouting rate from raw, commercially available seeds (I do a lot of sprouting for food and was curious!) Once your plants mature, you can save seeds and distribute them to you neighbors that are also tired of the pervasive neighborhood stench that is destroying our back yards. Retired gardeners unite for a stench free backyard! As a bonus, I am playing with the stalks as a natural paper substitute. It’s harder than it sounds to make paper on a small scale, but it’s fun to try…