Do You Know Where Your Pot Came From?

There is an ever increasing movement for consumers to know where there food came from and how it was raised and grown. They have a social conscience that wants to make sure they aren't harming themselves or the earths environment which can be a good thing for everyone. If you smoke or use marijuana do you know where it came from? Did the grower that grew it practice water saving techniques and sound environmental practices? If you don't know you may be contributing to a major ecological disaster unfolding on the North Coast of California which is sometimes called the Emerald Triangle. The Emerald Triangle is one of the biggest marijuana growing areas in the United States. It is also home to Redwood forests and once sparkling streams of Salmon and Steelhead that now share the forest with tens of thousands of illegal marijuana plants as well as many legal ones. With the drought the illegal marijuana grows and their accompanying water use are drying up rivers, creeks and streams. Growers there are using water from and diverting streams. They are also polluting watersheds with fertilizers and insecticides that they use on their gardens which are causing major algae blooms in the streams. Large marijuana plants can use well over six gallons of water per day. When you multiply that usage by thousands of plants it takes away a significant portion of water from the areas rivers creeks and streams. In addition to stealing water they are damaging streams with silt caused by improper grading and clear cuts for plants to grow in. We are in the midst of losing the Eel River and other streams as a home to runs of our Salmon and Steelhead. Last year for the first time in history the Eel River one of the largest watersheds in the Emerald Triangle went dry. This means that it was no longer one continuos river. It had breaks in between the pools in which it was dry. This leads to higher water temperatures, algae blooms and a lack of oxygen which kills Steelhead and Salmon. Public warnings went out last year and this year to dog owners not to allow their dogs to swim in the Eel River for fear of them drinking and ingesting blue green algae which last year killed two dogs. Those two made the papers. Who knows how many other animals died that didn't make the papers? This morning as I drove home along U. S. Highway 101 paralleling the Eel River I was dismayed to see that the river is a mere trickle compared to its normal summer flow. It appears to be headed into going dry once again. There were huge algae blooms and very little flow between pools. It wasn't looking very promising. If you are a marijuana grower please look into how to grow your crop responsibly by contacting your local county Ag department and HIMR at Humboldt State University. If you are a user find out where your pot is from. Please share this photoblog with all the pot users you know. Please check out the following article as well. http://lostcoastoutpost.com/2013/jan/4/growing-dilemna/ It visually shows how big this problem has become. We have a stewardship from God to protect our planet. Let's honor it. God's blessings to all, chris