US Representative Doug LaMalfa and Scott Peters introduced legislation to combat the use of banned pesticides on illegal cannabis cultivation sites on public land. The Targeting and Offsetting Existing Illegal Contaminants (TOXIC) Act remedies the environmental damage caused by banned pesticides to public lands and raises criminal penalties for those who illegally grow marijuana on federal property using banned pesticides.
As California and other areas of the U.S. see the emergence of illegal cannabis cultivation sites on public lands, investigations show that growers frequently use banned pesticides to protect their crops. For buyers, consuming even small amounts of cannabis exposed to these banned pesticides could potentially be deadly, LaMalfa said.
“Illegal marijuana grows have brought dangerous cartels into our rural towns, terrorizing residents, and decimating our landscape,” LaMalfa said in a news release. “The banned pesticides they use on their product seep into the soil and watershed, poisoning wildlife and endangering residents who inadvertently consume it. Everyone, outdoor enthusiasts, nearby residents on their own land, wildlife, Forest Service, and law enforcement personnel are all at risk.”
LaMalfa said the TOXIC Act would criminalize those who cause damage to public land with banned chemicals and would help remedy the environmental impacts.
The bill would authorize $250M over five years for the Forest Service to use Superfund toxic waste remediation authorities to address environmental damages caused by the release of banned pesticides on federal lands for cannabis cultivation. It will also raise the criminal penalties for using banned pesticides in illegal cannabis cultivation to maximums of 20 years in prison and $250K in criminal fines to establish parity with the criminal penalties for smuggling banned pesticides into the US. The US Sentencing Commission would then be required to review and update its sentencing guidelines for these crimes. ■