Episode #85 High Truths on Drugs and Addiction with Dr. Greta Wengert on Environmental Harms of Cannabis Grows

What are the environment impacts of cannabis grows? The carbon foot print for tomato grows is 2 kilograms, much different than for cannabis grows is 3600 kilograms. Cleaning up illegal cannabis grows cost more money than cleaning up an oil spill. Hear from Dr. Greta Wengert, and ecologist working in California public lands and witnesses the effects of illegal marijuana grows on water theft, damage to wild life, and effects of pesticides.

Dr. Greta Wengert is the Executive Director of Integral Ecology Research Center, a non-profit research organization. Greta earned her B.S. in Natural Resources at Cornell University, her M.S. in Wildlife Ecology at Humboldt State University, and her Ph.D. in Ecology at the University of California Davis, and has over 20 years of ecological research experience throughout California and Oregon. Her research focuses on the relationships among forest vertebrates and how these relationships are impacted by natural and human influences. Since 2012, her research has focused on the environmental impacts from trespass marijuana cultivation centering mainly on direct effects on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems from the pesticide use and habitat manipulation associated with cultivation. She speaks regularly on this topic to local and nationwide audiences to spread awareness on this growing environmental issue, and to encourage the development and funding sources for solutions to this problem.