HUMBOLDT, Calif — The Northern California Coalition to Safeguard Communities is warning residents about the growing threat of dangerous, illegal pesticides being used on cannabis grows across the North Coast. These chemicals pose serious health and environmental risks far beyond the grow sites themselves.
Summer Hansen, the coalition’s public information officer, says the pesticides being discovered are not the same as those approved for traditional agriculture. Many of them are banned in the United States, yet growers are actively seeking them out and importing them from overseas because of their strength and effectiveness.
“They’re actively seeking these chemicals that are not approved in the United States, and are actively getting them from overseas because they know it will help them with their growing process because they are that harsh,” Hansen said. “They kill all their pests for them way easier than doing it the approved way, which is what’s safer for everyone.”
