NORTHSTATE, Calif. — Siskiyou County Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue visited the Capitol this week to address the topic of the rise of unlicensed pesticides on cannabis farms. There, he met with Senator Megan Dahle to seek help from state and federal agencies, just days after the county declared a local emergency due to the issue.
Senator Dahle says that although cannabis cultivation is generally illegal in the county, it has persisted for years. She added that the legalization of marijuana, intended to create a taxed and regulated system, inadvertently removed enforcement tools, allowing illegal activities to flourish.
The use of illegal pesticides is said to be a particularly dangerous development. These pesticides, often banned in California or the United States, are smuggled into the country with labels in Chinese or Thai. They are frequently burned to fumigate greenhouses, releasing toxic fumes and residues that pose hazards to growers, authorities and the environment.
In response, the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors declared a state of emergency on July 14, seeking assistance from state and federal agencies to combat the influx of these hazardous substances. Rural counties across the state face similar challenges, but Siskiyou County is leading the state in the number, variety and frequency of occurrences.
EPA Pacific Southwest Region Administrator Josh F.W. Cook acknowledged the crisis, stating, “I have received correspondence from the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors. They have declared a State of Emergency related to illegal importation, distribution and burning of foreign-manufactured pesticides and chemicals as part of an international criminal enterprise.”
Cook added, “I take this very seriously; I have directed Region 9 EPA law enforcement to investigate these issues immediately. We will be working with other County, State and Federal agencies to ensure Californians are protected and our environmental laws are upheld.”
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