Rodney Donahue: Hoopa Valley Tribe should legalize cannabis

Thursday, December 20, 2012  

"The Hoopa Tribe should legalize cannabis, instead of outlawing it on the reservation, because there are too many negative impacts from prohibition.

First of all, we have non-tribal members coming here to grow cannabis throughout spring, summer and fall. After harvest growers almost always leave their non-biodegradables behind, including items such as propane cylinders for cooking, empty canned food cans, plastic jugs, and water lines. This waste is not only bad for the environment, but it gets into our food chain and water supply.

Some growers leave the environment unhealthy and littered with contaminated empty fertilizer and pesticide containers, including other hazardous waste materials. In a recent article in the Times-Standard, it was reported that researchers at UC Davis, and tribal forestry biologists have concluded that pot farm rat poison from marijuana grows is likely responsible for the deaths of 80 percent of the Pacific Fishers (a small mammal closely related to a weasel) found dead between 2006 and 2011. Now, if deer consume rat poison, and we hunt these deer, then we are also poisoned with rat poison left behind by growers."

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VOICES: Opinion by Rodney Donahue, Hoopa (The Two Rivers Tribune 12/19)