The Feds could start using drones to tackle unlicensed weeds in the Emerald Triangle

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Congress is currently discussing new plans to use remote-controlled drones to track down illegal cannabis cultivation in California’s Emerald Triangle.

The House Budgets Committee discussed these plans in a new report included in the Home Office’s annual budget accounts. Each year the committee annexes a report to the ministry’s annual draft budget detailing the spread of illegal cannabis cultivation on public land. However, this year’s report is unique in that it specifically promotes the use of drones to search for illegal weeds on states.

“The committee is aware that intruders are illegally growing marijuana on public land in California,” the report said, according to Marijuana Moment. “These illegal activities are harmful to the public, water, soil and wildlife. The committee supports the efforts of the forest service to develop tools for the detection and elimination of cultivation areas. “

The committee also supports the Home Office’s use of drones to conduct nationwide remote sensing surveys of federal public land to identify growing areas and enable cost estimates to be developed for reclamation after concerns about cybersecurity, technology and domestic production are uncovered were “addressed,” the report concludes.

The report does not elaborate on these concerns, but the cybersecurity issues most likely concern the recent decision by the federal government to land hundreds of their China-made drones because of security risks. The committee also doesn’t explain the domestic production issues that need to be addressed, but it’s possible federal agencies want to find a way to distinguish legal cannabis growers licensed in California from illegal growers.

There may be hundreds of thousands of illegal cannabis farms across the United States, but a large percentage of the country’s black market is grown in Northern California. Despite the strength of the Golden State’s legal market, illegal cannabis production still far surpasses legal cultivation, supplying black market traders with more than 10 million tons of cannabis each year.

Many of these cultivations take place on federally owned woodland in the Emerald Triangle region of Northern California, one of the best climates in the country for cannabis production. However, these unlicensed crops rely largely on illegal pesticides to protect their crops, and the runoff of these toxic chemicals has poisoned local land, wildlife, and waterways.

Between 2014 and 2016, the U.S. Forest Service seized 2.6 million potted plants from state growers, and these raids are ongoing today. Unfortunately, forest services failed to properly clean many of these sites, and toxic pesticide residue continues to poison local plants and wildlife.

California law enforcement agencies have partnered with federal agencies and the National Guard to destroy these illegal crops. In a single week last May, Humboldt County police seized 30,000 illegal weed plants and over 8,000 pounds of processed grass, but that is only a tiny percentage of the total black market weed grown in the county.

Even if federal agencies approve their drone plan, recent reports have shown that persistent law enforcement efforts to contain black market growth have been largely ineffective, much like the war on drugs in general.