The number of illegal marijuana farms on federal lands in California is down slightly in 2018. But the farmers are using more dangerous chemicals and using them in larger quantities than before. That’s according to researcher Mourad Gabriel of the Integral Ecology Research Center, which tracks illegal marijuana farming.
Gabriel said illegal carbofuran and other banned pesticides were found at 9-out-of-10 grow sites raided in California in 2018. That’s a 75 percent increase over last year and six times as high as in 2012.
