Cannabis agriculture is of increasing interest not just because of the economics, but in large part because of the effects from unregulated production, which is exacting a toll on some places where it is grown, like in California.
An article was written in the Ithaca Times based on a research study conducted by two professors who were trying to measure the impacts of the rising number of cannabis ‘farms’ in Northern California. In addition to the significant impact on forest ecosystems and threatened fish and other animal species, rats were found dead in the vicinity of these farms because apparently, they like cannabis and well, the farmers had no choice but to poison them. The two go on to suggest that a lack of research on cannabis agricultural practice is strongly tied to the federally illegal status of cannabis as a Schedule I drug and this restriction is having ramifications not just for the environment, but also social systems, such as land tenure and demographics. The Ithaca Times article is here: http://www.ithaca.com/news/ithaca/weed-ecology/article_6e180426-c227-11e6-80c1-1bf2bf48d9d7.html and the research article is open access and can be viewed/downloaded for free here: http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/11/4/044023 Steve
