The Secret Kept by Medical Marajuana Investors: The environmental cost of a high-maintenance crop

Investors in Rhode Island and Massachusetts are willing to spend millions on medical marijuana operations and disregard the environmental impact. “A lot is happening now in the cannabis industry, but not a lot of investors are looking at a sustainable approach. They are mostly looking at their return on investment,” Paul Dean, a consultant to cannabis farmers, told Motif. This is a highly problematic approach because growing medical marijuana has the potential to do far more environmental damage than growing industrial hemp or CBD hemp.

By growing male and female cannabis plants without THC, hemp farmers can produce a crop that does not use a large amount of pesticides, especially compared to another crop used for fiber production: cotton. Dr. James Kotcon, a hemp researcher and plant pathology professor at the University of West Virginia, told Motif, “In the Eastern US there is fairly consistent rainfall, so for regular outdoor hemp production, it’s often not needed to add irrigation and artificial light.” If it requires few to no pesticides, no irrigation and no artificial light, industrial hemp could be considered a crop with a low environmental impact. 

Motif also looked into the specifics of Rhode Island’s climate. According to hempbasics.com, hemp needs 20 to 30 inches of rainfall during its 3- to 4-month-long growing period; although it has “fairly consistent rainfall,” Rhode Island averages between 3.5 to 4.5 inches of precipitation a month which means roughly 14 to 18 inches during the growing season. Based on our research, it seems some hemp farmers might have to irrigate their fields in Rhode Island, an environmental drawback because it alters the hydrological landscape. 

There are basically two main environmental drawbacks to hemp: the potential for overfertilization and smog. “If the field is overfertilized, there can be nutrient-runoff. That’s why it’s important to have good nutrient management and not to over apply fertilizer,” says Dr. Kotcon. As with any crop, there is a potential for nutrient-runoff due to bad farming practices. This can lead to dirty waterways, such a polluted bay and even, though much rarer, contaminated drinking water. 

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)with a distinct and often objectionable odor are released into the air when hemp is grown. According to Dr. Kotcon, “Hemp gives off volatile organic compounds. When volatile organic compounds mix with nitrous oxide [which can be found in the gas a car emits] and sunlight, this creates ozone. Ozone in the lower atmosphere can cause breathing problems and is commonly known as smog.” Much like the potential for overfertilization, the impact of VOCs can be mitigated by good farming practices, specifically having a field that’s not near a highway or traffic. 

Not to be neglected from the VOC’s environmental impact are the nearby animals, that is the hemp farms’ homo sapien sapien neighbors who can’t stand the smell. According to newportri.com, after former Republican State Senator Dawson Hodgson started a 65-acre CBD hemp farm in North Kingston, neighbors complained about the smell and 100 North Kingston and Exeter residents signed a petition that requested more regulations on hemp. When explaining to Motif why it might be preferable to steer away from doing hemp research, URI Plant Science and Entomology Professor Nathaniel Mitkowski said, ”The issue with cannabis is that it stinks. In California, there are many hemp fields, but the smell from it is so aggressive in some neighborhoods that people don’t leave the house without wearing a mask.” 

However, at the end of the day, though VOCs might seem scary and sticky, they’re actually quite common so it’s not a huge point against hemp’s eco-friendliness score. “The volatile organic compounds given off are often fewer than that of say a paint plant. Even a local bakery gives off volatile organic compounds. It’s the nice smell of baking bread when you walk by. VOCs are a problem and have to be carefully watched,” says Dr. Kotcon. 

The second major type of cannabis that is popular to grow is CBD hemp, which takes more care than regular hemp and more of a toll on the environment. Unlike regular hemp, CBD hemp is usually irrigated, but can be grown outside without artificial light. “It must be fertilized and the more successful plants are irrigated,” says Dr. Kotcon. Without irrigation (that is, just relying on rain), the growth of CBD hemp, in Dr. Kotcon’s experience, “has been pretty stunted.” Irrigation is an issue because it is essentially taking water from somewhere such as a well, a nearby stream, or another water supply. In Rhode Island, drought is not an issue; however, in places that experience drought, such as Florida, channelling water into CBD hemp is even more of an issue. 

Because it involves strictly the female plant, CBD hemp is harvested by hand and its male plant must be removed by hand; though hand-harvesting is in no way bad for the environment, it can be more costly and time-consuming, which brings about a major question. Is CBD hemp a viable crop or is it a waste? The answer is it’s probably a waste to produce an excess of CBD hemp. 

CBD hemp in the past few years has received buzz. It can be used for lotions with supposedly healing qualities and for those older than 21, it can be smoked without getting you THC high (it has only a negligible amount of THC). Because farmers jumped on what seemed like the CBD boom, CBD hemp has been planted at an increasing rate in the past few years. According to the RI Department of Business Regulation, there are 14 facilities licensed to handle or grow hemp. At least four of these facilities deal with CBD hemp. Looking to cash in on the so-called boom, Dawson Hodgson, in North Kingston, was excited to be the first to grow CBD hemp in RI in over a half century ago as reported by The Providence Journal in 2019. 

According to Dr. Kotcon, “CBD hemp is usually costly and a good crop. However, due to recent overproduction, the price of CBD hemp has gone down and some farmers are having trouble selling their plants.” In addition to VOC issues and costly irrigation and labor, CBD hemp might be a huge disservice to the environment and to the farmer’s wallet if it simply ends up in the trash. 

The third major type of cannabis that is popular to grow is THC, which is used for medical marijuana in the state of Rhode Island, and in most cases, involves artificial light, cooling, air filtration, irrigation and greenhouse emissions. This is a high-maintenance crop with a high environmental cost. According to Dr. Nathaniel Mitkowski, “This is one of the most input intensive crops… Also, you often have to extract the chemicals from the crop. This is done through a butane process or CO2 process. Again this is energy intensive.” One source told Motif that it’s been joked, “Medical cannabis growers are National Grid’s number one customer.” 

Growing medical marajuana is often done in facilities with no sunlight and uses, according to the National Conference of State Legislators, light that is 500 times stronger than a reading light. Also according to the National Conference of State Legislators, indoor grow facilities have fans whose rate of air change is 60 times greater than that of an ordinary house fan; coupled with intense air-conditioning, indoor growing facilities use a staggering amount of energy and leave behind a big carbon footprint. Putting things on a local scale, the average Rhode Island home uses less than 1, 000 kilowatt hours per month, but the average 5,000 square-foot indoor grow facility in Boulder County Colorado, according to the NCSL, uses over 40,000 kilowatt hours per month. 

As stated in a study done by Evan Mills for the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in 2012, the cannabis industry uses 20 TW/h/year nationally in energy, which is enough to power 2 million average US homes and costs 6 billion dollars. According to the same study, the industry also releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere that is equivalent to that of 3 million average US cars, which makes medical and recreational cannabis a monster carbon-emitter and an energy-eater in general and compared to indoor grow operations for other crops. 

According to Paul Dean, a cannabis farm consultant in New England, investors and growers in the area are naive to the process and right now, “New England feels like an open book.” By this, he means there is less legislation and regulations around marijauna production, but he thinks in the future, it’ll be more of a “clean room type of situation.” Picture a regulated process with each facility being certified according to renewable energy laws and final products with labels explaining their energy-use and carbon footprint. 

Dean told Motif about a step forward in the industry that was made by the town of Uxbridge, Massachusetts. For one facility in Uxbridge (due to the town’s ordinances), Dean helped install an underground process system. The soil runoff from the grow house was cleaned through filters and UV lights, thus removing all nitrogen and phosphorus from the water. The water was then put into balance before it was dumped in the town’s sewage system. 

Dean, like the town officials of Uxbridge, believes filtration is crucial for the health of the town and the environment. “Often towns will allow the runoff to be disposed of in the sewage system but NEVER where the rainwater is collected. This  is a huge problem. By having runoff in the sewage system, the enzymes in the water can be offset,” he says. This, he believes, takes and will take its toll on the town’s own filtering and may allow unwanted particles to remain in the water, especially particles that are too small to filter. Ultimately, this may cause water contamination. “For every client I deal with, I try to make them aware of this in case it becomes a standard later on,” he says.

He recommends his clients first filter the water before dumping it, but often his words are in vain. “Now, it’s multiple investors that invest in one plan. Each project is at least a 16 to 20 million dollar investment,” Dean says of the farms and plans he gives consultations to and these investor super-packs share a financial interest and often money is their top concern. 

Dean is also behind construction of one of the few outdoor grow facilities in New England. It will use a “loop greenhouse” (which is like a greenhouse with no walls), is far from traffic, and requires no artificial lighting. It will, however, need irrigation. Indeed, good outdoor practices reduce the carbon footprint of medical marajuana and according to the same study by Mills can yield plants as potent as plants grown indoors. However, Mills’ study warns that bad outdoor growing practices can lead to deforestation, compromised ecosystems, and unwanted waste. 

Medical cannabis can become more sustainable if Rhode Islanders advocate for legislation that regulates growing practices. For instance, the NCSL cites a code passed in Colorado which prohibits altering grow facilities to increase energy usage without getting official approval. This type of legal actions along with requirements to monitor soil and prevent runoff, filter runoff from water, use renewable energy and labels of a product’s carbon footprint could make big investors more conscientious. 

If not, perhaps, legislation could affect their wallet. According to Mills’ study, if the cost of energy is driven up and medical marijuana becomes more affordable, it will be unprofitable for growers to not use renewable energy.  Though the environmental impact of one’s medicine might not be a top priority for a cancer patient, it is concerning to the public. Educating themselves on the growing process, citizens can vote and advocate for more sustainable practices and stop irresponsible investors from exploiting the environment.