Why Illegal Weed Is Booming In California

KQED's Forum

KQED

News Commentary, News, Politics

4.2 • 727 Ratings

🗓️ 13 September 2022

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

California legalized recreational cannabis in 2016 promising to create the “largest legal weed market in the world,” according to a recent story in the Los Angeles Times. Legalization promised to generate millions of new tax dollars and lure marijuana farmers and sellers away from the black market. That didn’t happen as planned. Instead, illegal cannabis farming has exploded. We’ll dig into the L.A. Times investigation that examines the violence, deaths, and environmental damage from the illegal grows and why the law legalizing pot has fallen so short. Guests: Paige St. John, investigative reporter, Los Angeles Times; author of the recent article, "The reality of legal weed in California: Huge illegal grows, violence, worker exploitation and deaths" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:00.0	Support for Forum comes from Rancho La Puerta, a wellness resort on 4,000 acres in the mountains of Baja, California, just 45 minutes from San Diego.
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0:23.3	first-time guests. Learn more at Rancho LePuerta.com. Support for Forum comes from Broadway
0:29.4	SF, presenting Parade, the musical revival based on a true story. From three-time Tony-winning composer
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0:46.6	of an unspeakable crime, it propels them into an unimaginable test of faith, humanity, justice,
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1:08.3	From KQED.
1:09.8	Thank you. From KQED. From KQED. From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Alexis Madrigal.
1:24.4	If you just skim the headlines around cannabis in California, you could be forgiven for being well and truly confused.
1:31.7	We have the largest legal weed market in the world, and huge illegal grows are popping up all over the state, wreaking havoc on rural communities.
1:40.5	Wasn't Prop 64, which legalized marijuana in California, supposed to help solve these problems?
1:46.3	Why then is illicit marijuana booming?
1:48.7	A new LA Times investigation by Page St. John dives deep, deep into the problems that face California's weed market.
1:56.3	Legalization, as it turned out, was not a silver bullet, but now what?
2:00.2	Stay tuned for a major update on the good
2:02.0	bad and ugly of cannabis in california welcome to forum i'm alexis madrigal
2:15.2	california has the largest legal cannabis market in the world.
	...

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