California State Parks, with the help of helicopters, airlifted 6,000 pounds of trash from illegal cannabis grows across four state parks throughout May as part of an ongoing cleanup project, according to a news release.
The waste removal was the last stage in eradicating illegal cannabis grows in Henry W. Coe, Cuyamaca Rancho, Topanga and Malibu Creek state parks. The most recent site, in Henry W. Coe State Park, was raided by law enforcement in 2020. More than 12,000 cannabis plants were removed from the four sites. State Parks has identified more than 400 illegal cannabis cultivation sites on park land and has so far removed 84 sites, according to Johnson. The agency said that illegal cannabis cultivation can lead to the introduction of toxic pesticide chemicals and invasive species.
Proposition 64, which legalized California’s recreational use of cannabis in 2016, required part of cannabis tax revenue to fund the restoration of public land that was affected by illegal cannabis cultivation. State Parks spent about $75,000 of those cannabis tax funds conducting the spring cleanup operation.
