Illegal marijuana growing presents a threat to the environment, according to a leading police administrators' organization.
The chief's association highlighted the impact that operations can have on the environment, stating that growing operations have been found in 67 national forests in 20 states.Cultivators in large-scale operations have used banned pesticides on their illegal fields, eroded soil, diverted and polluted water supplies and left behind waste that authorities are forced to clean up, the association said.The diversion of water and chemical pollution to support the fields has led to the killing of wildlife and has damaged ecosystems, the association stated.