Obernolte introduces amendment to address illegal marijuana grows

U.S. Congressman Jay Obernolte (R-Hesperia) proposed an amendment this week to reassign $25 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Justice to the Drug Enforcement Agency to combat large-scale illegal marijuana grows taking hold throughout rural Southern California. The amendment was approved for consideration by the House Rules Committee as part of the Fiscal Year 2022 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill following convincing testimony from Rep. Obernolte to shed light on the issue.

WATCH REP. OBERNOLTE’S TESTIMONY FOR HOUSE RULES COMMITTEE

REP. OBERNOLTE: “This is an enormous issue for my district, and to be clear, we’re not talking about a few people growing plants in their backyard. These are hundreds of acres with hundreds of thousands of plants… The majority of the workers at these grows are trafficked across the border… They are working with stolen water – we estimate that about 3 million gallons a day of water is stolen to operate these grows just in the state of California. They’re stealing megawatts of power. They’re also using banned pesticides that are legal nowhere in California, and nowhere in the United States… This is a catastrophe for everyone involved, including folks who are trying to follow the law and pursue legal marijuana cultivation.”

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department currently has around 1,000 potential large-scale illegal marijuana grow sites under investigation, with the number of illegal grow operations in Southern California increasing in some areas by over 300 percent since 2019. These grows pose serious risks to both public safety and the environment, with subjects intimidating residents, shooting at law enforcement, impeding access to areas, using dangerous banned chemicals, and stealing precious water resources. Illegal marijuana grows currently consume between 11.4 and 36.3 million liters of water daily across California.