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When most people think about a controversy surrounding marijuana, they think about medicinal uses or outright legalization. But there’s also an environmental controversy. Would you be surprised to learn that indoor cannabis production is responsible for about 3% of all electricity use in the state of California? When you consider that a single industrial grow light uses about the same amount of electricity as 28 refrigerators, it starts to make sense.
Our first guest this week on Sea Change Radio is Scott Zeramby, a contributor to a recent study that documents the energy consumption associated with indoor cannabis growing. Mr. Zeramby discusses the forces responsible for the shift to indoor growing, and how the study makes a case to oppose this trend and instead let the grass grow where it’s greenest — outside.
After this high-minded discussion, host Alex Wise speaks with filmmaker Shaka King, whose debut feature film “Newlyweeds” depicts one young man’s complex relationship with marijuana. They talk about the problems that arise when you combine policies that criminalize cannabis and practices that unfairly target communities of color.
