Smoking Weed Is Really Bad For The Environment

Marijuana, hue notwithstanding, is not exactly new school green. In fact, it’s the worst drug for the environment. Marijuana growers use $US5 billion worth of electricity to power lightbulbs, fans, dehumidifiers and whatever else it takes to grow weed. That’s 1 per cent of the national electricity consumption.

Not only that, smoking a joint is worth 1kg of carbon dioxide emissions. Who knew getting high could have such environmental consequences! We’ll ignore the fact that if it was legal, growers could grow out in the open and not damage the environment with energy consumption. Thanks lawmakers. As for the other drugs: Cocaine powers the deforestation of rain forests, as farmers chop down trees to grow the coca. Also, according to National Geographic:

Farmers also use a number of harmful insecticides, fungicides and fertilisers to grow the [coca]plants. Petroleum products are also a key ingredient in the process of turning coca into cocaine. To extract the drug from the plant, farmers mash coca leaves and soak the paste in petroleum products such as gasoline or kerosene. According to the US State Department, as many as 85 quarts (80 litres) of kerosene are used to manufacture every kilogram of cocaine that makes its way to the street market.

Making meth uses energy, along with toxic ingredients like drain cleaner, lye, camping stove fuel and more. According to the EPA, the production of a half a kilo of methamphetamine creates 2-3kg of toxic waste. Extracting heroin requires toxic substances like ammonia, acetone, hydrochloric acid, etc, that often ruins the environment the process takes place in.

Basically, any illegal drug you take to gets high, takes a toll on Mother Earth too. Think about the planet the next time. Or just eat shrooms. [National Geographic]

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