There's a lot of discussion on this topic lately. You make some good points SoCo, and I think the discussion is relevant as the country moves forward to end cannabis prohibition. However, I also think many of these issues stemming from large scale outdoor gorilla grows and indoor grows will disappear once it's regulated and available for the average person to cultivate out in the garden. When the criminals are pushed out of this industry we might even be able to hike in our national forests again without running into shady cartel growers.
Here's what bothers me. Nobody ever talks about how much of a resource hog our lawns are.
Lawns are the largest irrigated crop in the U.S., using approx. 50% of our residential fresh water resources. Lawn care uses over 3 million tons of fertilizer annually. Something like 3 million dollars is spent annually on lawn care pesticides. I'm betting our honey bees would like the pesticide use to be reduced, I know I would. About a billion gallons of gas are burned annually to mow these lawns with approx. 20 million gallons spilled in the process of refilling mowers.
If people were really concerned about the environment then I would think there would be a push to replace lawns with sustainable gardens. The same people who are pissing and moaning about the affects of the cannabis industry will go out and mow their lawns this week and next week...etc. without once thinking of how it affects the environment. I'm trying to do my part in this area by setting up our property to run goats and in our immediate yard area I will move from a lawn tractor to a reel mower. I admit that I'm guilty of using a lot of fuel for mowing right now, but that will change as I get things under control. I don't water the lawn except when I put out seed, and I never use pesticides or herbicides that could damage the environment.