A booming industry is reviving communities and suffering growing pangs.
Marijuana
Posted inArticles
A new investigation reveals depth of skewed policing in Siskiyou County
A staggering percentage of stops by county deputies targeted Asian-American residents.
Posted inMay 1, 2022: New Ways of Seeing the West
Why is this California sheriff suddenly interested in ‘environmental crimes?’
Law enforcement takes center stage in Siskiyou County’s fight over who can, and can’t, use land and water.
Posted inArticles
How marijuana, legal and not, is reshaping the West
A 4/20 roundup of the industry’s trials, triumphs and political conundrums.
Posted inArticles
For cannabis farms, ecosystem science is scarce
An interview with an ecologist studying the West’s emerging, and rarely researched, industry.
Posted inNovember 1, 2021: The Radioactive Waste Next Door
Hmong Americans in Northern California fight wildfire — and distrust
Wary of local authorities, a community forms an ad-hoc firefighting force to defend its property.
Posted inArticles
A California county spars over water, marijuana law and race
Tasked to map an enigmatic aquifer for future water management, scientists confront political and scientific uncertainty.
Posted inArticles
Illegal marijuana grows are stealing from California’s scarce water
As drought grips the Golden State, water thefts have increased to record levels. The most common offender: illegal pot farms.
Posted inJune 1, 2021: Once and Future Fires
Cannabis has a carbon problem
The burgeoning marijuana industry gobbles up electricity.
Posted inMay 1, 2021: Beauty and Biodiversity in the Borderlands
Investigation: Illegal cannabis operation looks for roots in Indigenous communities
High Country News and Searchlight New Mexico confirmed that Dineh Benally, who set up illegal ventures on the Navajo Nation, attempts new operations in South Dakota.
Posted inDecember 1, 2020: A Community Divided
Elections in the West highlight divisions and diversity
Justice, power and environment: The 2020 elections were defined by grassroots organizing and deep partisanship.
Posted inArticles
How the West’s wildfires impact crops
Wine grape and cannabis growers try to assess the invisible damage of ash and smoke on their harvests.
Posted inMarch 1, 2020: Predator (Mis)perceptions
Psychedelics on a trip to Western ballots
Decriminalization campaigns follow a Denver ballot initiative to regulate shrooms that passed last year.
Posted inJuly 21, 2019: A Radical Return
Bankrupt bigly; coal’s demise; shoplifting job applicant
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Posted inArticles
A high alpine weed grower’s unusual harvest
Rob Trotter’s vision continues to deteriorate as he works on his marijuana farm in Gypsum, Colorado.
Posted inMay 28, 2018: The River of Lost Souls
Black women rewrite weed’s legacy in Los Angeles
Entrepreneurs find opportunity and community in what was once illegal.
Posted inMay 28, 2018: The River of Lost Souls
Why Compton said no to legal marijuana sales
The California city tries to move on from a painful history scarred by illegal drugs.
Posted inArticles
The Forest Service’s battle against illegal marijuana farms
Drug cartels on federal land pose enormous environmental and financial costs.
Posted inMay 15, 2017: Prison Town
Public banking goes to pot
California activists turn to the cannabis industry to help launch the nation’s first public bank in nearly a century.
Posted inArticles
Rural economies get high on legal cannabis
For some small Colorado communities, recreational marijuana is generating much-needed revenue.