Ask a Stoner: Does Wildfire Smoke Impact Colorado Cannabis?

Dear Stoner: How much will wildfire smoke impact Colorado weed? This is becoming a yearly occurrence, and I’m starting to wonder about worker safety and quality.
Bobby D

Dear Bobby: Whether fires are burning in Colorado or elsewhere, seasonal summer smoke has been drifting above us for a while. A week of shitty air from fires in Canada shouldn’t do too much damage to outdoor cannabis plants, but long-term concerns remain. Although Colorado had a wet spring this year, blazes have run rampant through the state before, and they routinely put outdoor grows at risk of burning, evacuation and contamination.

In California, where fire threats are stronger, researchers with the University of California, Berkeley discovered that licensed outdoor cultivations face unique fire-safety challenges because they struggle to attain crop insurance and can only operate in certain towns and counties, concentrating them in areas that could be at higher risk for burns and smoke exposure. Colorado growers face the same issues, and smoke can always stress, kill or contaminate cannabis. However, surprise hail and fall snowstorms have done more notable damage to outdoor grows in Colorado since legalization occurred.

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