California congressmen aim to boost fight against illegal pesticide use for unregulated cannabis grows

California members of Congress Scott Peters, a Democrat, and Doug LaMalfa, a Republican, on Monday introduced a bill called the Targeting and Offsetting Existing Illegal Contaminants (TOXIC) Act to combat use of illegal and toxic pesticides by unregulated cannabis growers in the U.S. The measure would authorize $250 million over five years for the U.S. Forest Service to use Superfund toxic waste remediation authorities to address environmental damage on federal lands from banned pesticides. It would also raise criminal penalties for using banned pesticides in illegal cannabis cultivation to a maximum of 20 years in federal prison and $250,000 in fines. Peters and LaMalfa said the pesticides pose a health risk both to cannabis consumers as well as U.S. Forest Service agents who remove illegal crops.