illegal marijuana

Insecticides and other chemicals found at the sites threaten long-term damage to ecosystems. California law enforcement, ecologists and others are cracking down.

Marijuana is legal medically or recreationally in 34 states, but it's still illegal under federal law. And though many businesses have entered that new gray market, the financial services industry has not. No major U.S. banks will open accounts for a company like Canndescent or its retail clients.

The legalization of recreational marijuana in Washington state in 2012 resulted in a dramatic decrease in the number of people sentenced for marijuana-related felonies, according to an analysis conducted for public radio by the Washington State Caseload Forecast Council.

In Tacoma, police tactical squads staged coordinated raids on middle class homes converted into indoor pot farms. What the authorities found follows a recent pattern in West Coast states: all of the marijuana growers arrested were immigrants from China who spoke little or no English.

Recreational marijuana may be legal in Washington and Oregon, but police continue to bust illegal pot operations that aren’t licensed by the state.The…