Oregon to crack down on illegal pot growers by holding landowners responsible

By ANDREW SELSKY
Associated Press

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon has long been known as a mecca for high-quality marijuana, but that reputation has come with a downside. Illegal growers offer huge amounts of cash to lease or buy land and then leave behind pollution, garbage and a drained water table. A bill passed by the Oregon Legislature seeks to tackle that by making the landowners themselves responsible for the aftermath. The bill prohibits using rivers or groundwater at the illegal sites. It also makes it a crime to seize the identity papers of migrant workers who tend the plants. Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek is expected to sign it next week.