The Red Cross brought a faucet filter and a case of water to our door, but that’s a temporary solution for a long-term situation. In an effort to minimize the human cost and ease the minds of medical marijuana patients in the city and surrounding area, HIGH TIMES looked at the potential effect the water crisis may have on marijuana plants grown in the city and used medicinally by the state’s most ill and injured people.
Cannabis-based businesses and organizations are giving away water for people, water for plants, food for the homeless and hope for the future. In short, there are not as many production houses in the city as one might imagine; therefore, the amount of medical marijuana grown in the water crisis area is limited in scope.
Those plants being grown with the tainted water are certainly contaminated, says Michigan State University professor of plant biology, Frank Telewski. Lead can leech into the water supply through natural processes.When the city began using water from the Flint River, the corrosive nature of the water turned the particulate lead into a soluble substance – and lead in solution is easily taken up by plant roots and body organs. The solution is not to use the water – or, more commonly, to fix the water before it is given to the plants.
“Most gardeners with experience are using R.O. water in their gardens,” offers Steve Greene, host of The Full Melt radio show and a cultivator from the region, “So their plants are not exposed to any toxins.” The Reverse Osmosis process removes lead, particulates and other chemicals from the base water supply.
Even those growers without R.O. systems can still get the water for free.
Many local hydroponics and indoor gardening supply stores are offering the purified water for free, including Clio Cultivation. Buddy Dalton says he’s been offering R.O. water for some time, but recently the demand has jumped.
“We are giving away 50 to 150 gallons of R.O. water a day,” he says.
He’s expanding his advocacy to include free purified drinking water and offering R.O. systems at big discounts to locals who need an affordable way to protect themselves from the crisis. Local attorney Bruce Leach and the MI Legalize Board are sponsoring an event combining a water drive, a spaghetti dinner for the homeless and distressed, a signature drive to end prohibition and a fundraiser in support of the cause.
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1 comment
You mean EFFECT on the post’s title.