GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — On a sunny spring day in Southern Oregon’s Illinois Valley, co-owner of East Fork Cultivars Mason Walker is showing off rows of neatly planted marijuana. On their farm, Walker and a team grow one acre of marijuana and nine acres of USDA organic hemp, which is processed for CBD. Both Walker and the farm’s co-founder Aaron Howard, as well as public officials, told Jefferson Public Radio that they’ve noticed a rapid increase of marijuana grown in the area in 2021, including pot grown illegally. Lawmakers in Salem are taking up the issue and on Friday discussed a bill to increase law enforcement to bust illegal cannabis grows.
Cannabis boom creates fears of increasing illicit trade
