Revenue at Stake, California Steps Up Fight Against Bootleg Weed

California, the nation’s largest cannabis market, is turning to year-round enforcement of illegal growing operations that are cutting into legal operators’ profits and state tax revenues, the state said Tuesday.

The unlicensed growers use banned pesticides, illegally divert water in a parched state, and employ slave-like conditions for the undocumented workers tending the operations in the rugged, far reaches of the Golden State, state and federal authorities contend. Legal California cannabis cannot contain pesticides, so the lower-cost, higher-toxicity weed harms consumers, workers, and the environment while stiffing the state and undermining growers who came above ground once the state legalized ...