Guidelines for peer review:


In addition to submitting your rough draft, we’ll also complete a peer review. Once the deadline is reached, Carmen will automatically pair students to complete the peer review. At noon on the day after the rough draft is due, Carmen will assign you a peer review. Utilize the editing tools provided to leave feedback directly in your  peer’s outline (you do not need to complete the rubric; this is for the instructors to complete). If your initial assignment is submitted after this date/time, you will not be assigned a peer review. Please reach out if this is the case so I can manually assign one or you will not be eligible for points for the peer review portion.
2.   To receive full credit for the peer review, you must include thorough and constructive feedback that addresses each of the following prompts in your peer review.

Purpose – Is the thesis statement clearly and succinctly communicated? Does the introduction convey the topic’s significance and appropriate background information?
Organization – Is the organization logical and quickly apparent? Consider reviewing for smooth transitions between paragraphs as well as strong topic sentences that convey the main idea of the
Content – Do the main arguments contain ideas that are well-developed AND that support the thesis? Are ideas mostly supported with scholarly evidence?
Counterarguments – Are the counterarguments logical with thoughtful responses included? Are the responses supported with evidence?
Provide one suggestion for helping your peer address their identified challenges or concerns. If your peer forgot to include their challenges/concerns, please discuss at least one area that you feel needs improved along with suggestions for how to improve.

What my partner did:

It’s a Plant, But is it Green? The Environmental
Impacts of Cannabis Cultivation
Kishan Patel
Cannabis in the United States has had a controversial history, one that has been
marked by various periods of legalization and criminalization. With its first use being as a
patent medicine in the 19th and 20th centuries, marijuana was soon restricted through the
passing of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937. This criminalization continued with the passing of
the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. This led to the prohibition of marijuana at the federal
level, a prohibition that still remains in effect today (Abazia & Bridgeman, 2017). However,
there have been instances of legalization of cannabis on the state level, with states such as
Delaware, Ohio, and Rhode Island all legalizing the possession of a certain amount of
marijuana for individuals 21 years of age or older (Bryan, 2024).
The growing legalization has led to a boom within the cannabis cultivation industry.
With 9 in 10 adults in the US saying that marijuana should be legal in at least some capacity,
marijuana is gaining popularity and credence as a drug, both in a medical and recreational
capacity (Schaeffer, 2024). However, with the massive production plants that cannabis
cultivation often entails, there can often be environmental impacts that come as a result of
this production. The production of marijuana has negative impacts on the environment, and
these impacts can only be mitigated by regulations on cannabis cultivation.
Marijuana’s production in and of itself is an intensely environmentally damaging
process. When grown outside, each plant of marijuana soaks up 22 liters of water each day
(Wiedis, 2020). When compared to other plants whose rate of water consumption is only half
of that, this figure is staggering. When looking at the level of consumption of marijuana
farms, indoor centers are even more severe in their levels of use. Indoor cannabis farms
employ the use of lighting 500 times more powerful than one used to light up a room.
Combining this with the fact that carbon dioxide concentration levels in indoor farms can be
almost four times as high as the normal levels, marijuana production proves to be an
environmental issue worth combatting (Weidis, 2020). Trying to find a figure for how many
indoor/outdoor plants exist in the US.
The damage that cannabis can do to water is also a point of concern when
navigating the environmental impacts. Marijuana can pollute watersheds, causing damage to
local wildlife. The pesticides cause these adverse effects to take place, seeping into the
watersheds and also causing damage to local fishers (Carah et al., 2015). Trying to beef this
up more, wondering what I can add to it in order to do so.
While the growing of cannabis can cause adverse effects to the environment and the
wildlife inhabiting it, signs point to the mitigation of these effects being possible. Experts say
that incentive efforts, and a portion of the revenue that comes in from legalized recreational
marijuana being set aside for environmental protection could help to reduce environmental
impacts. A figure from 2015 displays 58-108 million dollars being generated from the
California medical market, a figure that has most likely increased in the present day due to
the boom of cannabis all across the US (Carah et al. 2015). Although California is the point
of discussion when looking at the aforementioned revenue, it could be possible to apply this
principle of a certain amount of funds being set aside for environmental protection to other
states as well.
Proponents of legalized marijuana may attest to the fact that cannabis growth centers
are simply large operations, and that a large consumption of electricity is natural in these
facilities. In fact, a 5,000 square foot indoor cultivation center consuming 41,808 kilowatt
hours of electricity per month in Boulder County could possibly reaffirm the fact of electricity
consumption being necessary for proper cannabis cultivation (Durkay and Freeman, 2016).
However, it is possible for these cultivation sites to be environmentally conscious and
implement strategies to reduce their electricity consumption. For example, Solar Cannabis
Company saw a 60% drop in emissions and a 40% drop in energy consumption when they
began to use solar power to cultivate their cannabis (Hoffman and Fein, 2023). Solar
Cannabis Company's figures are a testament to the fact that more sustainable practices in
cannabis cultivation are possible, which could lead to a positive shift in the industry going
forward.
The cannabis market right now is hot: in response to many states pushing for
legalization of this drug, many companies have started to develop and grow the plant.
However, in this time of growth for cannabis, it becomes important to be cognizant of the
environmental impacts, and there will continue to be a push for the drug’s effects on the
environment being mitigated.
Reflection: I’d definitely say my conclusion feels rushed. I’m still trying to find a good way to
implement my counterarguments, but I plan on adding some more in my final version. I also
added a couple of personal notes in what I want to improve on, particularly in my argument
section.
References:
Bridgeman, Mary Barna, and Daniel T Abazia. “Medicinal Cannabis: History, Pharmacology,
and Implications for the Acute Care Setting.” P & T : A Peer-Reviewed Journal for Formulary
Management, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Mar. 2017,
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5312634/.
Bryan, Kate. “Cannabis Overview.” National Conference of State Legislatures, 9 Apr. 2024,
www.ncsl.org/civil-and-criminal-justice/cannabis-overview.
Carah, Jennifer K., et al. “High Time for Conservation: Adding the Environment to the Debate
on Marijuana Liberalization.” OUP Academic, Oxford Academic, 1 Aug. 2015,
academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/65/8/822/240374.
Durkay, Jocelyn, and Duranya Freeman. “Brief Electricity Use in Marijuana Production.”
National Conference of State Legislatures, 1 Aug. 2016,
www.ncsl.org/energy/electricity-use-in-marijuana-production.
Hoffman, Lee, and Liana Fein. “Putting the ‘Green’ in Renewable Energy at Cannabis Grow
Facilities.” Putting the “Green” in Renewable Energy at Cannabis Grow Facilities: Pullman &
Comley, 19 May 2023,
www.pullcom.com/newsroom-publications-Putting-the-Green-in-Renewable-Energy-at-Cann
abis-Grow-Facilities.
Schaeffer, Katherine. “9 Facts about Americans and Marijuana.” Pew Research Center, Pew
Research Center, 10 Apr. 2024,
www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/04/10/facts-about-marijuana/#:~:text=Half%20of%2
0U.S.%20adults%20(50.3,tobacco%20products%20or%20vaped%20nicotine.
Wiedis, Kahn. “High Time to Go Green: Environmental Impact of Marijuana Legalization.”
Environmental Law Commons, 27 Jan. 2020,
digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1433&context=elj.
Zheng, Zhonghua, et al. “A Narrative Review on Environmental Impacts of Cannabis
Cultivation.” BioMed Central, Journal of Cannabis Research, 6 Aug. 2021,

Which options fit this best:
Rough Draft
25 pts
Submitted a complete rough draft according to assignment instructions; rough draft meets length requirements for assignment.
15 pts
Submits an incomplete rough draft, yet most components of the final paper are present; rough draft does not meet length requirements for assignment.
5 pts
Multiple components missing; rough draft does not meet length requirements.
0 pts
No submission


Peer Review
10 pts
Submitted a complete peer review: 1) Rubric filled-out in its entirety; 2) Completely addresses peer’s specific challenges or concerns.
6 pts
Submitted an incomplete peer review: 1) Incomplete rubric; 2) Does not thoroughly address peer’s concerns.
3 pts
Multiple elements of peer review missing.
0 pts
No submission or any part of peer review is disrespectful or unprofessional.