PROFILE

Hekia Bodwitch
Researcher
Postdoctoral Fellow
Ocean Nexus Center and Dalhousie University
portrait photograph
Broadly, Hekia studies environmental justice, governance and Indigenous rights. With Berkeley's Cannabis Research Center, she explores environmental impacts and policy barriers of cannabis agriculture and production.
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Publications

After legalization: Cannabis, environmental compliance, and agricultural futures

2023

Polson, M., Bodwitch, H., Biber, E., Butsic, V., Grantham, T.

ScienceDirect

There are many barriers to participation in California's regulated cannabis industry. Is there a way to achieve environmental objectives, farmer compliance, and an equitable transition away from illegal markets?

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Photo of poisonous baits, an example of how cannabis production impacts the environment.

Cannabis and the Environment: What Science Tells Us and What We Still Need to Know

2021

Wartenberg, A. C., Holden, P. A., Bodwitch, H., Parker-Shames, P., Novotny, T., Harmon, T. C., & Butsic, V.

Environmental Science & Technology Letters

Explore environmental impacts of cannabis production and how evidence-based policy can reduce harms.

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Photo of cannabis plants in an indoor farm greenhouse being cut by an inspector due to non-compliance with regulation.

Why comply? Farmer motivations and barriers in cannabis agriculture

2021

Bodwitch, H., Polson , M., Biber, E., Hickey, G. M., Butsic, V.

Journal of Rural Studies

Despite legalization, illicit cannabis production continues in California. Surveys reveal that small farmers face outsized burdens to compliance.

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outdoor grow within hillside forest

Shifting geographies of legal cannabis production in California

2021

Dillis, C., Biber, E., Bodwitch, H., Butsic, V., Carah, J., Parker-Shames, P., Polson, M. and Grantham, T.

Land Use Policy

How has legalization shaped patterns of farm location, size, land ownership, and regulatory compliance in California?

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Photographed graffiti wall painting of police detaining a person associated with Cannabis.

Prohibited commoning: Cannabis and emancipatory legalization

2021

Polsen, M. and Bodwitch, H.

Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene

Should collective systems of resource sharing developed under cannabis prohibition be explicitly addressed via legalization, policy, and programs?

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Macro-scale photograph of cannabis plant with webs of spider mites, a common pest.

First known survey of cannabis production practices

2019

Wilson, H., Bodwitch, H., Carah, J., Daane, K., Getz C., Grantham, T. E., & Butsic, V.

California Agriculture

Cannabis legalization opens opportunities to study and share best practices. Our survey of growers reveals starting points.

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Photo of cannabis plants growing outdoors in individual planters with irrigation and a forested background

Growers say cannabis legalization excludes small growers, supports illicit markets, undermines local economies

2019

Bodwitch, H., Carah, J., Daane, K. M., Getz C., Grantham, T. E., Hickey, G. M., & Wilson, H.

California Agriculture

Small cannabis farms are common. Permit licenses are not. A survey of grower incentives and economic implications of California's cannabis legalization.

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