The Way For California To Solve Its Wildfire Problem? Start More Fires
Experts say that although starting deliberate fires to clear the forest of dead plants and underbrush is dangerous, the benefits outweigh the risks.
Los Angeles Times:
Here’s How California Can Use Fire To Solve Its Wildfire Problem
If California wants to get out in front of its wildfire problem, scientists have some clear but counterintuitive advice: Start more forest fires. Decades of research shows that lighting fires under safe conditions not only clears out the dead plants and thick underbrush that fuel many severe wildfires, it also restores a natural process that once kept forests healthy and resilient. (Rosen, 12/20)
In other public health news —
Los Angeles Times:
Voters Have High Tolerance For Politicians Who Lie, Even Those Caught Doing It
In a modern democracy, peddling conspiracies for political advantage is perhaps not so different from seeding an epidemic. If a virus is to gain a foothold with the electorate, it will need a population of likely believers (“susceptibles” in public-health speak), a germ nimble enough to infect new hosts easily (an irresistible tall tale), and an eager “Amen choir” (also known as “super-spreaders”). Unleashed on the body politic, a falsehood may spread across the social networks that supply us with information. Facebook is a doorknob slathered in germs, Twitter a sneezing coworker, and Instagram a child returning home after a day at school, ensuring the exposure of all. (Healy, 12/20)
PolitiFact California:
Pot 101 Update: What Are The Laws Surrounding Second-Hand Marijuana Smoke?
As mentioned in our January article, the rules regarding smoking within your residence are different for owners and renters. If you are renting, your landlord can restrict the use of cannabis in or around the property, or completely prohibit it, under Proposition 64. (Soto, 12/20)