No, world editing it isn't an option, sorry.
I'm not sure why torches/water doesn't work anymore, I guess burning them or lava doesn't work either. Using slabs would probably take almost as much time as destroying the cactus itself (but you can mine them afterwards so you don't lose them), with an efficiency shovel or such the cacti could probably be destroyed even faster. You could also use sand, because shoveling it can be done pretty fast.