(NPR) Retired Humboldt County Sheriff’s Lt. Steve Cobine says cultivating cannabis is now a big business in state forests and private timberlands.
This year, CAMP hauled in 4.5 million plants from around California. But Cobine admits that’s a tiny percentage of what’s really out there.
“We’re just keeping a lid on it so it doesn’t go crazy,” Cobine says.
Instead of burning the confiscated plants like they used to do, Sheriff’s Sgt. Wayne Hanson says they bury them in undisclosed locations.
“Basically, [a] marijuana plant’s 90 percent water,” he says. “So we dig a hole 10 feet down, throw a bunch of soil on it, and it’s basically destroyed then, just by the compression of the earth.”
As they haul off a truckload of confiscated plants, Hanson makes a somewhat surprising admission.
“Part of me wants marijuana legalized,” he says, “’cause it would take away the wealth and the greed and the violence.”
But he says it would have to be legalized in all of the U.S., not just California. “Cause if it gets legalized in California, you’d have all the riffraff coming to California to make money to sell to the other 49 states,” he says.
We’re all for that solution, Sheriff Hanson! However, you and I both know that prohibition of cannabis took over this country state-by-state and was illegal in all 48 states before the feds ever got around to it. Ending prohibition will have to happen the same way; some state will have to do it first, and California’s part of the way there already. When California relegalizes cannabis and the nearby states see the windfall, they will relegalize soon after (at least Oregon!) During that interim period, sure, there are likely to be carpetbaggers rushing in to help fulfill marijuana demand in other states, but that just means American marijuana money going to legal growers in California instead of lining the pockets of mexican drug gangs.
Every cop wants prohibition to last at least until he retires. REAL police work is hard and no one really wants to do it, so for all those people who think that the police will concentrate on real crime after prohibition, forget it. All we will see is a bunch of lazy incompetent uncaring thugs looking desperately for work that makes them appear competent without too much effort.
That’s all very true and I’m no less sick of it than you are, or anyone else is: GRRRRRR!!! (See?)
To understand one of the most important obstacles to freeing God’s gift, you’ve got to see something from their point of view: cannabis has become an invaluable tool for the police to get dangerous people out of harm’s way. They know who the good guys and who the bad guys are and sometimes they just can’t get anything on a bad guy who they really do know is really, really bad. Being able to use cannabis gives them the edge they need in so many aspects of their work that I would be surprised to find any police officer who could imagine doing his job without this invaluable tool. Asking them to learn to work without cannabis, for them, must be like asking them to work without their guns. It’s just a move of the goalposts too far.
Then what do we do with all the rapists and murderers and other undesirables who were put away for cannabis infractions just because the police couldn’t prove the murder or the rape, although they knew it was one of many, and gave up, resorting to cannabis in the hope that the convicted dies in prison. Unfortunately, they don’t all die there and a lot of them will come back mad as hell if Uncle Sam suddenly says, ‘Gee, I’m sorry. I really thought it was bad. You can come out now and go back to your loving family who couldn’t wait for you to be put away.’
Humboldt County cannabis has got to be some of the finest in the country. I don’t consume now, for fear of job loss and prison however, in 1985 I was fortunate enough to get an ounce of Humboldts finest. Oh, the memories.
All these cops do is drive the prices up, bring more criminals into the mix, its then worth fighting and killing over. These bone heads need to relize if they hadnt torn out millons of plants this year, the harvest would flood the pot market and we all would be smoking $50oz’s.
So, the profit would be gone, the cartels would be starved for cash, they wouldnt be able to pay their thugs and soon there would be no cartels left. Americans could take over the market regulating any retail sales and leaving the rest of us alone. States could save half on there police and prison budgets or re apply that cash to solve murder, rape and violent crimes, we all would be happy about that.
They are the ones causing this whole problem, but they all know this already dont they. So the Drug War cycle goes on and on, keeping their jobs safe and our country in continued state of War, against its own citizens!
Im getting real sick of all this, GGGGGGGRRRRRR!
They will simply have to do it. The Mexican border will seem irrelevant compared to the Pot that would be smuggled from CA to the other states. I just don’t see them putting up fences and checkpoints between interstate boarders. Medical Marijuana is fairly Manageable but once you go legal beagle and Joe schmo who grows at home can drive 5 miles to the state line, it’s all done.
Even a prohibitionist can support a more sensible marijuana policy. You can concentrate on prohibiting things which have a much greater potential for misuse. Here’s how.
Legalize cannabis use the immense savings to prevent diversion to children AND to do anti-drug education for *real* narcotics like coke, heroin, and meth.
All done!
Well Sheriff Hanson with the prison Guards and Law Enforcement in SEIU I believe you all ready have the riffraff Market cornered.
“Mischief springs from the power which the monied interest derives from a paper currency which they are able to control, and from the multitude of corporations with exclusive privilege. . .which are employed for their benefit.” – President Andrew Jackson…