Marijuana Eradication Raids Underway In 6 California Counties
The420TimesStaff | Jul 26, 2011 | Comments 11
Mendocino County, California officials have confirmed that a massive, 6-county marijuana eradication sweep is currently underway, aimed at clearing away the illegal cannabis cultivation in the Mendocino National Forest.
According to Michelle Gregory, a Department of Justice spokeswoman, the sweep has produced roughly 292,000 plants and 77 arrests as of yesterday. Numerous agencies are said to be participating in the raids, which started last week and which authorities were trying to keep secret.
“At this point, the operation is going as planned. We’re making very good progress,” said Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman, who was instrumental in organizing the operation.
“Good progress.” These grows only exist because of cannabis prohibition and the inflated price it causes for a naturally-growing plant on the black market. So the state enforces the prohibition that causes these illegal grows, then shells out taxpayer money to send highly-trained men swooping in with helicopters to chop down and burn plants.
An endless cycle of silliness that would be funny if it wasn’t costing so much money and wasting so many man-hours that could be used toward ridding society of violent crime.
Filed Under: Best Of The Best • Exclusive Web Content • The War On Drugs
This only goes to show that until the laws are changed at the federal level, nothing will ever change,
Trying to keep this a secret says a lot. That must’ve been a site to see. Coppers in choppers shining the spotlight down on a field of…….plants.
What a sad state of affairs…
“Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself; and where they are, they should be changed. Nowhere is this more clear than in the laws against possession of marihuana in private for personal use… Therefore, I support legislation amending Federal law to eliminate all Federal criminal penalties for the possession of up to one ounce of marihuana.”
- Jimmy Carter, U.S. President quote on Marijuana
http://bit.ly/qlgm7u
These grows only exist because of cannabis prohibition and the inflated price it causes for a naturally-growing plant on the black market. So the state enforces the prohibition that causes these illegal grows, then shells out taxpayer money to send highly-trained men swooping in with helicopters to chop down and burn plants.
An endless cycle of silliness that would be funny if it wasn’t costing so much money and wasting so many man-hours that could be used toward ridding society of violent crime.
Cannabis has been known as a medicine for at least 5,000 years and as a result of our federal governments infinate wisdom, has been said to have no medical value for 40 years. Do you suppose that they may be mistaken?
Listen up…..it’s ok to go and get these types of growers…..they grow way to much and screw it up for the little guy. It’s called greed. Stop crying about tax payer dollars to. We don’t want it to be legal we want it to stay the way it is. There are alot of people who are staying within the limits that there cards say and making a honest living at it, period Vote no next yr. Hundreds of thousands of plants come on people get you head out of your pocket.
”These grows only exist because of cannabis prohibition and the inflated price it causes for a naturally-growing plant on the black market. ”
Frankly, that’s a load of bs. You can make cannabis legal for the entire world, and there will still be people growing it wherever they shouldn’t be, simply for the fact that it’s cheaper than purchasing it from a dispensary or anywhere else. There’s a slanted point of view on every story, even coming from the people who are on your side for any given issue, never forget that.
clearing the grounds of all its indigenous plant life to grow mass amounts of a single species is just as bad for our planet, as criminalizing cannabis is for our society.
@James: Why would ppl be growing where they shouldn’t if they can grow legally in their own back yard?
What this article also seems to forget is that there are some seriously scary illegal growers up there in Northern California and you venture into the wrong areas and you will be shot! With our laws the way they have been constructed, there is no reason for these illegal grows and the sooner the state emliminates the illegal users and growers, the sooner the Federal Government will be out of our state.
We currently have more dispensaries in the state of California than we do Starbucks. We also have more than enough legal growers to supply them. Why allow the illegal ones out there mess it up for us who are not? We spent many years (all my life at 49) trying to make this happen…eliminate the ones who ignore our lifetime of work!
Sounds like little daddy is the greedy one. Some of you missed the point entirely. No one is advocating for criminals to be able to grow in national forests. The point is prohibition is the only reason these exist. We are wasting billions of dollars and valuable resources to eliminate a problem that could easily be eliminated by simply legalizing and regulating the industry nationwide. To advocate the continuation of this madness to protect your own little medical operation is the definition of selfishness and an endorsement for idiocy.
All canabis grown in the United States is illegal under federal law.What makes those guys different is they grow on public lands and like one person already mentioned those growers can be dangerous.
If it was legal to grow across the board I do not think anyone will be using public lands to grow on.
And daddy,its ok to get these guys you’re right but not for your reasoning.
And we want it to be legal because those of us who do are not concerned with profit for the big guys or the little guys but to keep families from being torn apart and lives ruined because of a pretty harmless plant overall.