Tighten the border, turn loose the national forests

U.S. NEWS: "Pot 'Plantations' on the Rise: Border Crackdown Makes Farming in U.S. Forests Attractive; Cartel Links Suspected," by Stephanie Simon, Wall Street Journal, 3 September 2009.

The spread of pot farms in national forests: just CA in 1995 (3 forests), then also OR, WA, ID and UT in 2001 (38 forests in all), and then also NV, AZ, CO, WI, MI, TN, AL, GA, SC, NC and VA in 2009 (61 forests impacted).

There are not fly-by-night ops, as the article points out, but substantial investments in effort, often with PVC piped irrigation schemes.

The backers tend to be Latin American cartels looking to localize production. Cuts in state-financed park patrols helps plenty.

So, once again, we see the futility of trying to stem the flow of production. This remains a demand-side problem, made incredibly lucrative by the illegal quality of the enterprise.

Comments

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Heh, heh, yeah, you know it's getting bad when both Humbolt and Mendocino Counties in California actually list Marijuana Growing as their biggest cash crop and local business . . To most residents there, it's just another crop . . can't cut Redwoods down anymore, so they have to do something . .

As far as "Cartels", sure, why not? They have the money to invest and the sales/shipping network to move it . .

Not that I approve, but then, no one asked me either!