Where the Wild Weeds grow

Back in the days before America got Reefer Madness, the good old U.S.A. was a worldwide center of hemp production. Verdant fields of the incredibly useful fiber crop were cultivated all over the country. Once cannabis was outlawed in 1937 due to Harry J. Anslinger’s scare campaign against marijuana, the economic incentive to cultivate hemp was gone.

After a brief return in the “Hemp For Victory” days of World War II — when the Japanese takeover of our fiber source, the Philippines, made it necessary to once again provide our own rope — hemp faded into American history as a crop of bygone days.

But that didn’t mean it was any less useful, it just meant it was no longer politically acceptable. And it also didn’t mean that hemp would no longer grow in Nebraska (and throughout much of the Midwest), it just meant it was no longer actively cultivated.

After Police Find Marijuana Growing in a Florida Mayor’s Yard She Shut Down the Whole Force

An 84-year-old mayor who was found by a police chief with marijuana plants in her garden has fired the entire department.

City commissioners voted 3-2 Monday night in favour of closing the department.

The controversy came to the forefront earlier this month when Mayor Mary Lee Cook told officials she believed someone from the police force planted marijuana on her property.

The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office began handling emergency calls from Oak Hill Monday night.

The mayor called the special meeting, and presented a number of complaints against Police Chief Diane Young.

During the discussion, commissioners decided it would be best to ‘terminate the entire department.’

Mayor Mary Lee Cook of Oak Hill, Florida, said that the marijuana plants narcotics agents found growing near a fence in her yard were placed there by someone looking to damage her reputation.

Speaking to Fox News, officer Manny Perez said: ‘One of the first things they tell you is this is a thankless job and today that really hits home.’

Two weeks ago, narcotics agents from the sheriff’s department asked to search the mayor’s home, having been informed that she was growing marijuana.

The 84-year-old mayor says that the agents found and seized a few ‘scrawny’ marijuana plants in individual containers.

The sheriff’s office report notes that 10 marijuana plants in total were discovered.

A spokesman from the sheriff’s department says that Mayor Cook has not been charged and that investigators do not believe she was aware of the drugs on her property.

(Source) http://www.dailymail.co.uk Photo: fox news

read more: http://www.thcfinder.com/marijuana-blog/news/2011/08/one-week-after-police-find-marijuana-growing-in-florida-mayors-yard-she-shuts-down-the-who#ixzz1U69F6NLx

Police Shouldn’t Be Proud of Seizing Bigger Marijuana Crops Every Year

By Scott Morgan

If I didn’t know better, some of this week’s headlines might have me wondering if the American marijuana market is about to come to a crashing halt.

Record Marijuana Bust: $205 Million In Pot Plants Eradicated In Ventura County

Officials from the Venture County Sheriff’s department pulled in a record haul at a massive marijuana bust last week, the department announced today.

According to the official press release, the interoffice effort between a number of local officials and the United States Forest Service (USFS) managed to collect 68,488 marijuana plants at a large growing operation in the Los Padres National Forest just north of the city of Ojai.

The estimated street value for the record breaking bust was $205,464,000. (Huffington Post)

Meanwhile in Mexico, there’s plenty of excitement in the air as well:

Mexico Finds Large Marijuana Farm in Baja California

Mexican soldiers discovered one of the largest marijuana plantations ever found in the country, just 200 miles south of San Diego, Calif., the Mexican Defense Ministry said.

Mexican officials said on Thursday that the plantation, in Baja California, stretched as far as the eye could see—totaling some 120 hectares (296 acres). The crop would yield about 120 metric tons and be worth an estimated $160 million, the Defense Ministry said in a statement. (WSJ)

This is pretty typical stuff as far as celebratory drug prohibition press releases are concerned, but that hardly excuses the epic levels of drug war idiocy on display here. Let’s just think critically for one second and consider how you’d feel if you were tasked with the responsibility of preventing marijuana cultivation, and you just kept discovering ever more mindblowingly enormous marijuana plantations every single year.

It is a sign of progress, yes, but not on the part of the vast drug war armies dedicated to stopping people from growing staggering amounts of marijuana all over the northern hemisphere. The only discernible progress any reasonable person could observe here would have to be credited to those whose mission it is to overwhelm law-enforcement with an ever-intensifying cultivation campaign that promises to make them rich regardless of whatever percentage happens to get hauled off by the cops.

You would never find an oncologist bragging that he’s finding the biggest tumors of his career and calling it a victory in the fight against cancer. Marijuana is hardly cancer, of course, but I wouldn’t bet these pot crusaders are entirely clear on the distinction, which is why I still struggle to comprehend their ongoing and obsessive tendency to boast about something they ought to find perfectly disturbing.

At this pace, we can look forward to the day when marijuana is literally the only thing still growing in our once-majestic wilderness, and as insane as it sounds, I wouldn’t even be surprised to find law enforcement still bragging about their success as marijuana fields wind their way across every hillside from Orange Country to Olympia.

Artilcle From StoptheDrugWar.org – Creative Commons Licensing

http://www.theweedblog.com/police-shouldnt-be-proud-of-seizing-bigger-marijuana-crops-every-year/

 

It’s Just A Plant: A Children’s Book About Marijuana

Many of us Greenies have kids of our own or little brothers and sisters, and probably have had (or will have) the opportunity to explain to them why we smoke weed, why it isn’t harmful or dangerous, and to make sure they fully understand it’s a plant like any other on your garden. So it was a very pleasant surprise to run into this book.

It’s Just a Plant is an illustrated children’s book about marijuana. It follows the journey of a young girl as she learns about the plant from a diverse cast of characters including her parents, a local farmer, a doctor, and a police officer.

The book is written and illustrated by Ricardo Cortes, you can see for yourself what is it about by checking out a preview on the book’s website or even order it online.

Would you be open to explain to your kids that you smoke marihuana and why you do it?

- From http://www.hailmaryjane.com

Miracle-Gro Makes A Play For The Medical Marijuana Market

Miracle-Gro seems to have finally gotten hip to the fact that lots of people use its chemical fertilizer to grow marijuana — and that with a little marketing, that number could get a lot, well, higher.

In an unusual move for the head of such a large company, Scotts Miracle-Gro Company CEO Jim Hagedorn said he is “exploring” targeting medical marijuana cultivators to boost sales at his lawn and garden supply firm, reports Dana Mattioli at The Wall Street Journal.

“I want to target the pot market,” Hagedorn said in an interview. “There’s no good reason we haven’t.”

Sales at Scott’s aren’t exactly suffering. In fact, they rose five percent last year, to $2.9 billion. But the company, based in Marysville, Ohio, relies on sales at three mega-retailers — Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Wal-Mart — for almost two-thirds of its revenue. But with those big-box retailers not building new stores as quickly as they used to, it appears the CEO wants to “diversify.”

Photo: cnet.tv

Scotts Miracle-Gro CEO Jim Hagedorn: “I want to target the pot market. There’s no good reason we haven’t.”

​

Hagedorn is pushing is regional sales presidents to look for smaller pockets of growth — such as, you guessed it, the marijuana market — that together could produce a noticeable boost in sales.

Sixteen states have legalized medical marijuana, and the market will reach $1.7 billion in sales this year, according to a report by See Change Strategy LLC, an information data services company.

While that report focuses on revenue from growers and dispensaries, the market for companies selling ancillary supplies such as hydroponic equipment and nutrients is also thriving, according to Kris Lotlikar, president of See Change.

“We see very good growth for these types of companies as the medical marijuana business grows,” Lotlikar said.

Photo: Lowe’s

From preventing weeds to growing them?

​ While Hagedorn’s upfront desire to enter the medical marijuana market may still be a little unusual for a major CEO, he has never been a typical sort of chief executive. A former F-16 fighter pilot, Hagedorn flies his personal Cessna to and from meetings in Port Washington, New York, where he grew up, and the company’s headquarters in Ohio, “much to the chagrin of his board,” the Journal reports.

He also has a propensity for swear words and military references, and reportedly showed up at the office at least one day this month in jeans and sneakers.

Hagedorn took over Miracle-Gro from his father, who co-founded the company. According to the Journal, he would likely buy niche companies that already exist, rather than trying to create Miracle-Gro’s own line of branded marijuana nutrient products.

The transition into a marijuana-friendly company could have some interesting and awkward moments, given the fact that many of Miracle-Gro’s products, such as “Shake ‘n Feed” are designed to prevent “weeds,” rather than nurture them.

Raids on marijuana growing operations have already turned up Miracle-Gro products. Hagedorn said he takes that as a good sign of brand awareness, but he fears some growers could be reluctant to use such a “mainstream” product — and something tells me he’s about to find out how strong the “organic” movement continues to be in cannabis cultivation.

Yes, lots of medical marijuana patients much prefer organically grown weed — and who can blame them? When I use my medicine, I want to taste plants, not chemicals.

A Tribute To The Most Awesome Grow House Ever Made (Pictures inside)

Could a house be any more awesome? It’s a shame these good folks got busted, such a waste of an perfect house. What are the new owners going to grow there, tomatoes?

Man Named ‘Stoner’ Arrested for Growing Marijuana

A Florida man named Glenn H. Stoner lived up to his name when Clearwater Police searched his home and found 19 marijuana plants.

Stoner, 56, has a roommate, but he told the cops he himself smoked all the pot he grew, reports Kyle Munzenreider at Miami New Times. Clearly, Mr. Stoner is a good roommate to have.

Stoner was arrested Tuesday after law enforcement officers found the plants, growing equipment, an irrigation system, and fertilizer in his bedroom, reports Rita Farlow at the St. Petersburg Times.

This is reportedly Stoner’s second cannabis arrest; he was busted in December 2006 for possession and manufacture. He was ordered into a pre-trial intervention program in 2007.

Stoner was being held in the Pinellas County Jail as of Wednesday in lieu of $10,150 bond.

Pot Growing Trailer Stolen From High Times Medical Cannabis Cup

A pot-growing trailer known as the “GrowBot” was stolen from a medical marijuana
trade show in Denver over the weekend, and the owner on Tuesday offered a $5,000
reward for its return.

Greg Childre, who builds custom trailers for a variety of crops at his Georgia manufacturing plan, said the trailer was stolen from the High Times Medical Cannabis Cup in Denver late Sunday night. The 28-foot long “GrowBot” trailer was driven out of the trade show parking lot in full view of security guards, Childre said.

Parking lot surveillance cameras captured the crime, but did not detect the license plates of the Dodge truck that hitched up the trailer and drove off, he said. Childre told Reuters the trailer is computerized, and is stocked with grow lights and  security devices. “Anything you need to grow in a controlled environment,” he said. “It has all the bells and whistles.” Childre said he builds the trailers for other crops, including mushrooms and blueberries, but most of his business is derived from the medical marijuana industry. The trailer is valued at $50,000, and there was no marijuana inside the vehicle, he said.

http://hempbeach.com/pot-growing-trailer-known-as-the-growbot-stolen-from-high-times-medical-cannabis-cup/