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/

 

Mexico’s Largest Marijuana Crop Ever Destroyed

Yes this is a marijuana crop in Mexico about 200 miles south of San Diego, California. It looks like some solar energy plant or something. 300-acres full of 120 tonnes marijuana worth up to $160 million. Lenny said he would love to be there when thy burn. I agree 100% with that as well. It was discovered by Mexican soldiers while patrolling the area. Only six men were arrested for this massive grow operation.  The picture below shows the decent size housing area the six men lived in. What a life that would be? Take care of 120 tonnes marijuana plants all day, everyday. Hit the jump for some amazing pictures of the bust. Spotted on MSN’s PhotoBlog.

http://hailmaryjane.com/mexicos-largest-marijuana-crop-ever-destroyed/#more-38821

Albuquerque man, 74, arrested for smuggling pot

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers arrested a 74-year-old Albuquerque man they say attempted to smuggle 172 pounds of marijuana across the El Paso port of entry.

The seizure was made Saturday at approximately 12:34 p.m. at the Bridge of the Americas international crossing when a 1989 Chevrolet Scottsdale 1500 pick-up was selected for inspection and CBP drug sniffing dog “Frankie” alerted to the gas tank of the vehicle.

CBP officers discovered two large compressed bales concealed in metal containers in the gas tank. The contents of the bales tested positive for marijuana.

CBP officers at the port arrested the driver, Alex Garcia of Albuquerque. He was turned over to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents to face federal charges including importation of a controlled substance and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.

He is currently detained without bond at the El Paso County Jail.

Hilary Clinton on Legalization

The Real Drug Cartel …….

……. are not in these pictures or the news video !

-U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Mexican reporters that marijuana can never be legalized because- “There is just too much money in it.”

These guys who were busted recently are merely the competition. And the money you see piled up on the floor and stacked in the walls -approximately 18 Billion Dollars – is ‘chicken Feed’ compared to what the real Drug Cartel makes…..in a year!

“Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedy.” -Earnest Benn

 

If you’ve had any leftover illusions of ….

…. what the so-called “War on Drugs” is all about, with what the DEA will do will leave you with no doubt whatsoever. Unless ofcourse you are employed by them or part of the overall cartel, or rather aka drug companies, which have a long and well-documented history, mind you, of copying street drugs, repackaging them as “medications” and selling them as FDA-approved drugs.

Here they go again – the DEA moves to legalize THC so Big Pharma can make and package the pills while still keeping it illegal for anyone else to grow the THC on their own. The DEA is working, in their infinite wisdom, to change the classification of THC from schedule I substance (like street heroin) to schedule III drug (pharmaceuticals). Now their buddy, Big Pharma, will be able to grow its own marijuana plants, make a “pot pill,” and those pills will be perfectly legal.

You see, fellow countrymen, as Hillary said, it’s all been in the money, and nothing to do with the safety, or the welfare of the children as the political jargon has told you for years. They don’t want you to take care of yourself. They want you to think you can’ t rule yourself…. they want to do it.

So, the DEA decides to legalize THC only for pharmaceutical companies. That way they can take over the cartels and have all the profit to themselves. Funny, didn’t they say that there is no medical value in Marijuana (THC) – ! – Now they will tell you there is only medical value in THC that is produced by a pharmaceutical company. Just like the Mafia.

DEA’s insanity in saying that the very same chemical can be legal for corporations to sell you but illegal for you to grow yourself using a natural plant.

Now, if that doesn’t sound like cartel mob boss talk …………..

“Capitalism is the legitimate racket of the ruling class.” -Al Capone

• Proposed Rules – 2010 – Listing of Approved Drug Products Containing Dronabinol in Schedule III
  Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration Office of Diversion Control

• Toke of the Town – Cannabis news, rumor and humor

Mexican Students Cope With Trauma Of Drug War

The owner of this once-popular nightclub in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, said he closed the bar after his business was set on fire three times for refusing to pay extortion fees to drug cartel enforcers. The violence has forced many families to move out of the country, and some students are entering U.S. classrooms dealing with traumas that schools have never seen before.

The owner of this once-popular nightclub in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, said he closed the bar after his business was set on fire three times for refusing to pay extortion fees to drug cartel enforcers. The violence has forced many families to move out of the country, and some students are entering U.S. classrooms dealing with traumas that schools have never seen before. 

Standing in the main foyer of Burges High School in El Paso, Texas, it’s easy to think you had accidentally crossed the border into Mexico. Left and right, students are greeting each other in Spanish and kissing each other’s cheeks, as they would in Mexico.

Drug violence has forced thousands of Mexican families to seek refuge in the U.S. As a result, some students are entering U.S. classrooms along the Southwest border with traumas that schools have never seen before.

And with so few people willing to talk about it, many aren’t getting the help they need.

An ‘Atrocious’ Experience

In border cities, it’s common for students from Mexico to go to school in the U.S. Some were born in the U.S. but raised in Mexico, and their families feel they’ll have better opportunities if they go to an American school.

Lead counselor Susan Crews speaks with children at an elementary school in El Paso. 

But in recent years, motivation to cross the border has changed. Horrific drug-related violence in Mexico is forcing some families to flee, often in a hurry.

Susan Crews, lead counselor for the El Paso Independent School District, has seen what witnessing that violence can do to a child.

“I have students whose mothers have been decapitated,” Crews says. “I have a student in one of the middle schools — when he visited his family in Juarez there were three heads on sticks along the path were he goes.”

You can explore more stories about the impact of border issues on the American culture, politics, demography and social order by visiting Fronteras: The Changing America Desk.

Crews is a grandmotherly figure who wears her hair in a bow-shaped bun atop her head. She says never in her 43 years as a counselor has she encountered such hellish stories.

“The counselor had contacted me because this eighth-grader was having a trauma reaction,” Crews says. “He was not able to control his bladder; he was not sleeping at night.”

Crews is the woman the district sends when there’s a major trauma at a school. In the past two years, she’s responded to the deaths of four students — all killed in Mexico.

“My experience has been atrocious,” she says. “I mean it’s just been overwhelming in my opinion.”

The Effects Of Bearing Witness

Most school counselors are not trained to handle the psychological needs of these new students, and many students are fearful about sharing their stories and don’t ask for help. So they often suffer in silence.

Burges student Jorge Esquivel is from Ciudad Juarez, where four months ago his uncle was murdered for refusing to pay criminals an extortion fee to keep his business open. His uncle was like a father to him, so the loss cut deep.

“I couldn’t concentrate at school,” Esquivel says. “It’s something I couldn’t control. I can’t just say, ‘I’m not gonna think about it anymore.’ You just feel so bad.”

To make matters worse, when Esquivel first enrolled at Burges High School, most of his credits didn’t transfer. At 18, he had to enroll as a sophomore.

Burges High School counselor Michelle Barron says that’s happening a lot.

“That used to be a very rare occasion,” Barron says. “If you had a student who was 17 years old and was about to graduate high school in Mexico, usually they would keep them there. Now, it doesn’t seem to matter. It could be midyear; it could be during their senior year. Families are bringing over their kids and saying, ‘Well, you know, whatever it is that we have to do; we’re not going [to stay] there.’ “

Dealing With Trauma Right Now

Because El Paso is home to the Army’s Fort Bliss, local school districts offer counselor training in post-traumatic stress disorder for children of military families. Some school counselors are applying that training to students from Mexico, but counselor Crews thinks the district needs programs designed specifically for survivors of Mexican violence.

“If you don’t deal with trauma right away, it’s going to come back,” Crews says. “You’re going to have more violence; you’re going to have children repeating the violence that they’ve seen.”

As long as the violence in Mexico persists, Crews says, schools will continue to see students with related trauma — ignoring the problem, she says, won’t make it go away.