Raid of the decade underway in America’s pot-growing epicenter

[Newsjock]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

An estimated 100,000 marijuana plants are expected to be eradicated this week at an enormous, multi-farm bust in remote Northern California — the heart of the famed Emerald Triangle.

Humboldt, Trinity and Mendocino County Sheriff’s deputies — with no federal involvement — began serving search warrants Monday in a remote area at the intersection of the three counties.

Dozens of deputies are staging a four or five-day operation in what is being called the largest raid in a decade.

... The raid targeted some very prominent members of the community, including public members of lobbying groups and marijuana PACs like the California Cannabis Voice.

Read more: http://blog.sfgate.com/smellthetruth/2015/06/24/raid-of-the-decade-underway-in-americas-pot-growing-epicenter/

[McCamy Taylor]

1. One word----Colorado.

[immoderate]

7. Climate!

California has some near perfect conditions for growing killer weed. IMO.

--imm

[maxsolomon]

8. 2 words - Colorado and Washington

soon to be 3 with Oregon joining. then, the deluge.

10 years from now we'll all look back an shake our heads in wonderment at the futility of what was.

[passiveporcupine]

24. We already voted it in here in Oregon

[shanti]

44. doesn't it start in july?

i'm in cali now, but oregon is my future destination. i prefer rain.

[passiveporcupine]

46. You are probably right

I didn't hear that, but I'm not in the market!

I am not sure I love rain, but I sure do love Oregon and trees and water. Hope you make it up here.

[randys1]

2. Terrible news, if these were out of the area, other country folks with guns they

were going after, fine, but not this.

[Angry Dragon]

3. Blame it all on Nixon

[msongs]

4. when pot is legal these welfare LEO's will have to find something meaningful to do like

bust real criminals instead of being gardeners

[candelista]

22. They probably won't do that.

Too much work and too dangerous. Busting hippie farmers is so much easier and safer.

[joshcryer]

34. +1

[immoderate]

5. !

OTH, the article mentions 40,000 farms! So, I figure, they confiscate more, because there is more.

--imm

[WDIM]

6. More Freedom Haters.

Why do they hate the idea of a grown adult having self determination and a mind of their own?

Arrested for a plant when there are real criminals with guns that kill people. But never mind that lets just focus on this harmless plant.

What a waste of time money and human energy. These LEO agencies should be ashamed of themselves.

[A Simple Game]

10. It is a waste of time, money, and human energy. But it gets worse.

For every pound of pot they destroy, a pound is imported. Means we need more border agents, the cartels expand and get richer, and nothing is accomplished in the long run.

[PatrickforO]

12. Big business until legalization appears on the public ballot and is passed overwhelmingly

[OneCrazyDiamond]

13. Last time it was on the ballot,

Humboldt growers were against the initiative.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/36038183

[truedelphi]

17. It wasa very preposterous initiative.

If you read the damn thing, a whole lot of inscrutable in's and out's.

There were higher penalties for small amounts, unless you complied with X,Y and Z.

People felt that they should stick with the devil they knew rather than submit to a brand new devil.

That is why the initiative that will go on the ballot for 2016 will be better reviewed and will be better received.

[dembotoz]

9. So if some did a Clive Bundy thing would it work?

[Gore1FL]

32. Nope.

Only Teabaggers are patriotic enough to hate the army and law enforcement.

[beevul]

41. If there were enough of them, and America was watching...

If there were enough of them, and America was watching, yeah it probably would work.


I don't think anyone gives "the order" under those conditions.

[PatrickforO]

11. Hey, here's a cool answer from Colorado...

LEGALIZE!!!!!

[Cal Carpenter]

14. "...prominent members of the community..."

Unless things have changed in the last 20 years, that is also going to include judges, cops, mayors, and more. Everyone is growing up there. (well, not everyone, but it seemed like it)

Does KMUD still broadcast helicopter warnings?

[Spitfire of ATJ]

30. I remember the staged busts during the Reagan Years....

The local cops would plant a field. Row of corn, row of marijuana, row of corn, row of marijuana, row of corn, row of marijuana...

Then they'd "raid" it and pull the largest plant with the dirt ball still around the roots and put it on a scale and multiply that weight by the total number of plants (even the seedlings) and then multiply that times $200 a quarter to declare a multi-million dollar victory in "The War On Drugs".

[truedelphi]

15. "This raid is FOR the environment." HMM, so when will they raid Nestle's headquarters?

Or that of the Big Fracking concerns, who destroy millions of gallons of waters just to get one fracking operation underway?

[Earth_First]

29. Ahhh, you've pointed out some major hypocrisies in this official endorsement of the raids...

Kudos!

However,they don't give a hoot about those examples you've given and their detriment to the environment.

[Cleita]

31. ^^This^^

[LeftyMom]

40. That's not how jurisdiction works.

The Humboldt, Trinity and Mendo county mounties could no more raid Nestle HQ in Switzerland than they could put a speed trap on the moon.

[truedelphi]

42. However, Nestle is stealing water all over California.

And maybe their headquarters is in Switzerland, but there has to be some Central Operations building here in this state, where the trucks and equipment come from.

[LeftyMom]

43. It's in unincorporated Sacramento County.

Humboldt County doesn't have jurisdiction there, either.

You're still not making an argument that makes sense in the real world. You're engaging in bumper sticker logic.

[truedelphi]

47. bumper sticker logic or not, the fact remains that for thirty years

Nestle has been a major water pirate.

And yet our state agencies in California don't have any way at all to do a thing, sniffle snuffle, they are just helpless.

I suspect a quid pro quo going on.

The Young Turks are as upset as I am:

[dogknob]

16. Clearing the way for the "right" people to control the business before legalizing? n/t

[DirtyHippyBastard]

18. This is exactly what I was thinking. eom

[Phlem]

28. They did it here in Washington State. No more

medical marijuana, it's gone. No dispensaries. Our lovely Democratic Governor Jay Inslee did his best to make sure it happened.

WTF is wrong with Washington state, 2 just voted for the TPP and Jay Inslee siding with big money on Marijuana. With Dems like that who needs Republicans.

[rurallib]

19. thinking that the enemies of legalized pot are the alcohol, pharma and

prison industries, if one was a conspiracy geek he could speculate that some officials palms were greased to get a little action going. But I would never go there.

[calikid]

20. The economies of the Triangle are going to suffer now.

Businesses depend heavily on the green medicine.

[malthaussen]

21. For some reason, I'm tempted to start chanting "USA! USA!" n/t

[SunSeeker]

23. We need to legalize pot so we can regulate these operations.

California is in a horrific draught and many farmers are not getting any water at all. But these illegal pot farms are outright stealing water.

...prompting the raid is evidence of massive water theft and other environmental violations, the sources said. For that reason the California Department of Fish and Wildlife was assisting deputies.”

http://blog.sfgate.com/smellthetruth/2015/06/24/raid-of-the-decade-underway-in-americas-pot-growing-epicenter/

They should get in line and pay for the water like everyone else. And they should not plant in sensitive wilderness areas, impacting habitat of endangered species already stressed by the drought.

Pot is actually a great crop for California. It produces way more money per gallon of water used that stupid, low-value water-intensive crops like alfalfa. We should replace all our alfalfa fields with pot.

[randys1]

26. Exactly. Your post here might be the best one on this topic

[secondvariety]

33. I agree.

Many of the pot farms are horrific on the environment and are planting on public lands. Legalize it and regulate it just like any other business.

[Unknown Beatle]

25. If only they would devote that time and energy

to raid Wall St. and bust the real criminals.

[Duppers]

37. Indeed.

But it all about money on both sides, making the rich richer.

This post nails it: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141126066#post19

[upaloopa]

27. I gave up the weed over 30 years ago

but I see this as a real waste of tax dollars.
Someone is making money off this and that should be researched and made public.

[mike_c]

35. California needs to get this shit in order....

Full disclosure: I live in Humboldt county, smoke cannabis daily, and fully support legalization and an end to the entire WOD. That said, California needs to shit or get off the pot (no pun intended). Prop. 215 cracked the door open for quasi-recreational use and vastly ramped up production. Humboldt and Mendocino counties are economically dependent upon cannabis production, but the uncertain legal status has led to an explosion of sketchy land use conversions throughout the rural lands in both counties. Looking up rural canyons, more often than not you see a proliferation of huge green houses clinging to the hillsides, sitting on land bulldozed illegally from steep, unstable slopes or cleared from the forest, and hear the steady drone of big generators fading off into the distance. The stream draining the canyon is most likely dry, or reduced to a trickle, due to illegal water diversions. Its channel is likely choked with debris from unpermitted grows, and an oil slick of diesel fuel stains the water. Poisonous baits and traps set for herbivores kill pets and wildlife all the way up the food chain.

I want my bud as much as anyone, but the current legal status of cannabis in California and the rest of the country forces growers into the back country where the economies of scale, combined with the severe drought and general ecological fragility of the inland North Coast combine to create unconscionable ecological damage. The North Coast back country is really poorly suited for large scale cultivation-- its greatest asset is its remoteness and difficulty to access. Of course there is no legal regulatory framework to insure that production is environmentally responsible. When the sheriff comes around, it isn't to inspect the facility-- it's to bust cannabis workers and destroy their livelihoods.

We need to stop this. For many years Humboldt producers have feared that legalization will undercut their livelihoods by moving cultivation to places better suited for it. I've been sympathetic to that argument too, but in the last several years outdoor grows on private backcountry land in Northern California have proliferated way beyond the rural land's ability to bear their footprint without significant damage. We need to fully legalize cannabis and regulate cultivation, just like we do with any other agricultural product. If the best place to do that is in the central valley, then that's where we should locate the center of production.

[LeftyMom]

39. Thank Christ somebody on this thread knows what they're talking about.

I was about to have a stroke.

[sulphurdunn]

36. This may have more to do with

water rights and pollution than with pot growing.

[Chakaconcarne]

38. Yes...

In these areas the influx of large scale grows are seriously depleting ground water stores. Some have gotten greedy. While I support mj I'm really not all that sad to see this happen. I know the area well and most often they will go after people who are on land or who own land without a permanent dwelling. Hoping that is the case here because locals tend to be left alone.

[mike_c]

45. Oxford Journals' BioScience published a paper recently that addresses...

...some of these issues. Here's the link and the abstract:

http://bioscience.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2015/06/19/biosci.biv083.full

High Time for Conservation: Adding the Environment to the Debate on Marijuana Liberalization

J. K. Carah, et al.

The liberalization of marijuana policies, including the legalization of medical and recreational marijuana, is sweeping the United States and other countries. Marijuana cultivation can have significant negative collateral effects on the environment that are often unknown or overlooked. Focusing on the state of California, where by some estimates 60%–70% of the marijuana consumed in the United States is grown, we argue that (a) the environmental harm caused by marijuana cultivation merits a direct policy response, (b) current approaches to governing the environmental effects are inadequate, and (c) neglecting discussion of the environmental impacts of cultivation when shaping future marijuana use and possession policies represents a missed opportunity to reduce, regulate, and mitigate environmental harm.

more@link

on edit: corrected the reference to the paper's timing.

[Le Taz Hot]

48. Fuck these people!

California is going to legalize cannabis next year, then what are these jack offs going to do for legitimacy?

[locks]

49. The thoughtful responses

are welcome. We know that many of the huge problems with growing pot in California would be alleviated with federal legalization. The money spent on these raids and going to the black market and cartels would be better spent on national regulation.
I believe Colorado has done a good job under legalization and most of our citizens are supporting the state efforts. But we still have federal harassment and have a long way to go before marijuana will be legalized in our nation. For example, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Kansas sheriffs are suing Colorado because marijuana "problems" are spilling over into those states and costing them money and they want Colorado's law to be struck down. If the suit goes to the Supreme Court federal law will undoubtedly prevail.

Another problem is that Colorado has hundreds of microbreweries and the alcohol industry lobby here, including Coors, is big and does not want any stronger laws or marijuana to cut into their profits.