By Rayner Ramirez, NBC News
and Adam Yamaguchi, Current TV on assignment for Rock Center
California's San Joaquin Valley is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the country. It is also where, among the fresh fruits and vegetables, an estimated half-a-million plants of marijuana are growing openly, some allegedly being sold for non-medicinal purposes.
"In the last two years, we've seen large-scale commercial farming operations of marijuana and explosions of backyard marijuana grows," said Lieutenant Rick Ko of the Fresno County Sheriff's Office. Ko says the spike in cannabis cultivation is a result of California's booming medical marijuana trade.
California was the first state to legalize medical marijuana almost 16 years ago to help people manage the nausea and pain associated with serious illnesses such as cancer and HIV.
Law enforcement authorities say traffickers are hiding behind California's medical marijuana laws and distributing the drug illegally. Although medical marijuana is prohibited under federal law, 16 states and the District of Columbia have legalized use and enforcement of federal law is often limited to the worst offenders.
In California, Lt. Ko's team is attempting to limit the abuse of state and local medical marijuana regulations.
"We're looking for the people that are diverting medical marijuana from legitimate uses to either organized crime or profiteering activities," Ko said.
Some patients in California are getting doctors' recommendations to grow up to 99 plants of medical marijuana.
Federal sentencing guidelines are stiff for those caught growing more than 100 plants. However, Lt. Ko says even the lower amount is more than any single patient could ever need for personal use. Cannabis plants cultivated in the San Joaquin Valley can grow up to 18 feet high and yield up to three pounds of medical grade marijuana.
"Let's just take a conservative estimate of a pound per plant. And if you have 99 pounds then you are looking at over 89,000 doses in a year," Ko said. "So you would have to smoke a joint every six minutes of every hour of every day for a year to use the 99 plants."
What's more, some patients form growing collectives, amassing numerous state-sanctioned medical marijuana cards to grow multi-acre fields of marijuana. Last year, the Fresno County Sheriff's Office along with federal agents raided a 54-acre farm with more than 25,000 marijuana plants.
"There's kind of uncontrolled, explosive growth of huge cultivation operations here which are resulting in marijuana being sold in huge amounts being shipped all over the country," says U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner, whose region includes the San Joaquin Valley.
Last fall, U.S. Attorneys in California vowed to work with local authorities to crack down on medical marijuana, targeting growers and dispensaries alike. Last year, Wagner prosecuted traffickers who moved more than half a million dollars worth of marijuana from a Fresno farm all the way to Massachusetts.
The federal crackdown on medical marijuana has sparked critics like Ethan Nadelmann, the Executive Director of the Drug Policy Alliance, an organization based in New York City that advocates for the decriminalization of drugs.
Nadelmann says that the raids on medical marijuana farms and dispensaries are a waste of government resources in a time when, according to recent Gallup polls, fifty percent of Americans are in favor of legalizing marijuana.
"When the gangsters are making billions of dollars off of providing a commodity that tens of millions of Americans want, you make it legal and you tax it and control it and regulate it," Nadelmann said.
California State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano is sponsoring a bill that would do just that. A long-time proponent of medical marijuana, Ammiano now wants to tax the $14-$15 billion dollar illegal marijuana trade in California.
"We estimated that if marijuana were legalized, it may result in maybe two billion bucks more ... in California's budget," the Democratic assemblyman representing San Francisco said.
Law enforcement authorities disapprove of efforts to expand marijuana's legalization. During an interview conducted in a Fresno residential neighborhood, Lt. Ko argued that marijuana cultivation in California has already spiraled out of control.
"Right now, you can hear an ice cream truck. You can hear kids playing. You have, probably, kids next door, kids in this house, school kids walking down the street," he said. "Right around a marijuana grow."
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If the ultimate police state, a prison, can't keep out drugs how can any rational human being honestly think that prohibition will ever work?
lol, why would you think anyone who wants to ban pot is rational?
Although legalization failed in Colorado in 2004, we are different now. Firstly, back then, the Colorado Secretary of State falsified the voter information booklet to say that pot could be given to minors. AND, back then, a majority of Republicans didn't want legal marijuana. That year, Republicans took the state and went for Bush. Since then, the Democrats have won in Colorado. Where Colorado stands, today: 73% of Democrats are for legalization. AND, 53% of even the Republicans are for legalization.
YES on 64 !
If Law Enforcement didn't Spend all of their time trying to Stomp out Marijauna, They would have Lots of time to Fight real crime. Law Enforcement doesn't get any Money from doing what they are supposed to be doing, They have incentintives for going after Marijauna & other Drugs. They seize Money & Property as well as Generating monies for the Court System. What Other Crime Generates That kind of money for the Cops & Their Drug Task forces. If you get Pulled over from the Cops & they find any Drugs including Marijauna & have any cash on you, they can & will seize it & there is Nothing you can do abot it to get it back, Even if you have Proof that the Money is Legitimate.
Well, you know, going after armed gangs and real criminals is dangerous! College students and hippies are a lot easier to arrest.
It has its benefits but the same people who emphasize that fail to disclose its clinically proven negative effects on people.
While some people enjoy it there are many in the population who can't handle it. It is like Russian Roulette.
After living in a community of growers and dealers in some of the drug capitals of the West one should gain some insight on the product.
Care to provide backup to that claim? No? Didn't think so.
The vast majority of peer reviewed research done on marijuana prove your comments to be false -freedom1st. The primary "negative effects" are far less negative than alcohol and tobacco. Baseless and misinformed comment.
Marijuana should be legalized. We should grow it for oil, paper and many other things. Henry Ford hated crude oil pumped from the ground. Thought it was an evil dirty business. He envisioned his cars running on hemp seed oil.
Like the snowball in hell, the primary negative effects of pot are mythological.
I have yet to see a post by the people who oppose making it legal!!!!!!!
Not just used for medical purposes...And you find this shocking lol...Just legalize it. Cut the profit from the drug dealers and let everyone grow their own.,
I had a really funny comment but dang I forgot what I was gonna say
Well boys and girls...everything has been said here. Throw in my knowledge.
It of course boils down to...ready...manufactured consent. Pot is bad...mmkay. Jesus would not ingest pot...mmmkay. But Jesus would kill them thar terrorist.
It all boils down to a political agenda. Involve your base with pretend moral standings....but where's the Jack Daniels cause Jesus likes booze. So invlove your base and feed the beast of the DEA...Border Patrol...HLS...CIA...it boils down to power and $$$$$. An ideology of $$$$$. For those who believe it is Christian and moral to inprison so many for what! Well....look up how much money the logisitcs of the defense contractors sell to these government entities to fight a lost war. Then you can see a clear picture why the war continues...$$$$$!
There is a political deformity called the Riligious Right and the insiders who are so corrupt...it becomes halarious if not disgusting. Again...what those of the Right need to read is the web page of "The Project of the New American Century" and who has signed unto this B.S. and the evidence mounts.
Peter Rowan penned it best with the song "Free Mexican Airforce"
So...just stop this war..stop the billions spent on Defense (Agression) Contractors and logistic suppliers...such as ammo..planes..cars/trucks...prisons...see this wonderful corner we were painted into by the "Fools without Rules" that do not know the difference between wrong and right. Blowing smoke from their six shooters....F%$%!
I always thought that if you make pot legal that it takes all of the fun out of buying it. It was fun to ditch the pigs now all you do is show a card and get out of jail free. I once grew an outdoor plant that was 9 feet tall and netted 22 onces. KILLER not one seed and dripping.
I don't use it now but as a young man I did. I would like to see it legalized and would vote to do so if it were on the ballot.
And this is news because... why?
Life was better while I was under the influence.
I got married after I quit smoking and it sucked.
I wish I had stayed high
Try getting high with your wife. Be subtle, wait until you see somebody light up on TV. Then say something like, "You know, I haven't smoked any pot in years, maybe we should get some, sometime. It would be fun." And see what she says.
I believe the time has come to legalize marijuana for adults 21 and over who have a prescription. Regulate it and tax it like any other prescribed pharmaceutical, and relax the laws to release those in prison for possession or other minor pot transgressions. Also re-write some laws governing driving while under the influence, and mandating all users have their license notated as a medical marijuana user. There would obviously have to be strict adherence by prescribers and dispensors, and that will need to be verified.
The drug war has been a losing battle, violence in Mexico is steadily creeping towards the U.S, more adults than kids partake and approve of it, and it's less addicting than alcohol and many other medications. Plus the country needs the extra money that is already thriving in the Black Market. It's time.
18, I started smoking in the Army. I think it helps prevent PTSD. It's been proven to help treat it.
So what? Let's stop pumping so much anxiety into this issue.
Before someone slams this...I understand what the Cartel Growers and others are doing to our public lands. And hell yes this has to be stamped out...environmental damge is considerable let alone the social damage and the thousands dying because of war...the Cartel Wars in Mexico and here in the U.S. The cost run into the millions just in local law enforcement costs thru medical/investigation costs/etc.
So where do we begin to stop this war? Stopped electing so-called moral rightwing politicians. Stop this war!!! Stop the bastards!!
Rightwing politicians? Did your post cutoff or somthing? or is that who you want to put all the blame on? Your precious Obama said it should remain illegal. Last I checked, he wasn't a so-called moral rightwing politician.
Hell yes you fool!!! You know....the F$#%en hypocritical so-called Evangelical/Moral Majority/Teabaggers (And they are!)....as if Obama is now Gay/Muslim/Commy/Traitor/Non-American/etc/etc/etc....Screw the RightWing bastards...andif you vote Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepublican....you're in with the sheep. Have fun.
When I retire...I plan and becoming chronic...why? Because I can and I don't drink or smoke tobacco or dip. It always funnier than hell when I think about all the LESS GOVERNMENT talk from idiot Reeeeeeeeeeeepublicans but then there is the mouth farts Righties let loose about anti women's reproductive rights and anyones rights that Fake News and Fat Boy Drug Addict Limbaugh cannot push Murdoch's puke and make money from,,,,PEOPLE LIKE YOU!!!!! Isn't that hilarious!!!!
WOW! Chill man. Maybe you should roll one and smoke one now. LOL All politicians are crooked liers. We all know that. It is genetic as they are born with mouths on both sides of their faces. All we can do is go with the flow and just kind of ignore the ignorance and sort of work around it. HEH HEH HEH HEH
What you mean is stop electing hypocritical Conservatives who claim to be for smaller government when talking about taxes, but are really for Big Government when it comes to things like abortion and marijuana laws.
The Libertarian Party is all small-government, all the time, and supports the rights of states to set their own laws when it comes to things like gay marriage, abortion rights, and the legalization of marijuana for medicinal and recreational purposes.
The biggest problem with "right-wing politicians" these days is that they are only in favor of smaller government when it puts money into the pockets of those who will make large campaign donations to re-election committees. When it comes to protecting the freedoms of individuals, they are nowhere to be found. Only the Libertarian Party supports the rights and freedoms of individuals in a manner worthy of being described as "pro-small government". Elect the (R)s and you're likely to get someone who will seek out wars in other countries and who will suddenly forget that they're supposed to be a fiscal conservative, like Bush.
Gary Johnson 2012. (R)omney is not your friend.
You pot smokers and legalization morons are tools and fools. The federal government should withhold every single penny of federal funding it gives these stupid states for non-compliance with federal law. Laws are made to prevent chaos which is where we are heading. Everybody cannot be allowed to do whatever they want to do. We don't need more lung cancer, automobile wrecks due to the driver being under the influence of drugs, apathy and the list goes on. You people are stupid and your logic toward legalization of pot says a lot about how little you care for this country. IDIOTS!!!!
Please explain how the war on drugs has been successful
If it weren't for morons like youself willingly breaking the law and demanding something you know isn't legal there would be no war against drugs. It's your fault, not mine. Don't expect me to accept something that will cause more damage in the long run and plunge this country further into debt. Addiction, health care and more. People spending their money on pot and other drugs instead of feeding their family and paying their rent. You people are idiots. Stop complaining about a bad economy and lack of adequate health insurance. Do you have any idea what the premiums for health and automobile insurance will be if pot is legalized. Do you have any idea what businesses will require of their employees? You people are MORONS?
" Why is this a Surprise" All of your Rhetoric about Automobille wrecks & Lung Cancer Due to Marijauna is Plain Bull Crap. Alcohol has Killed More People than All Drugs(including Cigerettes) combinded!!! Most People that Smoke Marijauna are otherwise Law Abiding Citizens. So Suck That Down with your Glass of wine or your Can of Beer. The reason Marijauna Became illeagal in the first place was because of the KKK & other Self (Special interest Groups). Look up some history on the subject. The Demonization of something Does not Translate into fact!!!!
Jerry, thank-you for helping me make my point! If pot is legal it will be on that list too! I could not have said it better you DOLT.
Choke on this
FYI
Ok fixed it, I hope.
The OP is hilarious. Maybe he doesn't realize that it is his precious drug war that is causing the chaos?
Hey WITAS........bite me.
And just remember...The Revoiution Will Not Be Televised!!
...The revolution will be LIVE.
The Other 99, Ustream.TV: -Twitter- @TheOther99 @Iwilloccupy This channel is being maintained by The Other 99. We continue to be a primary source from ...
Legalize it AND repeal the "diminished capacity" defense. Total Responsibility for anything you do while under the influnce of ANY drug.
Are you insane or just brain dead? People do not accept responsibility for anything that they do wrong as it is and if you legalize pot they will say "well you said it was alright for me to smoke it...why should I be punished for killing somebody when I was under the influence of pot when you said I could get high." RESPONSIBLE...GET REAL!
Shut mouth idiot.
Steveland, you must be one of those irresponsible people. Sorry I struck a nerve. The truth hurts, huh.
Struck a nerve? Hardly. That broad brush you use on "potheads" must be awful heavy and unwieldy. To assert that all "potheads" are just lazy fools that won't take responsibility for their own actions is just your lack of understanding of the subject at hand. When cannabis is legal,(and it will be, the momentum behind it has gotten to great to be stopped now.) You won't see a dramatic increase in use, those who want to smoke already are. And you would probably see a decrease in use among kids, since it would be properly regulated and therefor harder for them to get. What you will see is an increase of taxes collected by the government that could be used to shine a brighter light on drugs that are actually dangerous, or to fill budget gaps or whatever. The hemp plant has something like 25,000 known uses. That means there are new products to be made, and jobs for people to have making them which creates more income taxes, not to mention a better economy overall. So you just go ahead and keep eating the tripe the powers that be feed you since you like it so much. I'll keep going to work and paying my bills and feeding my pets and smoking about a gram or so of pot every day. and I'll make sure I inform you when some of those responsibilities that I won't accept come up OK.
WHYIS THIS A SURPISE?
"Laws are made to prevent chaos which is where we are heading."
Any law that is agianst the will of the majority of the people is a unjust law. And unjust laws add to chaos rather then prevent it. I can see you'd like more and more laws, to prevent anyone from doing anything you don't do. You might like the idea of a police state, but I don't. Any unjust law should be removed, period.
"Everybody cannot be allowed to do whatever they want to do."
That's funny, I thought that the US was big on freedoms and individual rights, as long as those rights don't infringe on other people's rights. When did that change? For it sure has changed, to the corps and the wealthy have more rights then anyone else. Didn't this country start from a revolution over unjust laws and freedoms?
Then you said "How little you care for your country."
Flag waving has sort of gone by the way as a way to put a cap on a statement. This is a blatant attempt to SHAME people into your way of thinking. I care about this country, but I can't respect some of it laws, so I've lost a little of the respect I have for this country.
Put a "not for sale" sign on this country, and on its politicians, get rid of citizens united, lobbyists, and unjust laws like the "war on pot" and make this country what it should be, what it could have been. A FREE country for all and not just the "free country for corporations and mega-rich".
Nightwalker, you're asleep at the wheel. I bet you're either a teenager or a high school drop out in your 20's. IDIOT and MORON.
No surprise. You are the idiot and moron.
WITAS - only ppl who can't substantiate their bs resort to name calling. Since alcohol is legal, does it mean YOU have to drink it? Because cigarettes are legal, does that mean you have to smoke them? What's causing your "chaos" is the fed government thinking they have the right to tell ppl what they can do w/ their bodies, and that's dead wrong! They are here to protect our rights, not to dictate them. Evidently you have some doubt about your patriotism, that you have to spout off to others what YOU say is patriotic. And I guess w/ over 50% of Americans approving legalization, that makes them all wrong in your eyes. Ppl are waking up, and it's time you did too. There is no way you, or anyone else for that fact, can justify the ungodly costly War on Drugs. I suppose you support that too? Government can be wrong, and when it is, it's time for the ppl to correct them. That time has come, and you're just one of the few who stand in the way barking your moral opinion, when it has no basis at all.
yeah well, prohibition is legal, right? so everyone has to support it, right? hmmm, wonder if i can start a petition to make it illegal...
Want to Lower Traffic Fatalities? Try Legalizing Medical Marijuana. | NORML Blog, Marijuana Law Reform
If the drug companies could make a monopoly out of the market it would be legal. The cops and legal system don't want to be downsized. They take 30 or 40 government paid people to raid a small house in a poor neighborhood. The judges and prison official can complain about overcrowded systems. We need small government in this way. All drugs should be decriminalized. Why should the government of the people punish people for destroying themselves. I don't care if you do crack. If you act like a criminal when you high let's put you in jail. You behave you do what you want.
Serf, Every word you said is RIGHT ON TARGET!
High THC marijuana is a cover crop (no weeds) that can be grown on land that can't be used for anything else. Such land could be leased for not too much money. Lets say one person is in charge of 10 acres of MJ. Starting with fuel for your diesel powered vehicle, 10 acres can produce enough oil from the seeds to drive 20,000 to 35,000 miles per year. The meal left after extracting the oil can be fed to animals, or even yourself. How about construction products from the rest of the plant, that you could use to help build a dwelling. The center stalk (the "hurd") can be broken up, mixed with lime and water to make a concrete that is stronger, yet lighter than cement. The fiber surrounding the hurd, can be used to make insulation, as well as clothes, paper, and even a car body (Henry ford made car bodies out of MJ).
Legalize it? Only if that is the only way to get the idiots in power to get out of the way. Otherwise it should be totally decriminalized, as per Ron Pau'ls bill that he introduced to congress a few months ago, If decriminalized we could then "catch up" with the Egyptians. who were using the full potential of this plant thousands of years ago.
If you are against the growing of this plant, please consider changing your mind. If not for the above reasons, then consider the help MJ gives to people with glaucoma, HIV, MS, Parkinsons, and other afflictions.
Just legalize it already! I don't even have a personal interest in this except that I want to be well informed in my opinion and I have researched this like crazy--there is NO EVIDENCE linking MJ to any illness, fatal disease or sudden death....EVER. Users who died with it in their system were using some other substance that most likely caused death. So why are we being protected like children from MJ, yet people are allowed to kill themselves daily with cigarettes, booze and junk food? Who is really being protected here? Is it the man made PROZAC Industry/Pharmaceutical? Because they seem to be the only ones benefiting from keeping MJ out of peoples hands. Man made psychotic causing drugs are okay, but not a natural growing herb. Oh and I also found out that high levels of THC was found to help people with COLON CANCER. We are being fed a lie about MJ, and people who are FREE, are being criminalized for not turning to PROZAC instead of MJ: Now THAT'S criminal!
Rodney, you sound like you know what you're talking about. So it's DECRIMINALIZE? Okay. I guess if it's legal it's the prescription necessary type of legal, where I feel it should be as available as anything else.
Imagine all the normal, decent people that have had huge problems laid upon them simply for smoking an herb that grows naturally and is blessed with hundreds of medicinal qualities. How freaking crazy and ass backwards is that!!!
Saw a nice little documentary on PBS a while back..called "The Botony Of Desire". The 2 hr film covered 4 plant types: apples, tulips, potatoes & marijuana....and the way in which they've spread & thrived thru the centuries with the help of humans. The half hour segment on weed....can be viewed on YouTube by searching: The Botony Of Desire-Cannabis. A very intelligent & well done piece featuring comments from researchers & growers. For example...Remember back when The U.S. govt. persuaded Mexico into poisoning their crops with paraquat? This is when growers in the United States began coming up with new strains that were shorter ( for growing indoors ) yet yielded maximum product........A big salute to all the Luther Burbanks out there. Also covered is HOW the chemicals work on our brain....and WHY marijuana works so well for our military vets......who may suffer from PTSD.
yeah...think it's on netflix instant streaming movies...if anyone's a netflix user...theres also alot of marijuana documentaries that's really informative on there too...hold on, let me get their titles real quick and post em:
CNBC Originals: Marijuana USA
High: The True Tale of American Marijuana
CNBC Originals: Marijuana Inc.
The Union: Business Behind Getting High
A NORML Life (best one I've seen so far! really informative on marijuana's properties)
How Weed Won the West
The Green Rush
The Botany of Desire
yep...they're all on instant watch right now...
This is the best one I have seen. " American Drug War: The Last White Hope" by Kevin Booth. Well worth 2 hours of your time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFq1Mnkmyv8
nice...it's on netflix too...only reason why i rely so much on netflix is because they have subtitles for the docs i mentioned...hard to find subtitles or closed captioning anywhere else with almost unlimited content online...
looselucy that was indeed an excellent link and it was worth the 2 hours to watch it. It basically summed up what nearly everyone commenting hear has been trying to say in support of a revised policy on the drug war and with regard to marijuana in particular. Thank you for posting it.
"Law enforcement authorities disapprove of efforts to expand marijuana's legalization."
Exactly, the don't want to take the chance of being one of the 50% of them that would be getting pink slipped if it is legalized
"During an interview conducted in a Fresno residential neighborhood, Lt. Ko argued that marijuana cultivation in California has already spiraled out of control."
Listen up gubmint.......You can spend a trillion $$ a yr. and you still are not going to put so much as a dent in it, so why the hell not give it up? All you are acomplishing as far as eradication goes is keeping the price a little higher. Let me answer my own ? here. They dont want to lose all of those unecissary cushy union gubmint jobs that are being provided by keeping a natural herb illegal.
California may not yet be completely down the drain, but that is the direction it is determinedly headed.
Washington : Yes on I-502 !!!
Colorado : Yes on 64 !!!