Public grow-ops

We haven't looked at the national eradication program lately. Law enforcement claims it's Mexican cartels and NORML believes it's an unintended effect of forfeiture laws as indivdual growers seek to avoid the unreasonable penalties under those statutes, but either way, our national and state forests are increasingly being used for outdoor grow-ops.

On Friday, the state will release its latest figures that show that agents seized 25% more pot plants this year than last year. And with millions of acres of public land in California and fewer agents to investigate due to budget cuts, the business is sure to grow.

The prohibition claims to have taken $1.9 billion worth of cannabis out of circulation with the destruction of less than half a million plants total. And what few agents are left really got to play cowboy on some of these busts described as to be only accessible by helicopter. They flew in a shredder and everything. I'd bet that cost about the same amount as their doubtful valuation of the crops.

As always, I remind you how silly this it is to spend our tax dollars on destroying a benign plant that could be generating tax revenue and creating jobs instead as a legal agricultural product. Let's face it here. The grows aren't increasing because the demand for cannabis is going down.