Yeah, it is only a problem when YOU need it, average American!!
"Cannabis farmers upend rural tranquility in Calif." by Alana Semuels, Los Angeles Times | November 15, 2009
HAYFORK, Calif. - Education has long been preached as a way to keep children away from drugs. It is the walk to school that has Superintendent Tom Barnett worried.
This Northern California town has become a hotbed for medical marijuana farming. Children stroll much of the year past pungent plants flourishing in gardens and alleys.
Yeah, but it is OKAY to have LIQUOR STORES and CIGARETTE SHOPS!
Okay to LIE them into WARS!
The Timberjacks football team moved its halftime huddle on a recent Friday night to avoid the marijuana smoke wafting over the gridiron from nearby houses. Some students talk openly of farming marijuana after graduation - about the only opportunity in this depressed timber town.
“It’s not a subculture here,’’ said Barnett. “Marijuana is drying in their houses. It’s falling out of their pockets.’’
Here in Trinity County, cannabis cultivation is upending the rural culture and economy of one of the state’s hard-luck regions. Drawn by the sunny, cool climate - and a local ordinance permissive of medical marijuana farming and possession - big- city refugees have brought a decidedly urban edge to hamlets such as Hayfork, about 250 miles north of San Francisco.
Nearly a quarter of its 1,900 residents are poor. But that hasn’t stopped outsiders from bidding up the price of real estate with sun-soaked southern exposures, all the better to cultivate plants that can grow 12 feet high. The sheriff’s office estimates 10,000 plants are growing in a single remote subdivision known as Trinity Pines. Lots on its southwest-facing slope sell for as much as $50,000, up from about $3,500 five years ago, according to broker Steven Hanover.
Fall brings strangers with cash boxes. Some farmers guard their crops with electric fences, razor wire, and snarling dogs. “It’s just torn the fabric of our society,’’ said Judy Stewart, 69, a retiree who has lived in the county more than 50 years. “It’s pitted people against one another.’’
And CUI BONO, 'eh?
How Trinity County, a lightly populated area twice the size of Rhode Island, came to be dubbed “Northern California’s pot paradise’’ by High Times is a story of law, lawlessness, and geography....
Yeah, LET'S NOT WORRY about ROBBERIES, RAPES, and MURDERS!!!!
Yeah, let's not worry about war criminal looters in our midst and GO AFTER MEDICINE!
Also see: Marijuana: From Maine to Mexico
Yeah, I'm sure the police have nothing better to do:
"Marijuana found in boarded-up house
While investigating a shooting that occurred last week, Brockton police officers detected a strong odor of marijuana emanating from a house on Centre Street where the windows had been boarded up. After a drug-sniffing dog reacted to the scent, police obtained a search warrant, and officers found about 600 plants and an intricate growing system in the house yesterday. Authorities said two people, including the homeowner, were charged. No other details were provided.
--more--"
You know, rather than WASTING ALL THIS TIME and MONEY protecting CHEMICAL COMPANY PROFITS and advancing the cause of tyranny WHY NOT JUST LEGALIZE the STUFF and CLEAR OUT the JAILS for VIOLENT PERVERTS??
Oh, right, that would MAKE TOO MUCH SENSE and this is AmeriKa!!