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Hello everybody. This is Dan Bacon. I am a student of Criminal strategy. Finding some information about this. Thanks.

The panic over escalating outdoor marijuana cultivation just climbed about five notches on the absurdity scale. I feel bad for laughing because there's nothing funny about racial profiling or our failed marijuana policy, but it's just so ridiculous I can't help myself:

DENVER - A federal warning to beware of campers in national forests who eat tortillas, drink Tecate beer and play Spanish music because they could be armed marijuana growers is racial profiling, an advocate for Hispanic rights said Friday.

The warnings were issued Wednesday by the U.S. Forest Service, which is investigating how much marijuana is being illegally cultivated in Colorado's national forests following the recent discovery of more than 14,000 plants in Pike National Forest.

"That's discriminatory, and it puts Hispanic campers in danger," said Polly Baca, co-chairwoman of the Colorado Latino Forum. [AP]

No kidding. It also puts me in danger, being that it's only been a month since I last enjoyed tortillas and Mexican beer on a camping trip. The whole thing is so preposterous one scarcely knows where to begin:

Marvink Correa, spokesman for the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, said federal officials are painting an unfair stereotype of Hispanics.

"When I go camping, I'll be sure to play nothing but Bruce Springsteen," he said.

He's sort of joking, but this is a seriously messed up situation. The government can't go around telling everyone to watch out for folks who play Spanish music outdoors. That kind of hysteria has a tendency to get innocent people hurt. Campgrounds are already filled with paranoid drunken weirdos and they definitely don't need any encouragement to start flipping out on each other.

The whole stupid war on marijuana in this country started as an ill-conceived xenophobic attack on Mexican culture and it seems we've now come full-circle. This is a disaster and it wouldn’t be happening if our marijuana policy weren't such a mind-bending theater of idiocy and intolerance. If we don't want Mexicans – or anyone else – growing pot in our national parks, then the only solution is to let the American people grow their own marijuana on private property.

The Atlantic has an interesting story about the evolving medical marijuana economy in Colorado. The new administration's stated policy of respecting medical marijuana laws is beginning to have a visible – and very positive – impact:

Most of the farmers Kathleen works with have been cultivating their product illegally for many years--the oldest has been in the illicit business for 35, more than half have grown marijuana for over two decades. Now that they sell their product to a legal commercial enterprise, weed farmers will have to register their income and pay taxes on it, just like anyone growing tomatoes or tobacco. "To have these people coming out of the closet after so many years, that's the really heartening thing about what's happening right now," Kathleen says.

Pretty cool, huh? Just watch as the introduction of a more tolerant marijuana policy completely fails to destroy society and instead becomes the driving force behind a more responsible and accountable marijuana industry. These are nice people who don't want to be criminals and if you give them a chance to pay taxes and operate legally, that's exactly what they'll do.

All of this perfectly illustrates the absurdity of our opposition's frequent insistence that reforming marijuana policies will create more marijuana activity. Clearly, marijuana has long been part of Colorado's economy and the only big difference here is that more people will be paying taxes and patients won’t have to buy their medicine on the black market.

The closer you look, the better it gets:

Since marijuana farmers have begun selling exclusively to legitimate dispensaries, the underground market for illegal weed has been quashed, putting drug dealers out of business for lack of available stock. One such dealer I talked to in Boulder, who I will call Quark at his request, told me that with the supply of high-quality Colorado hydroponic weed redirected to dispensaries, he has only been able to procure cheap Mexican schwag for the past few months. Since the implications of indirect association with brutal Mexican cartels unsettles him, Quark is currently seeking a regular job so he will have money to pay tuition this year.

There you have it, ladies and gentlemen. Simply legitimizing one sector of the state's marijuana economy is all it takes to send shockwaves throughout the black market. Medical marijuana laws have done more to restore law and order than decades of aggressive drug war policing. It really is that simple.

Mike Gray's famous volume, Drug Crazy: How We Got Into This Mess and How We Can Get Out, is now online at Libertary.com. Mike's credits include the Hollywood movie The China Syndrome and the documentary The Murder of Fred Hampton, if you didn't already know, and he has been an important part of our movement for as long as I've been involved in it. This is perhaps the best and most fun to read book about the drug war ever written, so I hope you'll check it out and share the link with friends.

Drug Crazy: How We Got Into this Mess and How We Can Get Out Read this eye-opening book free at Libertary.com

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