helicopters over America. Yes, the time for the annual outdoor marijuana harvest draws near, and newspapers from Kentucky to California are full of stories about cops flying out to spy out the pot fields, rip up the crops, and bust the farmers.
It is, of course, an exercise in futility. Massive outdoor eradication programs have been funded for the past two decades--can anyone point to a reduction in the availability of marijuana?
Officials in California have been crowing lately about how they destroyed $40 million worth of marijuana in recent days. Well, that's $40 million that will not make it's way into the state's economy, will not have a multiplier effect on local businesses, will not increase local economic activity. Thanks, guys.
These annual eradication campaigns are nothing more than a jobs program for cops who would otherwise have to earn an honest living and a price support program for the majority of farmers who don't get busted. Personally, I'd rather have cheaper pot and smaller law enforcement budgets.
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