How Can We Stop Drug Gangs From Growing Pot in the Woods? Legalize Pot
One of the most embarrassingly mindless trends in the mainstream media's marijuana reporting is that of publishing one redundant story after another about the explosion of illegal outdoor cultivation in our national parks, while failing entirely to diagnose why it's happening and how it might be prevented:
This Associated Press report is over 1,200 words long, yet does not contain one single idea for addressing the problem. Not even a stupid hopeless drug war idea like "we need more funding for eradication," or "we need to get everyone to stop using marijuana." Apparently, the AP is simply content to point out to us that our most precious natural resources are being slowly destroyed by Mexican marijuana cartels and there isn't a damn thing anyone can do about it.
But, of course there is. Illegal outdoor marijuana growing will immediately end the instant it becomes legal for Americans to grow their own marijuana on private property. People don't plant pot in remote wilderness because they like to go hiking. The reason they do it is obvious, but not so obvious that the AP should be forgiven for writing so much without mentioning it.
Marijuana is illegal and until that changes, the problems associated with it will get worse every year. Keep that in mind. As devastating as our marijuana laws are today, they are actually causing greater and greater harm the longer they continue.
Pot has been grown on public lands for decades, but Mexican traffickers have taken it to a whole new level: using armed guards and trip wires to safeguard sprawling plots that in some cases contain tens of thousands of plants offering a potential yield of more than 30 tons of pot a year.
"Just like the Mexicans took over the methamphetamine trade, they've gone to mega, monster gardens," said Brent Wood, a supervisor for the California Department of Justice's Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement. He said Mexican traffickers have "supersized" the marijuana trade. [AP]
This Associated Press report is over 1,200 words long, yet does not contain one single idea for addressing the problem. Not even a stupid hopeless drug war idea like "we need more funding for eradication," or "we need to get everyone to stop using marijuana." Apparently, the AP is simply content to point out to us that our most precious natural resources are being slowly destroyed by Mexican marijuana cartels and there isn't a damn thing anyone can do about it.
But, of course there is. Illegal outdoor marijuana growing will immediately end the instant it becomes legal for Americans to grow their own marijuana on private property. People don't plant pot in remote wilderness because they like to go hiking. The reason they do it is obvious, but not so obvious that the AP should be forgiven for writing so much without mentioning it.
Marijuana is illegal and until that changes, the problems associated with it will get worse every year. Keep that in mind. As devastating as our marijuana laws are today, they are actually causing greater and greater harm the longer they continue.
Looking for the easiest way to join the anti-drug war movement? You've found it!
Legalization...the right way
Legalization,done the right way will cut out the black market and stop things like this.But with an excessive tax like the California plan and groups like NORML supporting $600 per ounce legal pot in places like Massachusetts it will continue.
Marijuana should be legalized because it is the right thing to do,not to give the government a cash cow.Excessive taxes on legal marijuana are just a different form of punishment than jail time,marijuana use is not,never has been and never will be immoral or criminal behavior.
AP Story mared by stupidity or corruption
William Aiken
While the AP story here comes across as clueless, you have to consiider that other forces are work in the lack of reporting on the legalization angle. For instance, the Partnership for a Drug-free America spends millions promoting the drug war and as a major advertising they hold a great deal of clout in determining any counter messages that attempt to share the airwaves.
The alcohol industry has successfully curtailed any campaign to put any health lable messages on their product and they also have an agenda to keep the drug war in the public consciousness. By funding "educational" campaigns that harp on the dangers of pot, alcohol gets an exemption from the kind of scrutiny which has hindered the public from getting a debate on the issue of legalization. This AP story serves an example of this corrupting influnece on the media's coverage of drug war-related matters.
Racial profiling
I do believe this comment is more sinister looking than appears. It harkens back to the days of 'yellow' journalism. With the help of the then fledgling AP. They were more than likely mostly responsible, for the Mexican-American War.
During this war the newspapers, proved their value by providing intelligence to the military. Went so far as to set up occupation papers, where they helped calm the victims on one hand. They also provided much needed feedback to the troops as to the most recent developments . Check it out: wikipedia/AP
US Journalism Today
The days of Ed. R. Murrow, Cronkite and other REAL reporters are over. Today's colleges don't teach indepth investigative reporting. They do, however, teach "cut and paste." Spell Check? Who needs it. If it's misspelled, it's someone else's fault.
Also, news organizations today don't have the funds to pay a reporter to go after a story. However, just being a news regurgitator is not a reporter nor writer.
And the ones that do have the funding, you wouldn't want to listen to the heavily canted storys they provide, complete with personal opinions.
"Just like the Mexicans took over the meth trade"
And just like ALL of the dangers associated with meth use are a direct result of our own government's war against us.
Your argument is flawed
When discussing pot, there are no "pushers", there are "dealers" who provide pot to "willing buyers", but no one is pushing pot on anyone who doesn't already want it. Some of the dealers in other drugs, the addictive ones, might be termed "pushers", but even in that arena I'd be willing to bet they are a very tiny minority. The thing is, there are enough users and addicts out there to keep any dealer flush, they don't NEED to push drugs.
I'm pro-choice on EVERYTHING!
IF you are in Favor of In Legalization.....
Please take a few minutes to visit Change.Org and vote for this idea:
Legalize the Medicinal and Recreation Use of Marijuana
http://bit.ly/cMZCHB
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