NORML -- Working to reform marijuana laws

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Obviously, it would be easy to start listing off some of the more obvious and negative aspects to marijuana prohibition – over-crowded prisons for simple marijuana possession, patients that must rely on expensive and potentially dangerous pharmaceutical drugs to treat their conditions, the potential for violence erupting in back-alley drug transactions, etc.

But we have another downside that is just as important – the damage being done to many of our national forests by large-scale pot plantations. See this NORML post about the problems of Pot ‘Plantations’ On the Rise.

Pot farms have been discovered in 61 national forests in 16 states this year. None of the crop harvested from these illegal farming operations is providing any revenue to our state and federal governments. Yet we’re paying unknown amounts of wages to workers charged with eradicating these crops being guarded by heavily armed farmers? Where is the sense in this?

Can the governing powers not see that if marijuana is legalized, then cannabis can be grown in controlled situations? Can the governing powers not see the taxes they could be collecting from the regulated sale of cannabis? Heaven forbid we would consider putting criminals and their criminal operations out of business, right?

Here is a story about an estimated $6 million dollars worth of marijuana being eradicated in one such illegal grow. What could Sampson County and North Carolina made in taxes, if this cannabis had been grown in a regulated operation?

Excuse me, I need to go check today’s news and listen to our elected officials cry about our nation’s failing economy.

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