Ha, what a laugh this thread title has become.
Looks like Big Pharma has got to him.
So much for hope and change. Steady as she goes, Drug Warrior policy as usual.
Who was it on here that lives in the Pot triangle?
I can't remember if it was pstarr or not.
Anyway, better watch out the Feds are coming to getcha.
http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/1553061.htmlDrug czar: Feds won't support legalized pot
Published online on Wednesday, Jul. 22, 2009
By Marc Benjamin / The Fresno Bee
•Agents seize $1.2 billion worth of pot in Calif.
Agents seize $1.2 billion worth of pot in Calif.
Federal and state agents have arrested 83 people for growing more than $1.2 billion worth of marijuana in an ongoing crackdown on illegal pot gardens in California's Sierra Nevada range.
Local officials said several Mexican marijuana-growing cartels helped set up the grow sites scattered throughout rocky mountainsides of eastern Fresno County, and warned more arrests were likely as the sweep continues.
More than 318,000 marijuana plants were destroyed in the operation, which also netted nearly $41,000 in cash, 25 weapons and two vehicles, Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims said Thursday.
•Agents seize $1.2 billion worth of pot in Calif.
Agents seize $1.2 billion worth of pot in Calif.
Federal and state agents have arrested 83 people for growing more than $1.2 billion worth of marijuana in an ongoing crackdown on illegal pot gardens in California's Sierra Nevada range.
Local officials said several Mexican marijuana-growing cartels helped set up the grow sites scattered throughout rocky mountainsides of eastern Fresno County, and warned more arrests were likely as the sweep continues.
More than 318,000 marijuana plants were destroyed in the operation, which also netted nearly $41,000 in cash, 25 weapons and two vehicles, Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims said Thursday.
•Agents seize $1.2 billion worth of pot in Calif.
Agents seize $1.2 billion worth of pot in Calif.
Federal and state agents have arrested 82 people for growing more than $1.2 billion worth of marijuana in California's Sierra Nevada range.
Gil Kerlikowske, who directs the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy, says agents have destroyed more than 314,000 marijuana plants at 70 different grow sites over 10 days. He warns that more arrests are pending.
Kerlikowske was in Fresno County Wednesday to express his support for the sweep, which has netted $41,000 in cash, 26 firearms and three vehicles.
•Illegal marijuana farms scar Sierra landscape
Illegal marijuana farms scar Sierra landscape
State law now allows marijuana with a prescription, and new legislation would make it legal for all adults, raising $1.4 billion in new taxes. But law enforcement officials say one thing hasn't changed: pot farms still illegally use -- and often scar -- California's forests.
As part of a massive sweep, more than 300 agents from 17 agencies have spent the past 10 days hiking through and flying over Fresno County's secluded forests to destroy tens of thousands of plants worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Authorities arrested dozens of people and seized dozens of weapons, Fresno County sheriff's deputy Chris Curtice said.
•California sprouts 'green rush' from marijuana
California sprouts 'green rush' from marijuana
A drug deal plays out, California-style: A conservatively dressed courier drives a company-leased Smart Car to an apartment on a weekday afternoon. Erick Alvaro hands over a white paper bag to his 58-year-old customer, who inspects the bag to ensure everything he ordered over the phone is there.
An eighth-ounce of organic marijuana buds for treating his seasonal allergies? Check. An eighth of a different pot strain for insomnia? Check. THC-infused lozenges and tea bags? Check and check, with a free herb-laced cookie thrown in as a thank-you gift.
It's a $102 credit card transaction carried out with the practiced efficiency of a home-delivered pizza - and with just about as much legal scrutiny.
The federal government is not going to pull back on its efforts to curtail marijuana farming operations, Gil Kerlikowske, director of the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy, said Wednesday in Fresno.
The nation's drug czar, who viewed a foothill marijuana farm on U.S. Forest Service land with state and local officials earlier Wednesday, said the federal government will not support legalizing marijuana.
"Legalization is not in the president's vocabulary, and it's not in mine," he said.
Kerlikowske said he can understand why legislators are talking about taxing marijuana cultivation to help cash-strapped government agencies in California. But the federal government views marijuana as a harmful and addictive drug, he said.
"Marijuana is dangerous and has no medicinal benefit," Kerlikowske said in downtown Fresno while discussing Operation SOS -- Save Our Sierra -- a multiagency effort to eradicate marijuana in eastern Fresno County.
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