U.S. Marijuana Production Weakens Mexican Cartels

webbway said:
Now, to stay competitive, Mexican traffickers are improving their product and streamlining delivery. Well-organised Mexican cartels have also moved increasingly to cultivate marijuana on public land in the US. This gives them direct access to US markets, avoids the risk of seizure at the border and reduces transport costs.

The Mexican traffickers' illegal use of public land is a response to the dramatic increase in US production, authorities and growers say. In the northern woods of California, illegal immigrants hired by well-heeled Mexican bosses lay kilometres of plastic pipe and install oscillating sprinkler systems for clandestine fields that produce a cheaper, faster-growing ''commercial grade'' of marijuana. Eric Sligh, the editor and publisher of Grow magazine in Mendocino County, Northern California, said the Mexicans use a fast-growing variety and time their harvests to periods of low domestic production in the US.

After establishing sophisticated farming networks in California, Washington and Oregon, the Mexican traffickers are shifting operations eastwards to Michigan, Arkansas and North Carolina, federal agents say.

Like wily commodity traders, Mexican traffickers time their shipments to exploit growing cycles in the US. They warehouse tons of pot south of the border to ship north during periods when demand peaks and domestic supplies are scarce, Mexican anti-narcotics officials say.


In the national forests and public timberlands of Northern California, Mexican growers shoot at US law enforcement agents with growing frequency and use fertilisers and pesticides that pollute watersheds and start fires. A 36,000-hectare blaze in Los Padres National Forest in Southern California in August began on a marijuana farm run by Mexican traffickers, authorities say. The fields are so inaccessible that helicopters are needed to insert agents, who cut the plants with pruning shears, machetes and even chainsaws before flying them out to be destroyed.

This season, five teams from the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement in California have seized 4.2 million plants worth an estimated $US1.5 billion, a jump of 576 per cent since 2004.

Ralph Reyes, chief of operations for Mexico and Central America for the US Drug Enforcement Administration, said intelligence suggests that the big cartels are directly behind much of the marijuana growth that is taking place on public land.

''The casual consumer in the US - the kid or adult that smokes a joint - will never in their mind associate smoking that joint with the severing of people's heads in Mexico,'' he said.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/wor...-threat-to-mexican-cartels-20091011-gseo.html

Looks like the cartels are moving this way, how soon before we get the violence and murder like Mexico has?
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All of this goes away with the simple act of legalizing marijuana in the US.
 
Southern Man said:
That's why it will never be legalized, because unlike making whiskey, beer, wine or cigarettes that take a lot of skill and effort to make, weed grows like a. well, weed, then merely has to be harvested, dried out and stuffed into a pipe.

So all this talk about health impacts, addiction, drug crime and the like is pure bullshit to hide the real issue, which is that the government knows it can't tax it and will therefore lose money if they legalize it.
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How would they lose money? I used to think people would grow their own, but I am not so sure now, at least if the taxes are reasonable. You can grow some decent commercial grade without much effort. But, it does take quite a bit of work and money to grow the really good stuff on your own. But with economies of scale, commercial interest could grow high quality weed very cheaply.
 
RStringfield said:
How would they lose money? I used to think people would grow their own, but I am not so sure now, at least if the taxes are reasonable. You can grow some decent commercial grade without much effort. But, it does take quite a bit of work and money to grow the really good stuff on your own. But with economies of scale, commercial interest could grow high quality weed very cheaply.
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People do not grow their own tobacco... they wont grow their own marajuana, at least not on a large scale.
 
Jarod said:
People do not grow their own tobacco... they wont grow their own marajuana, at least not on a large scale.
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I agree. I used to believe differently. It is quite a bit of effort to grow the really good stuff. I think you would see a lot of people doing both. That is they might grow some and buy some.

Also, you might even see a market in marijuana services, like lawn services. That is, you could hire those with the expertise to spend an hour or two a week to care for your backyard crop for a monthly fee.

It's really hard to say what a legal market will look like with any certainty, though.
 
Jarod said:
Whats that?
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take some weed (roughly a double hand full) a quart of water and a pound of butter in a pressure cooker on a low flame for about 4 -5 hours

strain out the weed, separate the water and butter, reform the butter and use as desired - be careful thc in butter lasts for about 1/2 to one day

science behind this is thc is oil soluble and transfers from the weed to the butter

do be careful with this, i tried some that was so strong that i hallucinated for a while

it is best used with low grade weed
 
DonQuixote said:
take some weed (roughly a double hand full) a quart of water and a pound of butter in a pressure cooker on a low flame for about 4 -5 hours

strain out the weed, separate the water and butter, reform the butter and use as desired - be careful thc in butter lasts for about 1/2 to one day

science behind this is thc is oil soluble and transfers from the weed to the butter

do be careful with this, i tried some that was so strong that i hallucinated for a while

it is best used with low grade weed
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I would not even know where to get weed. I wish I could go to the grocery store to get some, alas I cant!
 
I seriously doubt all the people touting the grow your own card have ever dones so.
How is it different than tabacco, nobody grows their own.
It's not even easy to grow bad weed indoors which is what most people do.
 
Jarod said:
I would not even know where to get weed. I wish I could go to the grocery store to get some, alas I cant!
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i live in ca and am eligible for medical mj...

now that the feds are backing off, i can grow my own

of course i just need a few plants and when making buddha butter you do not have to dry the weed first...
 
DonQuixote said:
i live in ca and am eligible for medical mj...

now that the feds are backing off, i can grow my own

of course i just need a few plants and when making buddha butter you do not have to dry the weed first...
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If Louisian doesn't revise is medical mj, I'll be moving to Cali or Colorado in a couple years.
 
Topspin said:
I seriously doubt all the people touting the grow your own card have ever dones so.
How is it different than tabacco, nobody grows their own.
It's not even easy to grow bad weed indoors which is what most people do.
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Tobacco requires a certain climate, and in the US, quality product is limited to certain areas in The South as well as the Connecticut Valley. It then requires large air curing barns or somewhat smaller, but more resource intensive flue curing barns.

Pot, on the other hand, grows like a weed nearly anywhere.
 
Southern Man said:
Tobacco requires a certain climate, and in the US, quality product is limited to certain areas in The South as well as the Connecticut Valley. It then requires large air curing barns or somewhat smaller, but more resource intensive flue curing barns.

Pot, on the other hand, grows like a weed nearly anywhere.
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have you ever personally grown it?
 
Jarod said:
Where does one buy marijuana ?
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From drug pushers who hang around school yards wearing long coats and sunglasses. They are noticibly shady looking people.

Or you can ask your local policeman who he is planning to bust. Often they will let you go make a buy before they raid the place.
 
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