For decades, illegal marijuana cultivation has been an economic lifeblood for three counties in northern California known as the Emerald Triangle. The war on drugs and frequent raids by federal drug agents have helped support the local economy -- keeping prices for street sales of pot high and keeping profits rich.
But high times are changing. Legal pot, under the guise of the California's medical marijuana laws, has spurred a rush of new competition. As a result, the wholesale price of pot grown in these areas is plunging.
"Outdoor growers are having a hard time unloading their fall harvest," Custer says. "And this is six months later and when some people do move it, they don't get nearly the price they were hoping for."
That goes for both legal growers who cultivate limited quantities of pot under the medical marijuana laws and illegal operators who often grow larger amounts.
Prices are now much less than $2,000 a pound, according to interviews with more than a dozen growers and dealers. Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman says some growers can't get rid of their processed pot at any price.
"We arrested a man who had ... 800 pounds of processed," Allman says. "Eight hundred pounds of processed. And we asked him: 'What are you going to do with 800 pounds of processed?' And he said, 'I don't know.'" Part of what is going on is jwh-018. It's a new synthetic cannabinoid, is CHEAP and LEGAL -- not just in California. People can buy preparations marketed as K2 or Spice at virtually any head shop -- or get the pure chemical powder via mail order. It's not 100% the same as the real thing, but it's about 95% there. The stuff works, it gets you HIGH. Cheap. Legal. (Probably causes cancer, too). Oh yeah, it also does NOT show up on drug tests. I know a bunch of people who don't smoke weed anymore and just do JWH.
#3
Legalize and tax it. The revenue will be of alcohol or tabacco proportions.
Indeed. Spending hand-over fist to 'prohibit' the stuff patently doesn't work. Why burn money on tail-chasing and wild goose chases when you could make money from it? The same people will still be smoking it, criminals won't be running the trade, it would be regulated, taxes can be raised and, perhaps most importantly of all, you'd be treating people like adults rather than disobedient wards of the state.
#4
One of the biggest arguments against legalizing and taxing it is that not only can it be grown anywhere, but that its quality and strength can be manipulated to a great degree.
The cigarette makers have long known that this is a major problem. To start with, they want a weak and bulky product, so they can fill a typical cigarette tube with it, and it will be limited to only a slightly intoxicating effect. Any more than that could be a liability nightmare.
So, they start with cigarettes that are 2x, 5x, 10x, etc. in strength, like OTC vs. prescription medicines.
Liability again comes into play with use restrictions reflecting back on the manufacturer. That is, if you smoke a 5x, you cannot drive a car or operate machinery, or the *manufacturer* is to blame. See the problem? Stupid liability laws.
But the home grower doesn't have to contend with all this crap, so can grow his own at a tenth of the cost for commercially grown product.
#5
Anonymoose, you hang with a hipper crowd than me. My concern with K2 and other synthetics is that it is manufactured in China with all those implications.
The good news is that means the mexican drug gangs pot operations should become less profitable.
#6
mexican drug gangs arenb't too worried about the pot industry. They are making more money off cocaine and meth and it takes alot less space for those two too hide and sneak into the US and alot broader profit margin.I would guess more high grade marijuana is coming across the canadian border than the mexican but you still have the mexican shwag but no one wants too smoke that crap when you have alot better strains out there. I would watch the K2 stuff for tyhe same reason as stated above . It is made in China and remember those are the ppl who made the junk baby formula that killed a bunch of children.
Posted by: chris ||
05/16/2010 10:45 Comments ||
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A former Mexican presidential candidate who has remained a power broker in the ruling party was missing amid signs of violence, the federal Attorney General's Office said Saturday.
Prosecutors said that the car of Diego Fernandez de Cevallos was found near his ranch in the central state of Queretaro. It said some of his belongings were found inside the car as well as unspecified "signs of violence."
Posted by: ed ||
05/16/2010 00:22 ||
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TOKYO - Japan will postpone a deadline for resolving a row over relocating a U.S. base by up to half a year to November, abandoning Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's original end-May target, the daily Sankei Shimbun said on Saturday. The decision will be conveyed to the U.S. side as early as next week, the paper said, while Kyodo news agency reported diplomatic sources saying U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would visit Japan on May 21 to discuss the base issue.
In order to get the understanding of as many people as possible, we will keep seeking their cooperation even after the end of May,' Transport Minister Seiji Maehara, who also holds the portfolio for Okinawa, said on NHK television.
Public perceptions Hatoyama has mishandled the issue over a U.S. Marine base on the southern Japan island of Okinawa have eroded his popularity ahead of an upper house election, with a recent Jiji news agency poll showing support for his government had fallen below 20 percent for the first time.
Hatoyama's Democratic Party needs a decisive win in the upper house vote expected in July to enact laws smoothly as Japan struggles to keep a recovery on track while reining in massive public debt.
The heavy concentration of U.S. military bases and 47,000 troops on Okinawa is a legacy of the U.S. occupation of the island, the site of a bloody World War Two battle, from 1945 to 1972. Saturday marked the 38th anniversary of Okinawa's reversion to Japanese sovereignty.
Many on the subtropical island have long resented bearing what they see as an unfair share of the burden for the U.S.-Japan security alliance, seen by many as vital to regional stability.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/16/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
ION TOPIX > JAPAN, CHINA IN SPAT OVER [China's] NUCLEAR ARSENAL. NIPPON wants CHIN to either REDUCE = CUT BACK, or else TO STOP STOCKPILING = MAINTAIN AT CURR LEVELS ONLY.
Which CHIN is prob reluctant todo as it has repor asserted that its Nuclear Arsenal SHOULD MATCH BOTH THE US + RUSSIA'S.
IMO read, CHINA = desires enuff Nuke Warheads-Bomns + Missles to "PAR" = FIGHT BOTH AT SAME TIME.
SUB-READ, CHINA DESIRES NUCLEAR SUPERIORITY IFF NOT DOMINANCE AGZ US-RUSSIA???
Greece was told that if it wanted a bailout, it needed to consider privatizing its government health care system. So tell us again why the U.S. is following Europe's welfare state model.
The requirement, part of a deal arranged by the IMF, the European Union and the European Central bank, is a tacit admission that national health care programs are unsustainable. Along with transportation and energy, the bailout group, according to the New York Times, wants the Greek government to remove "the state from the marketplace in crucial sectors."
This is not some cranky or politically motivated demand. It is a condition based on the ugly reality of government medicine. The Times reports that economists not right-wingers opposed to health care who want to blow up Times Square say liberalizing "the health care industry would help bring down prices in these areas, which are among the highest in Europe."
Of course most of the media have been largely silent about the health care privatization measure for Greece, as it conflicts with their universal, single-payer health care narrative.
The public health system in the Hellenic Republic is operated by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, where centralized decisions and rules are made.
It provides free or low-cost treatment through what is essentially a single-payer system established in 1983 when the Socialist Party was in power. Family members and retirees are also covered. Like the systems in Britain and Canada, it has agonizingly long waiting lists.
It should be no surprise that in Greece, health care spending as a percentage of the economy is relatively steep. According to Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development data, it's higher than that in the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Japan. Despite all the spending, Greece could never cover 100% of its citizens, reaching only about 83% for primary care.
Today, the patient most in need of a room in the intensive-care ward is Greece itself what with government debt nearing 120% of GDP and the deficit at 13% of GDP.
The mere possibility of government spending cuts sent striking workers and public employees into the streets. Groups upset with the budget cuts have protested, rioted, looted and killed.
On May 5, three died in a bank fire fueled by a Molotov cocktail during a riot against the austerity measures that have been intended to save the government from bankruptcy and, as well, secure aid from other nations.
The AFL-CIO and the nation's largest civil rights coalition issued a strongly worded call for the Obama administration to sever its ties with law enforcement officials in Arizona or be complicit in the state's racial-profiling anti-immigrant law, also known as S.B. 1070.
Idiots.
In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and Wade Henderson, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (LCCR), a coalition of more than 200 organizations, urged the administration to immediately stop cooperating with local law enforcement officials in Arizona.
#2
So in other words, any state that adopts and enforces federal immigration regulations must be cut from ties with federal law enforcement.
Interesting concept. Sounds typical and is exactly the reason why we need the federal government to cut all ties with the AFL-CIO and we need to rid this country of that organization.
#6
What the hell, ask Zero to cut us out of the union all together. Won't break my heart. They can back fill AZ with PR, the perfect nanny state...
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
05/16/2010 19:11 Comments ||
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#7
There's something like a dozen other states contemplating adopting the Arizona law that's driving the left crazy, if they do this could get very interesting.
Posted by: Jefferson ||
05/16/2010 21:36 Comments ||
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The Obama administration has "screwed up the messaging" about its support for Israel over the past 14 months, and it will take "more than one month to make up for 14 months," White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel said on Thursday to a group of rabbis called together for a meeting in the White House. Obama just hasn't given enough speeches - yeah right
"Called together"? Prime Minister Netanyahu and his people were "called together" to the White House to explain why they insulted President Obama by building houses for Jews in Jewish neighbourhoods in Old Jerusalem. This has to resonate with the rabbis, trained students of language that they are.
"During the elections there were doubts about President Obama's support for Israel, and now they have resurfaced," Translation; the Willing Fools aren't quite as Willing
Emanuel said, according to one of those who participated in the meeting. "But concerning policy, we have done everything that we can that is in Israel's security -- and long-range interests.
Subtext: We in the White House know better what is in Israel's best interest than Israel does.
"Watch what the administration does."
So far, the administration has publicly and privately insulted the elected head of Israel's government, made promises to Israel's enemies, openly wooed opposition politicians both within and without Israel's government, and assured Iran that we do not plan to force them to end their efforts to achieve nuclear weaponry, despite Iran's oft-stated plan to wipe Israel off the map.
Dennis Ross, who runs the administration's Iran policy, Ross was also a big point man on fundraising from Jewish Donors to the Donks - if he was at the meeting is may because the Jewish donors aren't as forthcoming
tried to allay fears during the meeting that by calling for a nuclear-free Middle East, US policy regarding Israel's alleged nuclear capabilities was changing.
Except that some fools in the Whitehouse circulated rumours that Mr. Ross is suffering from typically Jewish dual-loyalty issues. So his presence isn't going to be as reassuring as his duplicitous masters had hoped.
Posted by: lord garth ||
05/16/2010 09:32 ||
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#1
hint to Rabbis: watch the hands, not the mouth.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/16/2010 10:47 Comments ||
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#2
"During the elections there were doubts about President Obama's support for Israel, and now they have resurfaced been validated," [... a little Dowdification, but really closer to the truth].
Just remember the tenets of the 'Chicago Way' that includes - you're all expendable you suckers.
#4
I don't think this administration has screwed up the message. It's very clear they don't support Israel.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
05/16/2010 13:18 Comments ||
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#5
"I don't think this administration has screwed up the message. It's very clear they don't support Israel hate Jews, but love the money they get from the suckers."
YTFY, Deacon.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/16/2010 14:44 Comments ||
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The Amalek reference is, I think, pretty much an early form of Godwin's Law.
FWIW, the Talmud ((Gittin 57b) strongly implies that the descendants of Haman the Agagite became Jewish Scholars. So one could read that as making the case that there is no further Amalakites or that some modern Rabbis are, in some sense, Amalakites themselves (or various ways in between).
Posted by: lord garth ||
05/16/2010 16:39 Comments ||
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#8
All very well, but by the next campaign, somebody will remind the Jews that conservative Christians vote democrat and that will do it.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
05/16/2010 20:25 Comments ||
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#9
Crap. "conservative Christians vote republican". Need more sleep.
AIPAC knows who the real enemy is.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
05/16/2010 20:26 Comments ||
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#10
White House Tries to Calm Wavering Rabbis
Translation: WH hoping to bait and switch one more time
Ay-Pee . . .
People want Democrats to control Congress after this fall's elections, a shift from April, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll released Saturday. But the margin is thin and there's a flashing yellow light for incumbents of both parties: Only about one-third want their own lawmakers re-elected.
The tenuous 45 percent to 40 percent preference for a Democratic Congress reverses the finding a month ago on the same question: 44 percent for Republicans and 41 percent for Democrats. The new readout came as the economy continued showing signs of improvement and the tumultuous battle over the health care law that President Barack Obama finally signed in March faded into the background. Supposedly the margin of error for this poll is 4.3%.
#1
The new readout came as the economy continued showing signs of improvement...
It's one thing to carry a story line when its events an ocean away. It's another thing when its visible around you with its impact upon community and family. Keep up the 'official' line and bury yourself deeper in distrust and irrelevance.
Excerpt:
The suck-and-salvage technique was developed in desperation across the Arabian Gulf following a spill of mammoth proportions -- 700 million gallons -- that has until now gone unreported, as Saudi Arabia is a closed society, and its oil company, Saudi Aramco, remains owned by the House of Saud.
#1
A "spill of mammoth proportions" in my mind would be something like the equivalent of 3 months use of petro by the US. Don't know how this figure would compare to that.
#2
700 million gallons would be equivalent to 700000000/42 = about 16 million barrels of oil.
While I do know some middle easterners in the oil patch who have both high intelligence and good work ethic, I suspect the main difference in this case was that someone went to the right person in charge, said "we think we can curtail the spill by..." and he said to do it.
I don't know who that person would be in the United States.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
