Editorial: Marijuana growers are wrecking California

Sacramento Bee ^ | July 6, 2015 | By The Bee Editorial Board

[Brad from Tennessee]

Acres of ancient trees are disappearing and illegal marijuana farms are popping up in their place. Streams and rivers are being sucked dry, diverted sometimes miles away through plastic pipes into tanks. Several species of fish, along with a rare breed of wild rodent, are on the verge of extinction.

[familyop]

"As a young fella I used to love the stuff . Now, I have absolutely no use for it whatsoever . It contributes substantially to the dumbing down of America ,and to the inspiration of insane Liberal voting habits. An mj stoned populous is a national security threat . Same as if everyone were drunks . America needs to get a grip and sober up in all ways . We live in far too dangerous & serious times to just go through life loaded ."

Agreed. It's a tool for slavery.

[ConservingFreedom]

An mj stoned populous is a national security threat . Same as if everyone were drunks .

But far from everyone are drunks, although alcohol is legal - so where are the grounds to fear that we might become "an mj stoned populace"?

[BobL]

And people STILL INSIST that drugs are a victimless crime. Tell it to California.

SICKENING.

[Milton Miteybad]

That article says confiscated pot plants use “upward of 1.8 billion gallons”...

That accounts for the confiscated plants. The plants that aren't confiscated, however, continue growing and using water.

True...the water use by illicit marijuana operations is a fairly small fraction of total agricultural water use in CA. It probably wouldn't be an issue at all if there weren't a severe drought to deal with. But operators growing both row and tree crops in CA have had to cease operations altogether, letting fields and orchards lie fallow because they couldn't get the necessary allotment of water for their operations. In the meantime, these illegal marijuana operators are tapping stressed water supplies to grow an illicit crop. A farmer who had to plow his 160 acres of lettuce under because he didn't get his scheduled allotment of water to bring the crop to harvest would be justified in his outrage when he sees a clandestine pot grower illegally diverting water from a stream with a homemade pipeline fashioned out of PVC. And I can't say I'd blame him.

[LeoWindhorse]

the youth of America , are fast going to that exact place , as we speak . From the mid 60’s this has been the trend and it has gathered the momentum of a freight train ( the stoned train of thought) The ‘if it feels good do it ‘ few moral constraints , disrespect or defy authority , challenge original laws , advocate anarchy , emulate Leftism and ignore Islamo-nazism ...has got to stop . Or we are doomed . There will be no America in 100 years if this insane ‘social experiment ‘ is allowed to continue unchecked . It can’t be legislated against because for a long time now large segments of our populous ( youth primarily ) have come to casually disregard law(s) if they don’t like them . The constant getting high has made them oblivious to the mortal dangers that loom and threaten us all. Sometime I think that ALL the good youth of America wear the uniform of the Armed Forces of the United States . 90% of all others are clueless dupes . This can all be changed . But not if we continue with our present ‘asleep at the wheel ‘ course . America and certainly America’s youth , those inclined to do drugs , need to WAKE UP !
But how ? The stoners are already in ‘Strawberry Fields Forever ‘

[LeoWindhorse]

hunt the growers , the forest needs fertilizer

[Clintonfatigued]

Open borders, extremist water policies, leftist judges, and exorbitant spending are what’s wrecking California.

[Impy]

Marijuana growers smokers are wrecking have already wrecked California.

Fixed.

[minnesota_bound]

Dead body in he photo in the article.....
He was stealing water so was killed.

[Osage Orange]

Well....that’s just a bunch of pine nuts.

[ConservingFreedom]

And people STILL INSIST that drugs are a victimless crime. Tell it to California.

Stealing water is the crime - which would be less likely to happen if marijuana was a completely legal and regulated product.

[ConservingFreedom]

From the mid 60’s this has been the trend and it has gathered the momentum of a freight train

Actually, pot use today is considerably lower than it was at its height in the '60s.

[ConservingFreedom]

True...the water use by illicit marijuana operations is a fairly small fraction of total agricultural water use in CA. [...] A farmer who had to plow his 160 acres of lettuce under because he didn't get his scheduled allotment of water to bring the crop to harvest would be justified in his outrage when he sees a clandestine pot grower illegally diverting water from a stream with a homemade pipeline fashioned out of PVC. And I can't say I'd blame him.

Nor I - just adding the perspective you noted about relative water use.

[Smokin' Joe]

Just like tobacco, you can grow it just about anywhere

I grew some (about a dozen plants) in ND, just on a lark (climate zone 3). It can be done. They leafed out beautifully, grew to 6 ft. and bloomed before the first frost.

I would have topped them out and let them go a couple of weeks, but we had a cold snap (last frost here 1st week of June, first frost can be as early as 1st week of Sept.), so I just cut 'em rather than let them freeze.

Neighbors stopped in to ask what those beautiful plants were--they'd never seen tobacco 'on the hoof'.

[ConservingFreedom]

Until the fourth-from-last word of your post, I didn't realize you were talking about tobacco. :-D

[Vigilantcitizen]

And if the confederate battle flag and weed get together...the mystical, inherent, evil reaches biblical proportions. Twinkie and tacos are murdered by the bushel.

Thats what my version of “Reefer madness” said at my school.

[ConservingFreedom]

[Smokin' Joe]

I reread it later and was glad that I specified at the end. I did not realize when I posted how easily that could have been misinterpreted.

[varyouga]

Stop getting high and defending your drug of choice!

It’s obviously illegal for good reason! To protect the children and save civilization!

/WOD-warrior-while-taking-a-swig-of-Jack

[rikkir]

I wonder what it is about pot growing that causes all this destruction, yet all other agriculture seemingly does not.

I think it’s more about where, than what.

Here in KY we have thousands and thousands of acres of unused tobacco base that would perfect for marijuana growth. Would be a huge cash cow for farmers especially if divided up for recreational/medical marijuana, and hemp farms. We already have in place the barns for drying that were previously used for tobacco, and the markets to sell at.

Few farms in CA go out of business. They grow a lot of produce out there, but without proper irrigation, the only thing that grows is cactus. Northern CA, not enough flatland, or water supply.