Posted on 07/16/2007 12:50:33 PM PDT by BGHater
Marijuana cultivation on public land in the U.S. is a multibillion-dollar business, run by Mexican drug cartels and guarded by heavily armed members of U.S.-based street gangs and Mexican nationals, says the head of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).
"Our national treasures are now ground zero for international and domestic drug cultivation and trafficking," said drug czar John P. Walters. "We must push back against the invasion of foreign drug-trafficking organizations through increased law-enforcement collaboration, enhanced intelligence and expanded investigations to reclaim our public lands."
Mr. Walters made his comments last week during Operation Alesia, a multiagency marijuana-eradication initiative in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, the largest national forest in California.
Coordinated by the Shasta County Sheriff's Office with the support of the California National Guard, the weeklong operation involved 17 federal, state and local law-enforcement agencies.
"America's public lands are under attack," Mr. Walters said. "Instead of being appreciated as national treasures, they are being exploited and destroyed by foreign drug-trafficking organizations and heavily armed Mexican marijuana cartels."
ONDCP spokesman Stephen E. Schatz said violent Mexican drug cartels construct, operate and manage 80 percent to 90 percent of all U.S.-based marijuana plantations — most of which are in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Kentucky, Oregon, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia.
Mr. Schatz said those hired to tend and guard them do so with high-tech equipment and state-of-the-art weapons.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Once again, a great big ATTABOY to Jorge Bush!
OK, but there is nothing new here. This has been going on for a long time.
"We must push back against the invasion of foreign drug-trafficking organizations through increased law-enforcement collaboration, enhanced intelligence and expanded investigations to reclaim our public lands."
Well, my guess is that it is predomeninantly not foreigners who are doing this, but to the extent that it is: BUILD THE FENCE
Reason for this is the draconian policy of forfeiture for
ordinary yanquis growing pot on their own property.
Why the government feels compelled to persecute pot smokers
like this is beyond me. Maybe its a salary continuation plan for all the black helicopter drivers and ninja drug
warriors..?
I bet if it was legalised, there would be a great reduction in profit for the bad guys.
Yeah, but then some people would have to live with the knowledge that someone, somewhere, might legally be having a good time.
That wouldn’t go over too well with some folks here.
It's a gateway drug to other abuses of power. It is the drug war that has allowed the gov't to push the boundry of the seizure laws, warrantless searches, etc. It is also the crime related to the drug wars that has led to interest in gun control.
This will just drive up the price of another commodity.
Doing the jobs that pot-smoking suburban teenage boys won’t do....
That's too much for some to bear.
Well, you could just legalize the stuff and put an end to the criminal involvement with it overnight.
Threads like these remind me of the good ‘ole days when there was a heavy distrust of government.
There still is, but too many folks have just given up trying to fight the beast - it just keeps growing and growing.
The same sanity should apply to cannabis.
How many of these hispanic thugs would NOT be in here if he’d closed the border?
We’ll never know which is precisely how he wants to keep it.
Well, when millions of people battle for years to put the GOP in charge of the government, only to see everything get worse, its hard to justify putting any effort into it anymore.
“...the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).”
Wonder why they didn’t call it, Office of National Phamaceutical Control Policy?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.