We’ve seen a spike in illegal grows here in Washington since it was legalized here. My guess is that the growers think no one is looking for it here and their ultimate goal is to export it to states where it’s still illegal.
Per the news, most of the busts in eastern Washington have a nexus to Mexican criminal organizations. Some of the busts in western Washington have a nexus to Chinese criminal organizations. Most of the people who are arrested on-site are typically low-level thugs. The folks who are pulling the strings are normally insulated from the grow op.
I’m not opposed to cracking skulls but the aforementioned spec ops option becomes a game of whack a mole. The people who are running the grow on-site and are expendable and easily replaced. Yes that individual grow is disrupted but it’s just a speed bump for the organization that’s actually running things.
Some of the local grows were multi-million dollar crops. As reported in the local news, one in eastern Washington was a bit over an acre and was valued at seven million dollars. These were reported to be high yield plants.
Talk to any ranger from the National Parks and BLM, and you’ll find that anyone who has been in for more than a year or two has been involved with these on federal land. The article from the OP sums up what I’ve heard, that most of these grows are environmental disasters. Trees are cut down. Human waste isn’t managed well by those who live at these grows which turns some areas into a septic mess. Chemicals previously discussed here.
I’m not at all anti-enforcement but if we’re looking for lasting solutions, then the focus needs to be on the demand, not the source. As long as it’s a lucrative career, there will always be a supplier.
IMO legalize cannabis at the federal level, let the states figure out how they want to regulate it or not within their state boundaries, reduce the red tape required to farm cannabis, and reduce the taxes to a point where the people who are doing it the legally correct way can compete with the black market.
In my experience, a heavy-handed enforcement approach is oftentimes a symptom of bad policy. Enforcement should be the backstop, not *the* solution. Again, just my opinion.
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