Mexican cartels poisoning US national parks through hidden pot growing operation

” I guess my tentative work around would be to call a state of emergency, attach Special Operations personnel to National Guard units, and dispatch them to deal with the situation”

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/california-s-governor-vows-crackdown-illegal-pot-farms-says-many-n970871

While that is what they are doing, it is just a political show. The fact is the feds have had dudes in full tactical gear repelling from helicopters into these grows for a decade now; no politics or involving of the people required.

Two hour interview with a game warden actually involved in dealing with this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avZpWVEpiV8

the feds have had dudes in full tactical gear repelling from helicopters
That puzzled me at first. I think you mean rappelling?

Cheers

“or worked over by SWAT more likely”

My point exactly.  You Aussies have a habit of dispensing with the formalities/niceties and getting down to business.

You Aussies …
Ha!

Cheers

Funny thing is that years ago we had marijuna plantations that every local knew where they were , except for the local police. ( see Griffith mafia cannabis)

Meanwhile, our northern neighbor has stockpiles of cannabis…..

From the Financial Times:

“Canada racks up 400-tonne cannabis mountain after production binge”

Might require a subscription to view the article..

The solution might be to produce massive amounts of legal cannabis and allow the market to take care of itself. That would be too rational a course of action…..

“Ha!”

Q.E.D.  ;0)

https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarabrittanysomerset/2019/11/22/california-is-raising-its-taxes-on-cannabis-again/#61270afe74eb

Brilliant.  Now that we’ve crossed the line into legalization, you’d think the state would do more to incentivize and streamline legal operations in order to combat the black market.  You’d think.  Sadly (but predictably), they’re turning it into a cash grab instead.  The deeper principle of harm reduction for both people and the land seems to have been lost along the way- or it never mattered in the first place.

“https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarabrittanysomerset/2019/11/22/california-is-raising-its-taxes-on-cannabis-again/#61270afe74eb”

Yikes,

Maybe we should just find these illegal growers and get them some friendlier pesticides and convince them to not dam up water — that should make it harder for the feds to find them so it’s a win-win.

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.

Oh… I almost forgot.

If you do decide to become involved in an illegal grow on public land and you wake up to the sound of a K9 handler telling you to get on your knees and keep your hands in the air, this is not the time to think you can outrun a German Shepherd or Belgian Malinois.  You can’t and it won’t end well for you.