Originally posted by Airhead
Once again, I'll invite those of you who think marijuana is victimless to come on up to Mendocino County in August-September and you can see just how detremental sanctioned marijuana cultivation can be to a community.
One can legally grow 25 plants up here- 50 if you register as a "caregiver." That means between you and your wife you can grow 100 plants in your backyard- and the only people it's benefited up here are the nurseries and people who sell fence boards.
The crime rate for home invasions and burgeleries (sp) went through the roof last year- the police officers' lament was that they didn't have time for police work because they were too busy answering pot related calls.
Also there were several murders, attempted murders and assaults, all related to pot.
We've attracted a culture of low lifes who rent a home, grow a crop, maybe cook up some meth.... and steal anything they can get their hands on to support them til their crop comes in.
Our children grow up seeing this general disdain for society's rules and conclude they don't have to live within the rules of society, so they're more apt to violate other laws also.
Personally I don't care what anyone smokes, drinks, shoots or snorts...just don't fool yourself and say it's a victimless crime cause it's not.... not for those of us who live in the middle of sanctioned pot growing.
That is an extreme though =) you can find one in every case. Mendocino is an example of what happens when people wait too long to come to their senses.
Yes they are more proactive when it comes to common sense, but you know that the last 20 years people have seen that area as a magnet, and eventually people will see it as a "job", then the competition drives the evil side into the mix and you have the mess up there that is mendocino. Unfortunately its still related to the lack of real control over the issue, criminalizing it hasn't helped anyone except the speech writers and law enforcement budgets.
