Click Banner For More Info See All Sponsors

So Long and Thanks for All the Fish!

This site is now closed permanently to new posts.
We recommend you use the new Townsy Cafe!

Click anywhere but the link to dismiss overlay!

Results 1 to 8 of 8

  • Share this thread on:
  • Follow: No Email   
  • Thread Tools
  1. TopTop #1
    dandss1
     

    To all you pot smokers out there..

    Thanks for destroying the environment you claim to love so much.


    https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081011...ot_environment

    Mexican marijuana cartels sully US forests, parks
    By TRACIE CONE, Associated Press WriterSat Oct 11, 4:20 PM ET


    National forests and parks — long popular with Mexican marijuana-growing cartels — have become home to some of the most polluted pockets of wilderness in America because of the toxic chemicals needed to eke lucrative harvests from rocky mountainsides, federal officials said.
    The grow sites have taken hold from the West Coast's Cascade Mountains, as well as on federal lands in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia.
    Seven hundred grow sites were discovered on U.S. Forest Service land in California alone in 2007 and 2008 — and authorities say the 1,800-square-mile Sequoia National Forest is the hardest hit.
    Weed and bug sprays, some long banned in the U.S., have been smuggled to the marijuana farms. Plant growth hormones have been dumped into streams, and the water has then been diverted for miles in PVC pipes.
    Rat poison has been sprinkled over the landscape to keep animals away from tender plants. And many sites are strewn with the carcasses of deer and bears poached by workers during the five-month growing season that is now ending.
    "What's going on on public lands is a crisis at every level," said Forest Service agent Ron Pugh. "These are America's most precious resources, and they are being devastated by an unprecedented commercial enterprise conducted by armed foreign nationals. It is a huge mess."
    The first documented marijuana cartels were discovered in Sequoia National Park in 1998. Then, officials say, tighter border controls after Sept. 11, 2001, forced industrial-scale growers to move their operations into the United States.
    Millions of dollars are spent every year to find and uproot marijuana-growing operations on state and federal lands, but federal officials say no money is budgeted to clean up the environmental mess left behind after helicopters carry off the plants. They are encouraged that Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who last year secured funding for eradication, has inquired about the pollution problems.
    In the meantime, the only cleanup is done by volunteers. On Tuesday, the nonprofit High Sierra Trail Crew, founded to improve access to public lands, plans to take 30 people deep into the Sequoia National Forest to carry out miles of drip irrigation pipe, tons of human garbage, volatile propane canisters, and bags and bottles of herbicides and pesticides.
    "If the people of California knew what was going on out there, they'd be up in arms about this," said Shane Krogen, the nonprofit's executive director. "Helicopters full of dope are like body counts in the Vietnam War. What does it really mean?"
    Last year, law enforcement agents uprooted nearly five million plants in California, nearly a half million in Kentucky and 276,000 in Washington state as the development of hybrid plants has expanded the range of climates marijuana can tolerate.
    "People light up a joint, and they have no idea the amount of environmental damage associated with it," said Cicely Muldoon, deputy regional director of the Pacific West Region of the National Park Service.
    As of Sept. 2, more than 2.2 million plants had been uprooted statewide. The largest single bust in the nation this year netted 482,000 plants in the remote Sierra of Tulare County, the forest service said.
    Some popular parks also have suffered damage. In 2007, rangers found more than 20,000 plants in Yosemite National Park and 43,000 plants in Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park, where 159 grow sites have been discovered over the past 10 years.
    Agent Patrick Foy of the California Department of Fish and Game estimated that 1.5 pounds of fertilizers and pesticides is used for every 11.5 plants.
    "I've seen the pesticide residue on the plants," Foy said. "You ain't just smoking pot, bud. You're smoking some heavy-duty pesticides from Mexico."
    Scott Wanek, the western regional chief ranger for the National Park Service, said he believes the eradication efforts have touched only a small portion of the marijuana farms and that the environmental impact is much greater than anyone knows.
    "Think about Sequoia," Wanek said. "The impact goes well beyond the acreage planted. They create huge networks of trail systems, and the chemicals that get into watersheds are potentially very far-reaching — all the way to drinking water for the downstream communities. We are trying to study that now."
    | Login or Register (free) to reply publicly or privately   Email

  2. TopTop #2
    arthousefilms
     

    Re: To all you pot smokers out there..

    I'm not a pot smoker, but I will tell you this...

    If we would legalize pot, people could grow it in their very own garden and there wouldn't be a need for this kind of elicit growing. I still think it is absolutely ridiculous that owning a actual plant, that mother nature created, could be illegal. C'mon. But it is perfectly legal to grow hops and wheat to make beer or grapes to make wine. It is a proven fact that tens of thousands more people have died or had their lives ruined from alcohol than pot.

    Pot should be treated just like alcohol. Use it all you want, but if you are driving under the influence, you get the book thrown at you.
    What are people so afraid of. The drug war is a sham!! If people could grow pot right next to their pumpkins and corn, the Mexican cartels would just evaporate.

    Honest to God, this unfounded fear of people having a little enjoyment from pot makes sick. Thomas Jefferson grew pot. It's a plant. BFD!
    | Login or Register (free) to reply publicly or privately   Email

  3. TopTop #3
    Photoguy
    Guest

    Re: To all you pot smokers out there..

    You could very easily say "to all you wood users out there...." the national forest service has allowed completely unsustainable logging practices including clear cutting and the destruction of watersheds, imperiling both wildlife and human life. Do you live in a home with wood products in it? If so, then shame on you! Unconscionable laws written to protect the chemical, drug, and liquor industries are the real crime.
    P.S. I absolutely DO NOT support the use of our national forests for drug cultivation or unsustainable lumber cultivation. I live in a house with wood products.
    Last edited by Photoguy; 10-12-2008 at 01:48 PM. Reason: clarification
    | Login or Register (free) to reply publicly or privately   Email

  4. TopTop #4
    Dynamique
    Guest

    Re: To all you pot smokers out there..

    If those who are so inclined could grow their own cannabis plant, up to a reasonable number, a lot of problems would go up in smoke.

    The other result would be that hemp could return as a legitimate fiber crop and feedstock for biofuels. That's what Thomas Jefferson and his colleagues were growing, not pot for getting high. (they probably had no idea that the plant could be used in this way.)

    That was a sobering article, but the culprit is not so much the pot users as the ineffective "war on drugs" and the outdated hysterical anti-marijuana laws -- as several other folks have pointed out.

    Quote Posted in reply to the post by arthousefilms: View Post
    I'm not a pot smoker, but I will tell you this...

    If we would legalize pot, people could grow it in their very own garden and there wouldn't be a need for this kind of elicit growing. I still think it is absolutely ridiculous that owning a actual plant, that mother nature created, could be illegal. C'mon. But it is perfectly legal to grow hops and wheat to make beer or grapes to make wine. It is a proven fact that tens of thousands more people have died or had their lives ruined from alcohol than pot.

    Pot should be treated just like alcohol. Use it all you want, but if you are driving under the influence, you get the book thrown at you.
    What are people so afraid of. The drug war is a sham!! If people could grow pot right next to their pumpkins and corn, the Mexican cartels would just evaporate.

    Honest to God, this unfounded fear of people having a little enjoyment from pot makes sick. Thomas Jefferson grew pot. It's a plant. BFD!
    | Login or Register (free) to reply publicly or privately   Email

  5. TopTop #5
    arthousefilms
     

    Re: To all you pot smokers out there..

    Actually, I would venture to say that Thomas Jefferson was getting high. I mean those guys were always into strange liquors and substances like amethyst. But they also used the hemp for rope, too. Native Americans were famous for smoking the "peace pipe" and pot has been around for thousands of years (if not millions) and enjoying it was no different than having a little fermeted fruit juice from time to time. Having gotten high doesn't take away from Jefferson's stature as a founding father and brilliant contributor to our country.

    But you're right about one thing, the drug war is a joke and has ruined thousands of families unnecessarily. At the very minimum, people who are busted for cultivating their own plants should be given be given community service. What's the point of locking them up for doing something on their own property with their own bodies. The whole thing makes me so upset.

    Whatever people are into in their own homes, be it growing pot for themselves, having consensual sodomy or S&M, eating special mushrooms, playing a Britney Spears cd, practicing some strange religion, etc.... that's their own business and should never be subject to outside laws. However, the minute some type of behavior is committed against someone in the outside world who is bothered or harmed by the behavior, then that's when the laws should come into play.

    People just need to live and let live.

    -Kirk

    Quote Posted in reply to the post by Dynamique: View Post
    If those who are so inclined could grow their own cannabis plant, up to a reasonable number, a lot of problems would go up in smoke.

    The other result would be that hemp could return as a legitimate fiber crop and feedstock for biofuels. That's what Thomas Jefferson and his colleagues were growing, not pot for getting high. (they probably had no idea that the plant could be used in this way.)

    That was a sobering article, but the culprit is not so much the pot users as the ineffective "war on drugs" and the outdated hysterical anti-marijuana laws -- as several other folks have pointed out.
    | Login or Register (free) to reply publicly or privately   Email

  6. TopTop #6
    hales's Avatar
    hales
     

    Re: To all you pot smokers out there..

    Seems like (another) good reason to legalize/decriminalize growing small amounts for personal use, and for legalizing agricultural production of hemp for industrial use. I wonder if illegal growers are hit very hard for the damage caused to public lands?

    I think the main reasons for keeping marijuana illegal are that it's a great source of untraceable cash for criminals/black ops guys, and that it's great for the prison business.. one of the biggest and fastest growing businesses in California. Not to mention justifying millions in funding for police enforcement. (of "victimless crimes")

    I don't smoke or espouse smoking pot, but I think hemp could really be a great solution to a lot of modern problems.. hemp oil for fuel and lubrication, hemp fiber for paper and plastics, clothing, etc., hemp meal, seeds and oils for nutrition.

    In spite of this article, I've heard hemp can be grown with much less water, fertilizers.

    Scott.

    PS: I looked on Google and found an interesting article that give some idea of the possible uses, benefits and downsides for using hemp for biomass energy production, paper, fabric food products, etc. :

    https://fuelandfiber.com/Hemp4NRG/Hemp4NRGRV3.htm

    Here's a good general article on hemp uses;

    https://www.erraticimpact.com/~ecologic/html/hemp.htm

    I especially like the ideas of not cutting down virgin lumber for paper, and for reducing reliance on overseas petroleum products.


    _______________________________________________________________

    https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081011...ot_environment

    Mexican marijuana cartels sully US forests, parks
    By TRACIE CONE, Associated Press WriterSat Oct 11, 4:20 PM ET
    | Login or Register (free) to reply publicly or privately   Email

  7. TopTop #7
    Braggi's Avatar
    Braggi
     

    Re: To all you pot smokers out there..

    Quote Posted in reply to the post by dandss1: View Post
    ... On Tuesday, the nonprofit High Sierra Trail Crew, founded to improve access to public lands, plans to take 30 people deep into the Sequoia National Forest to carry out ... bottles of herbicides and pesticides. ...
    Now wait just a minute! I've read this crap over and over and I note that the actual chemicals are never mentioned. What are these herbicides? Perhaps there's some RoundUp! in there to keep back the poison oak. But I see people buying gallons of the concentrate at the hardware store all the time. Look at all the herbicide the grape growers use! Thousands of tons of it. Where is the outcry? Do pot growers use that much? For what? I don't believe they even use it.

    And pesticides? For what? Bugs don't eat pot. The only problem I've ever heard of with pot growing is white flies and that's on indoor pot. Outdoor pot just doesn't have bug problems. Deer might eat it but bug spray won't help that.

    So what are these toxins? I've never seen specifics. Perhaps this is just another government lie parroted by the corporate media to keep our eyes off the real ball: the billions of pounds of toxins used by corporate agriculture every year.

    -Jeff
    | Login or Register (free) to reply publicly or privately   Email

  8. TopTop #8
    Juggledude
    Guest

    Re: To all you pot smokers out there..

    Do as thou wilt, an it harm none



    Quote Posted in reply to the post by arthousefilms: View Post
    Whatever people are into in their own homes, be it growing pot for themselves, having consensual sodomy or S&M, eating special mushrooms, playing a Britney Spears cd, practicing some strange religion, etc.... that's their own business and should never be subject to outside laws. However, the minute some type of behavior is committed against someone in the outside world who is bothered or harmed by the behavior, then that's when the laws should come into play.

    People just need to live and let live.

    -Kirk
    | Login or Register (free) to reply publicly or privately   Email

Similar Threads

  1. Gene Hooks Smokers at First Puff
    By Zeno Swijtink in forum WaccoReader
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 08-10-2008, 02:05 AM

Bookmarks