According to this report, the military was called out to suppress violence in 2006 and more than 40,000 people have been killed since that time. This report shows a batch of marijuana that was recently discovered. It is a total of 300 acres and would be expected to yield 120 tones of marijuana. That is enough pot for one joint for every American man, woman, and child living west of the Mississippi. Amazing photograph.
Source link: http://archive.mises.org/17713/south-of-the-border/
South of the Border
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I wonder how much they risk by trying to produce in such large quantities. Is the probability of being caught that low? Or, were they able to get multiple harvests before being caught (at least, enough harvests to make the plant worth it)?
They grew it out in an isolated desert where they did not expect to get caught. The plants are already 8 feet high so it took the military practically an entire growing season before they caught on. It was probably detected by satellites it was so big.
Amazing…. And we really think that the state can stop this?
THC could be synthesized in the lab and variant mesomeres can have a potency of as much as 20,000 that of natural THC.
They could synthesize the chemical in a lab and transport just a tiny vial across the border and then dilute it in a large quantity of ethanol and then load tea leaves or mint leaves with it. Furthermore, it would not show up in chemical analysis because you would only need trace amounts of it to have the same effects and forensic labs are not calibrated for such trace amounts. So those who would sell the stuff could always claim it’s tea leaves or mint leaves if they get caught.
There really is no further need to cultivate the stuff aside the psychological barrier that nobody would want to buy “chemical” laboratory made pot. Claiming that it would give them headaches and that chemicals are bad for your health, oblivious to the fact that everything is “chemical”.
Just like the recent announcement that you can grow meat in the lab by using stem cells and electric stimulis. People all said that it’s disgusting, gross and that they would not want to eat that stuff, that they prefer “real” meat, even if what gets into their plate or burgers is far from “real” after all the industrial processes it went through.
My point is that if the market changes it’s mentality and that the drug lords become more technological, it will become impossible to stop because it would require just a tiny amount of energy and space.
It’s impossible to stop marijuana because it’s a weed.
It’s like trying to eradicate dandy lion flowers or crab grass off the face of the earth, except these weeds are very desirable by certain population and can make you lots of money.
The whole thing is just idiotic beyond belief.
My point is you no longer need to cultivate the weed. One could cheaply setup a small lab and make high potency synthetic THC in a space no larger than a bathroom and with the use of no more than 100 watt or less of energy.
That the stuff could be concentrated in a tiny vial containing no more than 10ml. And that this could be easily smuggled across the border and could produce as much smokable material as the plantation you see above.
When the market will become ready to accept the synthetic stuff and when the drug lords will use technology instead of farming, it will be even more impossible to stop.
*shrug*. There is no real ‘cultivation’ unless your a connoisseur or something.
Otherwise:
dirt + water + seeds + neglect = drug.
Why bother?
This is probably one of the reasons it’s still illegal. People talk about money you can make from taxes or whatever. But the reality is that a pot head can have unlimited amounts of pot for the rest of his life with about 20 dollars of seeds purchased from a online vendor.
Going along the rail road tracks in Nebraska or some other place like that at the right time of year and you’ll see pot plants 8 foot tall, growing in thick bushes, and following along the tracks for miles.
For people that want to avoid headaches…
Call me crazy, but I expect that 90% of the people that purchase products like this:
http://www.thebigtomato.com/ecogrower-max.html
Don’t actually use it to grow tomatoes.
Pot makes you stupid and ruins your ability to use logic, but that doesn’t seem to bother a lot of people. More power to them. Happy workers are good workers, I guess.
“Pot makes you stupid and ruins your ability to use logic”.
So does the State run education system!
An acquaintance of mine is an attorney and chronic user. His logic is more vigorous than mine, and I seldom use.
Ugh. “User” is such a loaded term. But I don’t dislike your comment!
Otherwise:
dirt + water + seeds + neglect = drug.
Why bother?
Because it takes space to grow it, it takes time to snip and trim it, it takes time and space and energy to dry it, it takes a lot of risks to grow substantial amounts, you have to involve a lot of people that could easily turn their back on you. You have to transport the bulk through the border. And indoor growing operations are even more resource intensive.
No, the future of marijuana will be synthetic and chemical. Once the market learns to accept it and once drug lords start to become more technological, they will be able to produce large amounts of it for dirt cheap with virtually no resources and risk involve and make huge profits.
Customers will enjoy extremely lower prices and less risks with the law.
Otherwise:
dirt + water + seeds + neglect = drug.
Why bother?
Because it takes space to grow it, it takes time to snip and trim it, it takes time and space and energy to dry it, it takes a lot of risks to grow substantial amounts, you have to involve a lot of people that could easily turn their back on you. You have to transport the bulk through the border. And indoor growing operations are even more resource intensive.
No, the future of marijuana will be synthetic and chemical. Once the market learns to accept it and once drug lords start to become more technological, they will be able to produce large amounts of it for dirt cheap with virtually no resources and risk involve and make huge profits.
Customers will enjoy extremely lower prices and less risks with the law.h
I think you are swell, Nate, but I disagree with you this time. Ambien is the one that makes you stupid.
The only way to stop it is to put them out of business, which can be accomplished by ending prohibition in the United States.
Cannabis has dozens of cannabinoids, THC being only one. Pure THC is a lot less fun… so I’ve heard.
lol @ patent # 6630507
This patent was filed by U.S. Government as represented by the Department of Health and Human Services:
Cannabinoids have been found to have antioxidant properties, unrelated to NMDA receptor antagonism. This new found property makes cannabinoids useful in the treatment and prophylaxis of wide variety of oxidation associated diseases, such as ischemic, age-related, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The cannabinoids are found to have particular application as neuroprotectants, for example in limiting neurological damage following ischemic insults, such as stroke and trauma, or in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and HIV dementia. Nonpsychoactive cannabinoids, such as cannabidoil, are particularly advantageous to use because they avoid toxicity that is encountered with psychoactive cannabinoids at high doses useful in the method of the present invention. A particular disclosed class of cannabinoids useful as neuroprotective antioxidants is formula (I) wherein the R group is independently selected from the group consisting of H, CH3, and COCH3. ##STR1##
The madness knows no bounds!!
Linux, you are dismissing the primary usefulness of growing hemp – its remarkable fibre yield, which knocks spots off flax, cotton, wood pulp, and a host of synthetics, and has more or less infinite potential for cost-effective applications across many industries and consumer products. And it grows like a weed on marginal land requiring almost no coddling. Following Bastiat, I believe the outlawing of this crop since the 1930s ( Barring a short reprieve during ww2 when the US army ran out of rope and expediently suspended their ban, before shutting it down again at the end of the war) is the unremarked, unseen and unlamented tragedy of prohibition. Counting the opportunity cost of all the foregone opportunities in technology based on hemp fibre would probably outweigh the more directly-measured costs of the war on drugs.
Not to get all “space cadet” on ya but:
what scares these guys about pot?
Maybe alcohol numbs one to the S#%T goin’ down but pot wakes you up.
Not to be corny, but, all those 60′s blue sky moments vs the big come down.
I mean really, a little perspective, stoned or whatever, of modern life in the USSA is perhaps a dangerous thing.
BTW, I’m WAAAY too old to be a hippie (sob)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzdvQOXxRD4
I guess I’m NOT too old. Tanx. Peace, Dude.
I suspect that many urban dwellers are over-impressed by the 300 acre farm. 300 acres is a large area for someone to be cultivating an illegal substance on, but not a very large area in the sense of farms and farming in general. Someone who cultivates most varieties of cash crops (corn, hay, wheat, etc…) over an area of 300 acres is a small farmer. If it weren’t for the government, cultivating 300 acres of marijuana would be within the capacity of most small “family” farmers.
The impressive part is that they grew plants 8 feet tall in the desert. This shows a few things. Even when outlawed and pushed underground, people find a way to meet demand if the market signals are there. Also, when forced to use the black market, wealth is destroyed. People pay high prices because competition is stifled. Also, people have to use resources inefficiently (growing plants in the desert to hide).
The guy claiming that cannabis could be synthesized in a lab has a flaw in his analysis. THC isn’t the only active compound in cannabis. In fact, THC pills already exist and they’re not well-liked due to the fact that they’re lacking cannabinoids, a key part of the plant. THC accounts for the “body high”, and when you simply consume THC it will only make you tired, sluggish, and hungry with only some of the medical values inherent in cannabis. Cannabinoids can provide a stimulating, “mental” high that gives one energy and a need for mental stimulation. Indicas, high in thc and low in cannabinoids, give you a body high, whilst sativas (depending on purity/if it’s a hybrid) provide a very stimulating mental high.
^good to know there are other cannabis experts here.
So, you are saying that synthetic THC loaded leaves would be like a banana flavored candy compared to a real banana ?
You could shape candy like a banana, give it synthetic banana flavor etc. But it would lack the richness and completeness of pealing and eating a real banana ?
Prisoners boil nicorette chewing gum in water and then dip used tea leaves in it so that the leaves will absorb the nicotine and then they roll this “synthetic” tobacco into bible pages to make themselves cigarettes.
I though that the same logic could apply to marijuana but if you say that there are hundreads of other chemicals and scents that contribute to the smoking experience of marijuana then you are right, it would not work. It would become prohibitive to synthesize them all and join them all in the correct amounts etc.
No, man. that banana flavored Laffy Taffy is out of this world delicious. And you can buy banana flavored popsicles by the bagful now.
Then what about genetic engineering, to engineer a strain of marijuana that does not look like it, that looks like common weed you find in open fields but still produces the THC and cannabinoids.
To stop this, authorities would have to go after all the types of weeds in all the places of the world because they could not differentiate this genetically enhanced marijuana from common weed.
As long as demand is there, supply will always follow…. You’re right.
Actually nate-m, you would be surprised out how many people we have that are growing micro greens, vegetables or even flowers indoors. We helped set up one of our commercial clients as well as can be seen here: http://www.thebigtomato.com/blog/2011/08/from-outdoor-greenhouse-to-indoor-grow-house – I know a lot of people use hydroponics to grow illegal pot plants, but we do not support or endorse that in any way. In fact, if someone comes into our store talking about Marijuana, we ask them to leave despite the fact that it’s legalized for medicinal purposes here in Colorado. We still do not want to promote or support that in any way. However, our store does get discriminated against quite a bit because of that, but oh well, it is what it is! =)
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