Here in Cali, it's a money grab.
I always lmao when I hear someone make the case that cannabis should be legal by saying that it "costs" the fed gov. x amount of dollars ect....
The flip side of that is they actually make money when you figure in all seizures ect....
I suspect that this is going to escalate in the coming years as the DEA fears that the fed may resched. cannabis, thereby cutting off an easy stream of income for them. Think about it, the cash, cars, homes, misc property, it's all money for them. It's low hanging fruit, the easiest people to take advantage of are those involved in MMJ, they operate "in good faith" for the most part, hoping that the fed will not get to them I guess. As for now, there are so fucking many dispensaries that the fed has a guaranteed income for the foreseeable future. They will never run out of "targets", and anyone caught up in it is shit outta luck. One of the many unintended consequences of MMJ laws. I believe there are many people that had only the best of intentions that are now fuct! For no other reason than they believed they were "operating under the law". Fact is federal DOES trump state law where the fed has jurisdiction, (i.e. cannabis as per the FDA scheduling it as a class 1 narcotic.) We could sit here all day and say it's not right, blah blah, but that's the way it is. It's alot easier to bust people operating publicly in the open than it is to bust someone making meth in their garage. "LOW HANGING FRUIT". It's a catch 22, you are actually much safer not being involved with MMJ from the feds, however you have a higher risk with local LEO. Even being in compliance with MMJ, local LEO's will often, (and do) help the feds/DEA as much as they can. So pick your poison I guess, this is why it is so important to have cannabis removed from the schedule, if that were to happen then it would ACTUALLY be up to the states on an individual basis, assuming that it would not be regulated under some other federal bureaucracy. (ATF Perhaps?) Bottom line is if the DEA didn't make money shutting down the clinics out here, then they would not be all over it as they are. It has nothing to do with protecting people, it has everything to do with the fucking dollars. To me this is what is so frustrating with MMJ, 99% of the "patients" that I know, could really care less what happens to clinic operators (outside of posting outrage on a forum), and are more concerned with how far they will have to drive to get some kush. This is just my opinion, but it is from first hand experience.
For example, Healing Nations operator Ronald Naulls is going to trial in Oct I believe, he was charged last July, had literally thousands of patients supporting the clinic, guess how many of those patients he has heard from since he was raided, jailed, had his property taken, auctioned, had his children taken, (3 girls), and almost lost his wife.
I will give you 3 guesses,
the first 2 don't count. Everyday people walked in and out of there happy as hell, very supportive, ect, the day he was raided and since then, he doesn't seem to have very many of those friends now.
I am sorry, I was kind of getting off the subject, but you get the point. Waging war on MMJ, even when they are "losing" is still a money maker for the DEA, I would challenge anyone to prove me wrong. So back to the point, yes they will take anything they can from you for any reason. Despite this I still love my country, I feel proud and fortunate to be an American, and do not have any resentment for the people that have ruined so many lives, because after all, they all have families too, many of them really believe they are doing the right thing, and of course, none of them make the laws that I feel are unjust. I get more angry when I see the dozen or so twenty somethings smoking jays in protest while a dispensary is being raided whilst yelling like ignorant twats while they huddle behind the 1 lady in a wheel chair that is actually truly suffering from a horrible disease. "The token MMJ patient" that is USED by those that are actually bastardizing the MMJ laws. These people do nothing but give ammo to those that oppose MMJ.
I truly hope that if you read this post, you are not angry at me, I am not speaking "hypothetically", I am speaking solely from first hand experience.
I do apologize for ranting, this is just a topic I feel passionately about. The things that I have seen in the last year have convinced me that MMJ laws do not help people that legitimately need cannabis for medicine, nor do they do anything to help the other 97% of the adults that choose to use cannabis for whatever reason they choose to. MMJ laws have made the DEA's job much easier, and have ruined the lives of many involved, while individuals remain content and happy so long as they don't have to find a new place to "get medicine". God forbid, after all the price of gas is pretty high.
I again apologize for the rant.
8182KSKUSH Reviewed by 8182KSKUSH on . could u lose your home if old bill found my mates 2x600w set up is there a chance they could they say the proffits from the grow pay your morgage and he loses his house. Rating: 5