Coolguy

Marijuana Farms in National Parks: Congressional Hearings Duck the Real Issue
Marijuana Policy Project | 11/28/2005

SAN FRANCISCO — Today's hearing by the House Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources into issues affecting California's national parks is unlikely to offer a real solution to the problem of clandestine marijuana farms in parks and wilderness areas, officials of the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) said today. The subcommittee is chaired by U.S. Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN), a conservative Republican with a reputation as one of the most vocal anti-marijuana crusaders in Congress.

MPP Director of Communications Bruce Mirken, who is based in San Francisco, plans to attend the hearing, scheduled for 3 p.m. today in the Hawthorne Room of the Golden Gate Club in the Presidio, and will be available for interviews.

"As a Californian who spent part of this summer hiking in two of our national parks, I want our parks protected," Mirken said. "But stepped-up efforts at 'marijuana eradication' -- the only solution offered so far at Congressman Souder's series of hearings -- are guaranteed to make the problem worse, not better. After all, why do we never hear of clandestine vineyards hidden in national parks? Because winemakers are licensed and regulated. The only way we will eliminate these clandestine marijuana farms is to tax and regulate marijuana, bringing the marijuana business into the open and putting it under responsible controls."

Mirken noted that the U.S. Justice Department's own data, contained in its National Drug Threat Assessment 2005, confirm the futility of marijuana "eradication," identifying "no reports of a trend toward decreased availability" of marijuana anywhere in the country, despite the "eradication" of 3.5 million plants last year. A 2003 Florida State University analysis concluded, "A long history of drug enforcement efforts suggest that elimination of supplies coming from one area will soon lead to increased cultivation elsewhere."

"Congressman Souder won't bring up the issue of marijuana regulation, because he's on an ideological crusade, not a quest for real solutions," Mirken added. "But the simple truth is our present policies not only don't work, they are making the problem worse."

With more than 18,000 members and 100,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit http://MarijuanaPolicy.org.

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killer12382

If you are going to grow pot outside, then the most logical place to grow it is in local, state and national parks. If you grow it on your own property then the cops know who to bust if they find the grow op. Growers aren't stupid (well maybe some are and those are the ones that get caught).

reggie_the_dog

if i could grow cannabis on my roof I would not go out and grow it in the nature preserves of the French national forest system. Hell, you find biological reserves and hunters are not allowed in, that reduces the risk that my crop will be found. Next year we are gonna try to contaminate the area with cannabis by letting a male fertilize a female and just leaving it in place next to a stream, we want to create a feral pot valley.

killer12382

Going to grow yourself some ditchweed huh. Ain't nothing wrong with that.