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It seems the suppressed housing market and the glut of cheap housing it has created is responsible (along with prohibition-era marijuana prices) for a recent trend of suburban indoor marijuana growing.

For the most part the growers blend in to these communities by keeping a normal outside routine and no one in the neighborhood knows that marijuana is being grown.

Fans of the hit TV show “Weeds” might have seen this concept in one of the early seasons of the show as the characters used an empty suburban house for a large indoor grow operation.

With helicopters and other agents of technology being used to sniff out growing operations, it makes sense that more growers are moving their large outdoor grows away of the prying eyes of those who wish to do them harm.

The internet is full of videos and articles with advice for this need breed of grower. For instance, odor control and maintaining a reasonable electricity bill are essential elements of not getting caught.

In other words, everything must give the impression that nothing illegal is happening in the house.

As we should have learned during alcohol prohibition last century, one of the main reasons prohibition doesn’t work is because people will always find a way to make a profit. The more illegal something is, the more it is worth. The more it is worth, the more people who try to get into the market.

That’s why people making alcohol in their bathtubs was common in the 1920’s and would seem ludicrous today when you can go to just about any store and buy some beer. Hell, the CVS’ and Walgreens’ in my area sell liquor now less than 200 feet from where they sell the Percocets.

As long as marijuana is illegal, people will figure out new ways to grow it and conceal it. Prohibition is pointless.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com

A man in South Carolina died recently in the custody of narcotics officers after selling an undercover officer some cocaine.

According to officers, the suspect was in the front seat of the police car. He proceeded to down a bottle of water, followed by a bottle of Gatorade. Then he went into a seizure.

All of that sounds a bit shady. Since when are coke dealers allowed to sit un-hancuffed in the front of a police car? Since when are people under arrest allowed to “chug” anything?

The 46 year-old suspect’s family said he had no history of seizures.  An autopsy said the man’s only injuries were two cracked ribs, which are consistent with the application of CPR. The coroner is awaiting toxicology reports.

According to Stopthedrugwar.org this man - Rodney Andrew Haymon – is the 26^th person to die during domestic drug enforcement operations in 2012.

It’s hard to say whether Rodney would have died if he were not in police custody. But what really is the point of him being in custody at all? He sold cocaine to an undercover cop? Why? To make money.

Since cocaine is illegal, it is worth much more than it would be in a legal market. If it were legal the sale would be regulated, the black market would dry up and tax money could be used to build rehabs and deal with the real problem of drug addiction.

While in some areas this is not a popular opinion, you have to wonder at the logic of prohibition of any product when all it does is create a massive black market filled with violent criminals getting rich.

Why should anyone has to die during law enforcement operations when they are enforcing a failed policy?

Source: http://stopthedrugwar.org