Emerald Triangle - Out in Left Field, Eco-NewsStephen Colbert asks: Have you ever smoked weed and then thought you were a bee? And then get ALL FREAKED OUT when you tried to jam yourself through a key hole? Wow, California is just days away from going broke? So, guess what they were talking about on CNBC January 22, 2009? The California marijuana money making machine. The show: Marijuana Inc. Inside America's Pot Industry. Apparently, there is an area in Northern California called the Emerald Triangle where 1000's of farmers are growing pot and supply more than half of the nation's marijuana. This show discusses the pros and cons of legalizing pot. Right now, cannabis sales are more than wheat & corn combined, nationwide. One expert said legalizing pot could basically save California's economy, help the nation, and lower crime. The people involved in this trade would pay taxes. There would be more help available for folks with addiction problems. Is this the GREEN energy people are referring too? Energy for the economy? Who would have thought?
Mendocino Coast
Potter Valley and Mendocino Valley have a lot of pot growing going on. Other counties in the Emerald Triangle are Humbolt and Trinity. Here is the flip side - a story about a family who moved out because the town "went to pot". The mother, a principal of an elementary school, said she could smell the residue on the 3rd grader backpacks. The house next door burned down. Yes, it was a pot grower's home and many of these homes catch fire. There are 13 growers within a mile radius of her home. Local growers use guns & pit bulls for protection. This principal and her family are gettin' out of dodge, ASAP. People are allowed, by local law (federal law says no way), to grow up to 25 plants for medicinal & recreational use. Each plant can grow to 20 feet tall and produce 2 pounds of buds and that equals $5,000 on the open market. Many of the grower's homes are beautiful and you would never guess the homes are packed with plants - no furniture. A facade. Growers use FedEx & UPS without the companies' approval, of course. Pot is a commodity with huge profits. 90% of these areas' annual budget are from marijuana. There is little risk of getting arrested because this is how the locals survive. What does marijuana growing do to the ecology of the earth? CNBC showed the mess left behind after large growers abandon ship. The environment pays the price when industrial pollution is left behind. Everything from the herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides to the generators diesel spills. Pretty crazy, huh? Oaksterdam University is devoted to the pot business. They sell business classes for the marijuana trade and four varieties of cannabis in the raw form to smoke or eat. They have a grocery store with marijuana spiked salad dressing, pot cookies, cakes, brownies, etc. The workers have health insurance. Yes, the university is located in Oakland, CA and they want the laws to be like the Amsterdam laws. The owner of this university has a pot grocery store (child care available) and pays $300,000+ sales tax and $500,000+ state tax on his business. The marijuana trade generated $11,000,000 in tax dollars for the state in 2006. In the 1970's & early 1980's Bruce Perlman was the most successful pioneer marijuana smuggler. His operation was well financed, sophisticated, and one of the biggest conspiracies of all time. We are talking about 50 million dollars worth of pot a year or 300,000 pounds of pot with a street value approaching one billion dollars. These are the numbers Perlman provided in an interview. He also said it wasn't hard to round up help. Struggling fishermen in the area, were quick to jump on board. (sorta' speak) The FBI noticed the jump in the amount of marijuana in the street. Special agent Chuck Ladding discovered the source - South America. Planes full of pot bales, flew over three mountain ranges, and dropped their loads on a small village near the the west coast of Columbia. The cannabis arrived in the USA about three weeks later. They sailed under and past the Golden Gate Bridge. Chuck Ladding knew law enforcement concentrate their resources at border towns near Mexico and Canada to curb smuggling. He figured San Fransisco Bay would be a perfect location to bring in the shipments. The scheme was run like a fortune 500 company. He spent a half million dollars every week. This money went toward the costs for the pot, stash houses, speed boats, money for the docks, and expansion in general. Lawyers flew money in suit cases to the Cayman Islands. This went on for four years! Eventually, a notebook Pearlman left behind was found in a Denny's restaurant booth (of all places) It had the details of the smuggling ring and financial reports. This evidence sent Pearlman to prison for nine years. Note: Law enforcement is overwhelmed and spent ten billion dollars in 2008 battling the trade. WTF and what do you think? Jay Leno says two thirds of Mendocino's economy is supported by the Marijuana trade and the other third is credited to Chips Ahoy cookie sales.
A Mendocino Road
The Arizona Republic featured an article, A Case for Making Marijuana Legal and Stemming Border Violence, March 15, 2009 Washington Post had an article about Mom & Pop Mary Jane shops. Sooooo, I guess those folks won't have to worry about Walmart taking their customers!
The above article is informational only and has nothing to do with any MLM company.
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