XPost: alt.drugs.pot, alt.california, ca.environment   
   XPost: alt.politics.liberalism   
   From: tim.howard@suddenlink.net   
      
   The fire in the Los Padres National Forest, near Santa Maria, CA, has,   
   as of this writing, burned almost 87,000 acres.  According to InciWeb (a   
   federal government website that tracks fires in national forests,   
   wildernesses, etc.) website, there are over 2,000 fire personnel   
   fighting the fires.  Of course there are many other government officials   
   involved indirectly in fighting fires like this as well.  The LA Times   
   broke the story that the fire was started on in illegal marijuana grow   
   operating in the forest.  Eventually InciWeb will put up the cost to   
   fight this fire, and surely it will total in the millions, possibly   
   eight figures.  Most everyone agrees that marijuana farms in state and   
   national forests/parks is wrong, but they don't want to provide the   
   solution to that problem.  If marijuana were legalized or even   
   decriminalized, people wouldn't be growing it in secret in our forests   
   and parks.  They could openly grow it on their own property.  The   
   opponents of this idea talk about the "costs to society" of   
   legalization/decriminalization being more than the cost of "fighting the   
   drug war" or the benefit from taxing drugs.  While it is debatable if   
   there is any significant "cost to society" from marijuana, this fire is   
   another example of the cost of keeping it illegal.  If it was legal,   
   there would have been no grow in Los Padres.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)