XPost: alt.drugs.pot, alt.california, ca.environment   
   XPost: alt.politics.liberalism   
      
   On Sun, 16 Aug 2009 22:59:47 -0700, Tim Howard   
    wrote:   
      
   >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.   
      
   If the stuff was legal Congress would no longer get their back door   
   paychecks!   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)