XPost: alt.drugs.pot, alt.california, ca.environment   
   XPost: alt.politics.liberalism   
   From: bliss@sfo.com   
      
   herman@comic.stp wrote:   
   > 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!   
      
   	Congress welcomes in the Prohibitionist donations in the front   
   door.  Donations come to the plates of the ministers who preach   
   the evil of drugs from the wallets of drug lords.  Prohibitionist   
   organizations   
   with one exception are similarly funded.  That exception is the DEA   
   which taxpayers fund.  The DEA doesn't come in the back door   
   they walk in the front door to secure their budgets for the next   
   fiscal year telling lies right and left.   
      
   	later   
   	bliss   
   	later   
   	bliss   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)