Plants Are Growing! Five Houses From A School!
Marc Randazza posts about a pot bust in Henderson, Nevada, "Grow House Busted: Children Saved(?)":
He quotes KLAS:
The house is five houses down from a school."We act upon every tip that we get. It makes us feel good that we are getting a steady amount of tips every night," Lt. Laz Chavez of Metro Police said. "We have a lot of children that walk by this house to go to and from the school, and that just goes to show the disregard that these criminals that put together these grow houses."
Police said the house posed a danger to the residents living near by and to a school just a half block away.
Marc puts it right in perspective:
Because, umm, you know... plants growing in a house... that, ummm, yeah, that shit is dangerous.The mere suggestion that marijuana inside a house poses a threat to children walking by is just asinine. It shows the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of the war on drugs. If you really need to stoop to that level of lying, that level of bullshit, then you should turn in your badge and go be a Wal-Mart greeter, because it displays that you suffer from either a complete lack of intelligence or a complete lack of integrity. Nobody should be walking around on the street with a gun and a badge who lacks in either of those categories.
Do your job, if you must, and you lack the courage to actually stand up for what is right.
But stop fucking lying.
To be fair... while the plants that grow inside may not pose an actual threat to the kids, the type of people who come in and out of that house might. It's not just sweet organic hippies growing, buying and selling pot.
And yes, I just made an argument for legalization, but the fact is it isn't legal yet, it is a black market drug, and black markets tend to attract shady types.
NicoleK at October 21, 2012 11:59 PM
Second what NiloleK said.
I have it from the personal experience of people dear to me: pot isn't the "gateway". Nobody tries crack, coke or something worse because of pot.
They do it because the people who brought them pot brought them something more.
Now: tell me you want a neighbor who breaks the law, more then you want one who works to change the law. I don't think you can be honest and say that.
Where do guys like this get their drugs - and - how would this have been prevented by making it easier to get them?
Radwaste at October 22, 2012 2:47 AM
The plant won't hurt the kids, no. But if they're selling, that could hurt the kids. Violence at drug dealers houses isn't unknown. Anyway, everyone with half a brain knows you can't do shit within sight of a school. They wanted to grow pot, they should have located themselves elsewhere. That's not asking a lot of them.
momof4 at October 22, 2012 6:21 AM
As someone who thinks the drug war is a waste of resources, and that all drugs should be legal, I have to agree with the above. As long as pot is illegal, a grow house is a danger to the surrounding area. Even if the people coming and going are not shady types, it's not unheard of that a typo on the warrant could leave a neighbor dead at the hands of a S.W.A.T. team.
clinky at October 22, 2012 7:40 AM
I can sort of sympathize too. I've seen plenty of cases where setting a house up as a grow house results in dangers to the neighborhood -- not necessarily in terms of who is there, but in terms of what they do to the house itself. They take out bearing walls and weaken the structure, creating a risk of collapse. They run water indiscriminately, which encourages the growth of black mold. And they often steal power and run unsafe wiring, causing electrical problems for neighbors, and creating risks of fire and electrocution. Finally, grow houses are nearly always rented and the landlords often have no idea what is being done with their property until it's too late.
You can say that all of these are side effects of drugs not being legal, and you'd be right. But as long as drugs are illegal, I have no problem with cops going after grow houses in neighborhoods.
Cousin Dave at October 22, 2012 8:02 AM
Good point, clinky.
And doesn't Mr. Randazza's argument lose a lot of credibility when he compares the Henderson, Nevada cops to the East German Stassi?
Let's hope that when we try to change our drug policies, we rely on soundly reasoned bills or initiatives, rather than this stuff.
Besides, do the growers even want cannabis legalized? I used to have a sister whose ex grew cannabis. Did he want it legalized? Hell no. You get a better price and don't have to pay taxes on the black market.
Do your job, if you must, and you lack the courage to actually stand up for what is right. But stop fucking lying.
Yeah, maybe -- but you can say the same thing (can't you?) to the productive doctors, nurses, computer service business owners, civil engineers, journalists, restaurant owners, waitresses, equipment operators and ditch diggers who won't speak up about decriminalizing something that they have used for decades. Reason had a good blog post about this back on April 20th.
Jason S. at October 22, 2012 10:06 AM
"Did he want it legalized? Hell no. You get a better price and don't have to pay taxes on the black market."
Here's a chuckle... I remember back in the early '70s, when the common assumption was that nationwide legalization was just around the corner. Rumor among the tokers had it that the big tobacco companies already had all kinds of trademarks registered and marketing campaigns ready to roll the moment the legislation was signed. The funny thing is, there was widespread opposition to this among the tokers -- "Down with corporations, man!" They preferred for it to remain illegal, so they wouldn't have to suffer the indignity of it being widely available to the masses.
Cousin Dave at October 23, 2012 1:19 PM
That is funny.
I wonder what will happen when we legalize it?
Jason S. at October 23, 2012 6:16 PM
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