This gets more interesting:
Former Mexican President Vicente Fox is arriving in Seattle on Wednesday night to meet with local marijuana entrepreneur Jamen Shively.
On Thursday, Fox will join Shively and other leaders at his Kirkland-based company, Diego Pellicer, for a press conference at the Columbia Tower in downtown Seattle. They will announce details of the company’s new acquisitions and plans to expand domestically and internationally.
A lot of people have been breathing a sigh of relief that the DOJ has been very quiet about their intentions so far. But that doesn’t mean nothing will happen. Everything they’ve said and done in recent years has been centered around one basic truth – if you get too big, you become a target. In fact, San Francisco’s U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag said exactly that when it came to her decision to target the largest medical marijuana dispensary in the country, Harborside. As the war they’ve been foolishly fighting for decades slowly falls apart, nothing raises the ire of drug warriors more than seeing people get rich in an industry that they’ve been conditioned to believe is illegitimate.
Shively is an interesting individual. At this month’s Cannabis Freedom March, he spoke about how he’s only recently discovered marijuana, when a “brilliant programmer” he worked with at Microsoft introduced him to it. As a corporate strategist, he obviously knows a lot about how to set up and run a company, but it’s not clear he knows what he’s getting into when it comes to the drug war. Mark Kleiman, our state’s marijuana consultant, thinks Shively may be trying to scam some folks out of investment capital without actually crossing any lines that would get his ass arrested. I’m highly skeptical of that, but Shively’s approach really has me scratching my head. I guess we’ll see what happens at the press conference tomorrow.
Grandiose plans from someone who clearly does not understand the economics of pot. Compared to almost anything that can be grown indoors or outdoors in the PacNW and Northern California, Mexican weed in the quantities envisioned is of marginal quality. With a dozen readily available clones I can grow pot almost anywhere in Washington, harvest a third to half-pound from each plant, grown on a recurring four month to six month cycle. That keeps me and my fiends supplied and leaves some leftover for cash or trades. The state may be able to set up a grow-distribute-retail system in which good quality, affordable pot is available. But I would not count on vast amounts of revenue flowing in nor would I count on industrial scale networks.
…nothing raises the ire of drug warriors more than seeing people get rich in an industry that they’ve been conditioned to believe is illegitimate.
Well put. And while our failed “culture warriors” can, at worst, go over to small acts of terrorism when we refuse to obey their god-given orders, these failed drug warriors have badges, budgets, weapons, and training. They now face the very real possibility of having their gravy train of money and authority removed, and of watching their former targets go free and grow rich plying the trade they failed to eradicate. Americans generally make for very, very sore losers, and it may be an unpleasant experience for all of us as our unelected and unwanted violators of bodily privacy are forced out of their comfy perches of long-abused authority.
From 2,
Exactly correct! The DEA and others are not going to take legalization of marijuana lying down. We’re talking about threatening government jobs, government benefits and government pensions. Those affected will fight like rabid wolverines to keep their positions regardless of what the citizens decide with a free and fair democratic vote. This is going to be a difficult process!
#3. I could try and agree with you. People like Arizona’s Joe Arpaio seems exactly like the corrupt government person you are afraid of. He will fight like a rabid wolverine to keep his positions, benefits and pension.
I could try to appeal to your rational side and argue that in a democracy, if the people speak loud enough, and repeatedly, the corrupt will get the message, or go to jail themselves.
But, You don’t seem to be a fan of government jobs and will fear monger against them any chance you get. You know who doesn’t have a lot of Government? Somalia. It’s a libertarian paradise. You should move. Now.
@4 I understand Somalia has job openings for people who can operate speedboats and hit targets with machineguns and RPGs. Many of these positions are replacements for previous incumbents who, for one reason or another, are no longer available for work assignments.
@5 (chortle) Bunch of slackers.
I’m sure they would love “Ten Years After”.
It’s not always government jobs; President Eisenhower, in his farewell address, warned that our overspending on the military was creating civilian constituencies of contractors who could, in turn, use the very government monies they were paid for weapons to finance lobbying and other activities to keep the pork barrels rolling. I’m sure the War on Drugs has the same “private-sector” appendages who will want continued funding.
(Having worked in engineering for awhile, I can always spot the engineer who lives off government contracts: he’s invariably the loudest glibertarian bully in the office, forever whining about welfare recipients and other wasters of tax money.)
From 4, 5 & 6,
Perhaps your two should try the progressive paradise, North Korea. I’m sure you’ll both fit in well!
Gotta love that Calvinist Christian bullshit!
But if you design, build and sell weapons that kill, well …..