When Wokism Comes Home to Roost

[LDSGator]

1 minute ago, Ironhold said:

The simple truth of the matter is that people are putting weed, cannabis, and CBD oil in just about everything. 

A few weeks ago I was live-streaming some radio station from a good distance away (the station I listen to in Canada?) and there was an advertisement on where a CBD shop was advertising its wares. I remember that the offerings included CBD - based pet products and a number of other things. 

Yup, couldn't agree more. 
 

I’m glad that people who use it to treat their illnesses have that option. Instead of “suffer in silence” we now have many ways people can live normal lives. 

[Vort]

*sigh* Another battle lost in the counterculture war...

I do agree about medical usage, but I seriously doubt that true medical necessity accounts for ten percent of marijuana usage. I suspect it doesn't account for even one percent.

[LDSGator]

36 minutes ago, Vort said:

sigh* Another battle lost in the counterculture war...

Well, you said it. But yes, conservatives lost this one too. 

[NeuroTypical]

57 minutes ago, Vort said:

I do agree about medical usage, but I seriously doubt that true medical necessity accounts for ten percent of marijuana usage. I suspect it doesn't account for even one percent.

Back ~10 years ago, when Colorado had legalized medical MJ (and not recreational MJ), you needed a doctor's prescription to get MMJ.

One lunch hour, I parked outside our local MMJ dispensary and ate my lunch and watched people go in and out.  I observed around a hundred people go in and out.

- Most (80-90%) were young men in their '20's, maybe early '30's.
- The area was perhaps 15% black and 20% Hispanic, but over half of the folks going into the MMJ store were black or Hispanic.
- Zero wheelchairs, zero old people, zero mobility-challenged people.  
- Chronic pain can go unnoticed by others, so this last observation doesn't mean much, but I saw zero indications of discomfort or pain or nausea.

 

I'd like to remind people in states thinking about legalizing MJ, to NOT do what Colorado did.  When we added the legal right to own plants into our state constitution, we basically opened the doors for the cartels.  Here's what I wrote about it back in 2018:

Quote

Hi from smoky Colorado.  We did it first, and we did it worst.  Utah is learning from us hopefully, and won't be making the same mistakes we did.  For the love of pete - do not, repeat, NOT, amend y'alls constitution to include growing MJ for personal use (medical or otherwise).  That has screwed with us royally.  The Cartels (and others) have moved in bigtime.  They are very good businessmen.  It's not the violent bloodbath we were worried about, but it is a reason Colorado has rental prices going through the roof, and a lot of rental property owners are stuck with tens of thousands of dollars of damage.

Here's how it works here:

- Go rent six to ten homes somewhere.  Hopefully out in the middle of nowhere on acreage with a barn, but plain old houses in neighborhoods will do also.
- Start by going to an MJ doctor and get a prescription.  That allows you to legally grow 99 plants instead of the 3 everyone gets.  There are half a dozen docs in the state happy to sell you a medical recommendation for $500.
- Bring in $10-$20k of equipment per house.  The plants need about a gallon of water each per day, they need lots and lots of light, and air circulation.  
- Install your equipment.  Feel free to modify plumbing and electric to suit your needs.  Feel free to drill holes through the floor.  The lights put off a lot of heat, so go ahead and install 3-4 commercial-grade air conditioners - just drill the ductwork straight through the side of the house.  The water will put off a lot of moisture - don't worry about the black mold that will spread through the house - you'll only be here for one, maybe two growing seasons. And it won't be you doing the growing and harvesting, it'll be the undocumented illegals you've pressed into indentured servitude.
- You get your workforce from south of the border.  It's a deal for them - you pay them enough to stay alive, and if they work for three full grow cycles, you promise them $5,000 so they can bring their family.
- One grow cycle is about 90 days. 

Let's do some math. Start up - $10-$50k gets you:
   Water costs: up to 99 gal/day for 90 days ~8,000 gallons.  
   Electricity costs: Grow lights + air conditioners
   Rental costs: You'll pay whatever they ask.  $3000/mo for a crappy old 2 bedroom house in bad shape?  No problem.  
   Half a dozen illegals to grow and harvest, put up in a hotel room somewhere and given enough money to buy food.

If you know what you're doing, each 90 day grow cycle will produce 500 lbs or more of MJ.  Sell it in Colorado for $1,400/lb ($700k), or move it to another state and sell it for $4,000/lb ($2 million).  Every 90 days.

Oh, after you're done with your second crop and you've started your third grow, tip off the cops on your houses.  They show up and arrest and deport your workforce, and you're off the hook for their $5k bonus.  The cops are closing in on you anyway, because neighbors are starting to report the smell and the 4 AC units running nonstop even though it's 40 degrees outside, and you blew out the neighborhood electrical transformer because of your lights.  Utility companies are closing in on you with their on-site verification, and although they're wary of getting tagged as a snitch and being killed by you, they'll be here eventually.

Does everyone get the math here?  For a $50k investment, you make upwards of $3-4 million in 180 days.  Per house.  It's all cash, no taxes.  You destroy a few houses in the process, but they're not your houses.   What kind of idiot passes up a chance to make a few million dollars tax free in six months?  Thanks Colorado!   (If you want to be legit, own and maintain your grow locations, and pay 20-30% taxes, you can make maybe $100k-300k a year in Colorado.)  

 

I had this all explained to me by the Colorado Springs vice cop running their MJ operation.  They've got 6 cops and a Sargent working 4 days a week, doing nothing but busting illegal grow ops.  They served 100 warrants last year, each one of them a story like I just told you.  This is just in one city in Colorado.  He showed us the pictures of the homes, the mold, the air conditioning units, the holes drilled through the floor, results of the electrical fires.   Some of these growers are so good at it, their plants are like small trees, you have to use a chain saw to cut the trunk.  

I had parts of this story verified by the 2nd counselor in my bishopric, a guy named Sean, with a rental property.  The cops called him one day, and called him over to his property, where he discovered his destroyed rental unit.  That was a fun two weeks for him. 

In the years since I told this story, I've also had this state of affairs verified by the El Paso county Sheriffs.  They have had to divert similar resources, I forget how many deputies and Sheriffs they have trying to keep on top of the county.

Edited December 8, 2022 by NeuroTypical

[LDSGator]

15 minutes ago, NeuroTypical said:

Back ~10 years ago, when Colorado had legalized medical MJ (and not recreational MJ), you needed a doctor's prescription to get MMJ.

One lunch hour, I parked outside our local MMJ dispensary and ate my lunch and watched people go in and out.  I observed around a hundred people go in and out.

- Most (80-90%) were young men in their '20's, maybe early '30's.
- The area was perhaps 15% black and 20% Hispanic, but over half of the folks going into the MMJ store were black or Hispanic.
- Zero wheelchairs, zero old people, zero mobility-challenged people.  
- Chronic pain can go unnoticed by others, so this last observation doesn't mean much, but I saw zero indications of discomfort or pain or nausea.

 

I'd like to remind people in states thinking about legalizing MJ, to NOT do what Colorado did.  When we added the legal right to own plants into our state constitution, we basically opened the doors for the cartels.  Here's what I wrote about it back in 2018:

In the years since I told this story, I've also had this state of affairs verified by the El Paso county Sheriffs.  They have had to divert similar resources, I forget how many deputies and Sheriffs they have trying to keep on top of the county.

I remember you telling me exactly this when we talked about the weed laws up there.