Pot Growers Are New Target in "War on Terror"

Pot Growers Are New Target in "War on Terror"

www.alternet.org

It's no wonder then that federal officials are now revisiting their previously failed effort to link terrorism to cannabis, the only real cash cow in the government's so-called War on Drugs. Only difference is, this time, they don't have Tommy Chong as a scapegoat.

Unable or unwilling to solve the nation's crippling meth addiction or its hypocritical dependency on prescribed narcotics like oxycontin, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) recently rang the terrorism alarm to..

(visit the link for the full news article)

Mod Edit: Removed copy/paste over the 500 character limit.

[edit on 29-8-2007 by UM_Gazz]

If you're going to go after people who dabble in controlled substances, why not go after the one's that do most harm?

They can't prove cannabis is harmful so they go after it by other means.
www.alternet.org...

Still, easy targets are what governments like......

www.alternet.org
(visit the link for the full news article)

What a load of BS! Just because it's hard to track meth-heads and their labs/lairs, they go after potheads who don't bother people? Crystal methamphetamine is a seriously [SNIP] substance, causing people to change their behaviour (in a seriously cracked manner).

Meth-heads are quick to anger and usually have bad-breath to boot. Not to mention they WOULD NOT listen to you, rather they want you to listen to their inane babblings that do not make sense whatsoever. They can become violent, they are paranoid to the point of debilitation and eventually they become schizophrenic. Check out the symptoms of schizophrenia and the that of amphetamine psychosis in the DSM-IV -- they're virtually identical.

Now what's a pot-head gonna do, besides not do work. The only link that I can make that connects pot growers to terrorism is hashish growing at the border of Baluchistan in Pakistan and Afghanistan. If they were going after those crazy Patans, I support them all the way. Pashtuns/Patans.... :shk: I've not met a single that isn't insane in the membrane.

Mod Edit: Profanity/Circumvention Of Censors – Please Review This Link.



[edit on 29-8-2007 by elevatedone]

Wow, considering all the drugs being produced in the middleast and being brought to North America by the same people who started the "War on Terror" this is a freakin' joke.:shk:

Frankly, this doesn't surprise me at all. This is the time of year when the "powers that be" typically launch a new assault in their "War against Pot".

Just in case you still don't make the association between the war against marijuana and the time of year, think Autumn. Yep, right around this time, every year, the authorities begin their efforts to find and destroy hundreds of thousands of "guerrilla gardens" that have been planted in farmers' fields, woodlots and, most frequently, in National Parks. It's Autumn and that means "harvest time"!

Originally posted by benevolent tyrant
Frankly, this doesn't surprise me at all. This is the time of year when the "powers that be" typically launch a new assault in their "War against Pot".

Interesting. It's the same time of the year the Malaysian government launch their War on Ganja. Why this is so baffles me because we're in the equatorial region where Autumn, Winter, Spring doesn't matter because it's Summer all year round. Plus supplies that aren't produced locally are imported from Thailand or Indonesia, where it's Summer all year round, too.

I had noticed the "seasonal" announcements regarding new initiatives in the "War against Drugs" --Marijuana in particular, long ago. Given even a modicum of consideration, it's not difficult to understand why the government would pick this time of year to do so.

Typically, people who grow Marijuana for large-scale commercial purposes do so outdoors. Farmers' fields, along creeks, railway lines, rural woodlots and National Parks are "favorite" locations chosen for this illegal activity. However, unlike the "guerrilla gardener" who consciously elects to illegally grow a handful of Marijuana plants to meet individual requirements or, to use the term, "personal". That is, a grower who is not "going commercial". The large scale, commercial Marijuana Farmer grows large plots or even fields of this illegal plant and is at his most vulnerable at harvest time. To facilitate farming and harvesting Marijuana in large amounts, commercial farmers take the risk and often plant large "squares" in and among cornfields or in "cut outs", where large areas -- i.e., an acre or two for example, of forest have been cleared. Readily spotted by aircraft and farmers, advanced awareness of maturing Marijuana typically alert law enforcement and enable the destruction AND occasionally, arrests.

It is understood why governments and law enforcement typically announce (often with great media fanfare) a new "War on Pot". The obvious vulnerabilities of the illegal farmer, at this time of year, practically guarantee some modicum of success. Autumn is the time of year when the Network News shows often present us with video footage of camouflaged police officers, in the field, hacking away at marijuana plants with machetes and tossing large cannabis plants into "smoky" bon-fires (Just a comment but have you ever noticed how many police officers are often shown standing around that smoldering mound of illegal contraband?). "Another victory in the never ending war on drugs".

When I read your reply:

Originally posted by Beachcoma

Originally posted by benevolent tyrant
Frankly, this doesn't surprise me at all. This is the time of year when the "powers that be" typically launch a new assault in their "War against Pot".

Interesting. It's the same time of the year the Malaysian government launch their War on Ganja. Why this is so baffles me because we're in the equatorial region where Autumn, Winter, Spring doesn't matter because it's Summer all year round. from Thailand or Indonesia, where it's Summer all

I had to admit that I didn't understand the correlation, if there was one, for law enforcement initiatives against Marijuana production in more tropical climates. Locations where one would expect that Marijuana farming would be, for all intents and purposes, continuous. With this in mind, I found it curious that law enforcement in "climatically favorable" locations also chose to announce their anti-Marijuana initiatives in Autumn.

After a bit of research, I discovered that the Cannabis plant is very regimented by the sunlight it receives. Continued periods of sun or, to be more technical, darkness will trigger the Cannabis plant to "flower" which, in turn, causes the plant to increase its' production of THC or Tetrahydrocannabinol. Tetrahydrocannabinol is the psycho-active ingredient found in Marijuana.

The cannabis plant regulates its growth and flowering stages by measuring changes in the number of hours of uninterrupted darkness to determine when to flower. The plant produces a hormone (phytochrome) beginning at germination. When this chemical builds up to a critical level, the plant changes its mode from vegetative growth to flowering. This chemical is destroyed in the presence of even a few moments of light. During the late spring and early summer there are many more hours of light than darkness and the hormone does not build up to a critical level. However, as the days grow shorter and there are longer periods of uninterrupted darkness, the hormone builds to a critical level. Flowering occurs at different times with different varieties as a result of the adaption of the varieties to the environment. Varieties from the 3oth latitude grow in an area with a temperate climate and fairly early fall. These plants usually trigger in July or August and are ready to harvest in September or October. Southern African varieties often flower with as little as 8 or 9 hours of darkness/15 to 16 hours of light. Other 3oth latitude varieties including most indicas flower when the darkness cycle lasts a minimum of 9 to 10 hours. Source (an excerpt from the "Marijuana Growers Handbook"

Clearly, the cannabis plant is not necessarily subjected only to the dictates of climatic factors. The Light or Darkness received by the plant is an essential factor to be considered.

Jamaican and some Southeast Asian varieties will trigger at 11 hours of darkness and ripen during September or October. Equatorial varieties trigger at 12 hours or more of darkness. This means that they will not start flowering before late September or early October and will not mature until late November or early December. Of course, indoors the plants' growth stage can be regulated with the flick of a switch. Nevertheless, the plants respond to the ar- tificial light cycle in the same way that they do to the natural seasonal cycles. The potency of the plant is related to its maturity rather than Chronological age. Genetically identical 3 month and 6 month-old plants which have mature flowers have the same potency. Starting from seed, a six month old plant flowers slightly faster and fills out more than a 3 month old plant.Source (an excerpt from the "Marijuana Growers Handbook"

I found it interesting to discover how maturation rates for the Cannabis plant were, in a sense, uniform globally. In an outdoor setting, Marijuana crops with more desirable THC levels are harvested, it would seem at roughly the same time everywhere -- Autumn! This would account for the simultaneous anti Marijuana initiatives by law enforcement everywhere.

I can say you are very correct about you research onto photoperiods triggering flowering in cannabis.

Not that I would ever know about growing cannabis sativa liene first hand cause cannabis is a drug and all drugs are bad... mmmkaayy.

But the plant produces a horomone when it is photosynthesising. The horomone prevents flowering and incourages vegetative growth. In the periods of darkness. another horomone is produced that incourages flowering horomones. Basically, If the daylight recieved is longer than the nighttime or darkness. the plants horimones will be tipped in the favor of the vegetative growth and won't flower. as the season leangthen and night time becomes longer the balance is tipped in favor of the budding hormone and the plant initiates flowering.

So fall and spring are when the majority of raids are done against pot fields. When the plants are naturally budding. Temperate cannabis varieties ( indica) flower and matgurate around early october through mid november in the northern hemisphere. sometimes a little earlier in late sptember. Tropical varieties (sativa) maturate around late november mid december. the outdoor plots of "mexican" weed are all sativas and should be raided around november if the DEA had any intelligence, which I don't think those stupid pawns actually have, Indicas grown more in the farther north due to their ability to handle cold, and shorter seasons better should be raided around early october.

Personally I think it's a bunch of crap to say that Pot fuels terrorism. Nobody with any degree of understanding of the cannabis culture around the world would agree with that. Most low grade weed in major cities are grown in forign countrys but by groups that have been running that racket for decades. It ain't broke and it's making them ass loads of money. So they aren't going to screw it up by changing things and supporting muhadjeen from syria or whatever. Besides you really think osama bin laden has enough money to confince drug lord mulit millionares to support him. why would they they already make that money in relative safety and security producing drugs. There is no reason for them to go into business with the taliban.

In LA a good portion of the cannabis is grown locally, inside, and clandistinely, by red blooded patriotic americans who aren't about to help out the taliban either. Infact the trend to move towards indoor smaller grow ops is growing around here. It's safer, the quality is better and the profit margins are near 95%. why be the middle man and make less?

The medical clubs are having a big impact on street sales too. it's frankly easier to just go to the corner store and buy the stuff than to track down rajulio, or hector, play by his lamo rules and timetable pay too much for crap and run the risk of being arrested at the same time. Infact most of the indoor growers have worked out deals with these clubs to sell only to the dispenciaries, leaving the street dealer totally out of the loop. who needs hector and his attitude anyways. even from the growers perspective. The street dealers are finding it harder and harder to get their "source" and the pharmacudical industry is basically beginning to self regulate the sale of Cannabis. SO how stupid are the DEA if they raid these dispenciaries and shut them down. Unless their real intention was to put the drugs back into the hands of rajulio the street urchin.

The only differences between plants grown in different latitudes is the flowering period. Equatorial varieties (the sativas) can flower up to 19 weeks or more before the flowers are optimally ripe.

The more northern varieties (the indicas) tend to flower in 8 to 10 weeks.

Since the daylength at the equator is pretty much 12/12, setting off the photoperiod to flower in sativa varieties wouldn't work the same as it would with indicas. When day starts shortening in the Himalayas, for instance, the scrubby indicas there know they better flower and set seed ASAP.

I think what probably sets off the equatorial sativas is the following:

The Sun, in its seasonal movement through the sky, passes directly over the equator twice each year, on the March and September equinoxes. At the equator, the rays of the sun are perpendicular to the surface of the earth on these dates.

Places on the equator experience the quickest rates of sunrise and sunset in the world. Such places also have a constant 12 hours of day and night throughout the year, while north or south of the equator day length increasingly varies with the seasons.

en.wikipedia.org...

I only know about sativas in indoor situations, but the equinoxes probably are the trigger for flowering in the wild. September = autumn everywhere in the world, which would explain why they go into War on Cannabis mode in equatorial countries at that time.

That was a very informative post, BT. All this while I suspected the Malaysian government carried out their anti-marijuana initiatives at about this time of the year because Independence Day (31 Aug) is approaching and the government had to show the people that the police is doing something. I guess it's not so much that as it is following the plant's natural cycles.

Illuminating, although admittedly more mundane than I had initially concluded. There goes the conspiracy...

Not to nit pick but there are alot of differences between indicas and sativas.

Indicas tend to be shorter and more compact in their growth. they have much shorter internode leangths between the branches. Their leaves are predominatly wider and overlap each other. Sativas. have longer internode leangths between the branching. longer more slender leaves that grow in a more radial pattern around the petiole.

Sativas have more of a mental high due to higher ratios of THC to other cannabinoids like the couch lock induceing CBC and CBN which indicas have much more of and less of the pure THC. Also amungst sativas and indicas there is a strong difference between highland and lowland varieties. Lowland varieties even for sativas have more of a ratio of cannabinoids leaning towards the physical sensations. Highland varieties weather indica dominat or sativa dominat have more of a psycadelic quality to them. Highland thai is very different in looks and high from lowland thai. Highland columbian varieties are very different from lowland columbian varieties in their THC chemistry.

Highland Indicas. himilayan vartieties are very much more "heady" than low land indicas which tend to act more like nyquil.

Sativas can reach up to 12 feet out doors where as the best indica will never get bigger than 8 feet which is even rare.

YOu are dead on though about the Photoperiods. Sativas especially very equetorial varieties need a much more drastic photoperioud and they show thier gender much later due to the much longer maturation time.

There is also a big difference between the resin development. Most sativas that haven't been cross breed with an indica produce a lot less resin than say Afghani or some other heavy indica. Indicas were breed over the millenia to produce more resin and to produce much heavier buds for seed production so that there would be more cannabis oil to extract from pressing the seeds. Sativas didn't have this degree of demestication so they still produce smaller buds pound for pound and have less resin. Sativas do have a higher psycoactive to non-psycoactive material ratio inside the individuel resin glands. Indicas have alot more Junk cannabinoids inside their resin glands to psycoactive cannabinoids. Thats why a really frosted up indica might not get you as inebriated as a potent but mangy looking thai sativa.

The flower formations are very different too. Indicas have a higher calyx to leaf ratio than sativas. They have more flower to leaf in the buds. The indica buds tend to be more compact and denser, while sativa flowers tend to form long running racemes (small clusters of individuel flowers/calyxs)

The plants are pretty different.

Sativas make poor choises for indoor grow ops and some indica genetics must be breed in to quicken the maturation time and the yield, and to keep the plant hight managable. Sativas that are good for indoor growing say Skunk #1 have a little bit of Indica in them to make them more domesticated and manageable. Skunk was origionaly a hybrid between highland columbian and low land mexican varieties. worked great out doors but needed something to reign it in a little and to make it more managable. so they crossed it with afghani stock to do that. this was in the early 80's The origional skunk was about 75 percent sativa and 25 percent indica. now after years of breeding the plant has homoginized into something more like 60% indica and 40% sativa. making it better for commercial purposes wher yield and presentation matter, but substancially changing the qualities of the high and the various ratios of THC to other cannabinoids. So there is a big difference between sativas and indicas. Also, haze was once a pure sativa. now real haze doesn't exist. someone will have to go back to the countires where the genetic stock used in the original strain were colleceted and start all over again. Haze to make it more managable has been breed with indicas so much now that it isn't even recognizable.

[edit on 29-8-2007 by BASSPLYR]

Originally posted by BASSPLYR
Not to nit pick but there are alot of differences between indicas and sativas.

Yes BASSPLYR, there are differences between the Indica and Sativa strains of Cannabis. I don't think that you are "nit-picking". True "nit-picking" would have involved mentioning the Ruderalis strain of Cannabis and bringing it into into the discussion as well.





Seriously, I would like to mention that everyone might do well to review the ATS Terms and Conditions while this thread still exists as a serious discussion regarding the "War on Drugs". Let's all try to keep it that way. With this in mind, let us try our best to keep innuendo of personal drug usage or even familiarity out of the discussion as well.

[edit on 8/29/2007 by benevolent tyrant]

[edit on 8/29/2007 by benevolent tyrant]

The actuality of what's going on here is more extreme than just targeting cannabis farms:

So how does the Bush administration get away with crying terrorist at every opportunity? Say hello to the Military Commissions Act. Thanks to this 2006 piece of legislation, terrorism has become the basis of American foreign and domestic policy. Yes, the term has become equivalent to everything from ideologically driven violence to petty theft, and can be used to incarcerate, exterminate or character assassinate anything in sight.

It's no wonder then that federal officials are now revisiting their previously failed effort to link terrorism to cannabis, the only real cash cow in the government's so-called War on Drugs. Only difference is, this time, they don't have Tommy Chong as a scapegoat.

Unable or unwilling to solve the nation's crippling meth addiction or its hypocritical dependency on prescribed narcotics like oxycontin, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) recently rang the terrorism alarm to nail pot growers in Redding's Shasta-Trinity National Forest in California.www.alternet.org...

and:

In short, terrorism isn't the real problem here, it's illegal immigration. Not convinced? When you get a chance, search Google for "Magana drug cartel" and let me know if you can find anything. Even better, try the ONDCP, and let me know if anything unrelated to coc aine shows up. Even if you give Walters, Odle and other so-called counterterrorism experts their due on the Magana drug cartel or other so-called terrorist organizations who the ONDCP cannot actually name (making sure to look up the definition of "cartel" in the process, if you want to be exhaustive about it), what you end up with are cannabis traffickers and cultivators operating illegally on public lands using undocumented immigrantswww.alternet.org...

[edit on 30/8/2007 by budski]

This is also the time of year for busts for psychological reasons. Just before harvest the commercial supply is reduced. Being Summer, demand is quite high, as are street prices. Many little potheads ignorant of cannabis economics don't realize this is normal and seek an explanation. An explanation is provided by the DEA, "We're busting grows." In reality the busts have little to no effect on the market.

This is reflected by the annually recurring rumor of billboards going up stating something to the effect of, "Think it's dry now? Just wait until September - DEA." Obviously these billboards don't exist, but the rumors further fuel the market's ignorance.

[edit on 30-8-2007 by apc]

I won't go into Ruderalis. I left it out because it's more associated with hemp and not really concidered the drug form of the cannabis varieties. Technically though the hemp industry is under attack from the war on drugs too because the govt. paid scientists all classify the plant as one single species. Cannabis Sativa Liene. Most unfair to the harmless and very benificial cannabis Ruderalis(Hemp Plant). It's like making all cooking mushrooms illegal and persecuted because they are mostly from the amenses species which has some of the more poisonous mushrooms in it. They decided not to make those illegal so why hemp.?

I guess it's because they got the plant on a technicality. Ruderalis was breed for different purposes that Cannabis sativa, but the change in the plants ability to produce THC in any realistic quantity, was man made through breeding, and therefore not a natrural change hence the not a new species and can't be protected against the DEA. We can all agree that hemp (ruderalis) has some very benificial uses for the economy and the textile industry.

So following the botanists classification of what a species is. did you know that Kale, Cabbage, cauliflower, and Broccoli are all the exact same plant (look it up if you don't believe me), just breed for a different purpose like say how a shih-tzu and a pit bull are both dogs. but not really the same thing though, which is why people have laws and rules against pit bulls, and not shih-tzu's. So why put Ruderalis in the same catagory as cannabis sativa? I don't get it.

Also why isn't the castor bean plant illegal to have around. True it grows like a weed all over the west coast of the US, sure you can make medicinal castor oil out of it.....buuuuuuuut....It's also the source or Ricine Poison, which we all know alone is very lethal and can be refined into sarin gas. You know the stuff that killed lots of people in that tokyo subway a few years ago, the same gas which even further refined gets turned into tabun gas, an agent used by govts. to do covert assasinations due to it's effectiveness in tinsy quantities. SHouldn't that not be allowed in society either. Shouldn't be allowed to grow out of gutters next to school yards shouldn't be in the back yards where kids and dogs can pick up the seed which once eaten will likely kill you painfully over the next 24 hours. Whats that the critics say, castor bean plant hasn't killed anybody when growing in that form, well neither has any subspecies of the cannabis sativa liene plant so why persecute the plant.

Or what about belledona. It grows around, it can be found everynow and then in a persons garden, but it's also extreamly hallucinagenic, the put you in the hospital for a day or so kind of psycoactive. why isn't that illegal? Also, why are we allowed to have opium poppys growing for as long as we like on our properties if we bought the house with them already there. thats totally legal, but planting new opium poppys is illegal?

APC, you got the psychological reasons correct too. WHen ever there is a big bust the local drug scean also buttons up and lays low for a few days or week, especially if it's a major bust. there is a lot of internal fallout, and the dust neeeds to settle before they can feel safe going about their illicit business. So the DEA also can use that effectively to put the breaks on the local scean and to stir up the waters and see who flinches hoping to find sources to bigger fish lurking around....too bad the biggest fish usually ends up being the CIA who helps traffic the stuff into our country.

Man the war on drugs is seriously messed up.

Seriously though I would like the DEA to produce actuall evidence that more than .002% percent of the entire worlds drug dealers are in league with the taliban or terrorists bent on the destruction of the us. Because the moneys there to help the terrorists our for quick cash...quick cash why do you think drug dealers get into the business to begin with they don't need the terrorist funding nor their distribusion resources. Drug sales have been around a lllllllooooootttttt longer than any currently established terrorist organization. It's a bunch of BS sent out by the govt. and the DEA. Also, drug dealers and terrorists have no common ground. Drug dealers DONT want to destabalize countries they are doing business in period, or they would get a marked loss of drug sales. stable countries with an economy that allows the population to purchase drugs is what they need. If anything the drug dealers, which we have seen in the past are more in league with the govts' of the countries they ship to. They need the pressure and tension that govt brings to the everyday lives of the population by making them work so hard to keep it all running to stress out the customers so that they keep buying. Drug dealers paying terrorists makes little sense. it's not even convienent for the drug dealer. seriously.

Hiya BP, not seen you in a while.

Why is it illegal? It all goes back to WR Hearst and Harry Anslinger in the "Reefer Madness" days. The fast answer is yellow journalism, racism, the end of alcohol prohibition, and industrial robber barons such as DuPont. Mix, serve to Congress and voila! Industrial hemp prohibition.

Jack Herer goes into the whole shebang in The Emperor Wears No Clothes.

[edit to add:]

Now that biofuels are starting to get some serious following, there is more reason than ever to keep hemp illegal. Hemp is probably the most efficient of the biofuels, which is addressed in TEWNC. It's easy to grow, too.

The corn industry, which I previously heard grew so much corn that they were poisoning us by turning it into high fructose corn syrup and putting it into all our food, is now claiming that if we use corn for biofuel that it will cause a shortage in food corn, and are already setting us up for high fuel prices based on a non-existant over-demand on a very over-produced crop.

[edit on 30-8-2007 by MajorMalfunction]

Again. MJ you are right on the money! Great point about the hypocracy of the corn industry.

Jack Herers books are great and enlightening reading. More people should read the emperor wears no clothes, they would probably be pretty darn suprised by what they learned in there. Also, great example of a Sativa Hybrid that uses some temperate (indica) DNA to make the plant more adaptable to diverse conditions. Something of a real bane to the DEA I would imagine.