Cops irradicate remote pot grow in Santa Rosa Mountains

[halhiker]

This is the one reason I get apprehensive about exploring places remote and wild. Personally, I wish they'd just legalize so people could grow weed in fields and greenhouses and leave my wilderness alone. Not much detail but I'd imagine a grow would do well in Virgin Canyon below Virgin Spring, upper Horsethief, Black Rabbit Canyon or Ebbens Valley. All are remote, rugged and have water. I guess now would be a good time to hike there. Next, I bet they check the West Fork of Snow Creek and Brown Creek, north of Black Mountain. Those rugged, remote canyons also have water.

http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/cri ... /31887359/

[cynthia23]

Thanks for posting, Hal--I saw this article too. I agree that it's scary to hike off trail in these areas because you never know what grow areas you might wander in to. Often they are booby-trapped and/or guarded by not-nice people with guns, most of whom are members of the Mexican cartels. I'm not sure legalization would help, though, because I think part of the motivation for the growers is the super low cost of growing this way--the land and water are free. If pot were wholly legal, they'd have to buy farm land, pay for water, pay taxes, follow EPA rules and labor laws, etc. This way, they pay nothing for land or water, they use people who are virtually slaves as the workers, they dump as many pesticides as they please. Their costs are so low that they can undercut 'legitimate' growers who grow the pot in greenhouses, etc. If it does become wholly legal, it will be interesting to see what would happen next. Who would go in and bust the wilderness growers then? Maybe the IRS, the labor department, the EPA? I dunno but I hate these growers, I hope they all rot in jail.

[halhiker]

I actually think legalization will put a stop to grows in the forest. Why risk losing your crop by growing illegally on public lands when you can grow it legally? Farmers won't necessarily hand to buy land. They could just lease it or warehouse space for indoor grows. Or current farmers could just plant some weed instead of alfalfa. I'm sure it would have a higher yield per acre.

[cynthia23]

Well, you may well be right, Hal--I'm playing a bit of a devil's advocate here. It's hard to know what the results of legalization of pot would be--I can't imagine the cartels just quietly walking away from the whole business and taking up bingo instead. Eventually, probably, they'd stop with their illegal grow sites, but I think they might continue on for a time after legalization.

One thing for sure--we'll probably find out soon enough, because it sure seems like legalization is inevitable.

[David W]

I got to SR a lot, and have found inactive gardens. I wonder if they are the same.

[cynthia23]

Wow, that sounds very spooky DavidW. There are probably a ton of these sites out there, active or inactive. Even the inactive ones could still be booby-trapped, too, or contaminated with pesticides. Be careful out there.

[David W]

Yes, I talked to a Ranger I ran into on the way home. He said there's plenty.

Pretty interesting/humorous article I was just reading on a link from anzaborrego.net forum about grows in Cuyamaca.

The "farmers" will have a bad time of it if they catch this cat by the tail.

If anyone else is crazy enough ,I've been meaning to go back and check on them and haul some of the trash out. It's getting hot down here, so it's mountain weekends season for me.

[Hikin_Jim]

Yuck. HATE pot grows. Yeah, maybe legalize it. Prohibition didn't work the first time, and it 's not working now.

HJ

[bluerail]

We ran into a large one in the triplett rocks area last weekend. Hidden cabin included. Scary

[David W]

Report it?