Killing the Cash Cow

The Yakima Valley is ready for more record harvests this year:

Marijuana grows are infesting the fruit bowl of Central Washington and their value in Yakima County alone this year will likely surpass the state's entire grape crop.

Most of the illegal grows are being found in various vineyards being leased or recently purchased in the Lower Valley and on the Yakama reservation.

Drug agents in the Lower Valley this summer have already broken up nine major marijuana grows totaling an estimated 142,570 plants worth more than $140 million, and an annual statewide emphasis geared to uproot illegal grows hasn't even begun yet.

Marijuana continues to be the #1 cash crop both nationwide and in this state. As happens every year, large grow operations will be busted, yet fortunes will still be made by those who manage to elude the authorities. Where are those fortunes located?

"We could get double what we have now," said Sgt. Rick Beghtol, supervisor of Law Enforcement Against Drugs, a Lower Valley task force. "I'm very confident that we are. We're going to get 200,000 plants out of here."

...

For years, the Yakima Valley has had an established criminal network from Mexico operating here and has served as a major hub for drugs headed in all directions, he said.

...

Most of the major marijuana growers actually live here and have strong ties to families of organized crime in Mexico, he said, noting that criminals only account for 2 percent of the immigrant work force in the Valley.

While marijuana grown here is sold in Central Washington and elsewhere, most of the profits are sent to Mexico, he said.

So to sum up, we ban a plant that millions of regular Americans enjoy smoking (or in some cases, use medicinally). Because it's illegal, the supply is met by criminal organizations. Since criminal organizations based in the United States are easier to reach than criminal organizations based in Mexico, the Mexican organizations dominate the market and continue to set up operations wherever they can - in this case, in a part of Washington where they have a lot of connections and where it's easy to set up grows. In the end, the Mexican organizations lose a bunch of low-level workers to American jails, but still get billions of dollars in profits, which they then use to buy however many judges, police chiefs, and politicians they need to avoid the arm of the Mexican government (which they always do with ease).

And of course, all of this is better than just letting people buy marijuana at the liquor store, taxing the profits made from these sales, and putting that money towards improving the state's budget deficit. We truly live in stupid times.

Take it away, Sgt. Beghtol:

But the impacts of his task force are now being felt on the streets, he said.

"There's no doubt about it," he said. "In fact, there are people on the streets that are saying that marijuana is getting hard to come by."

Yeah, I bet. Where have we heard that nonsense before? Oh yeah, we hear it every time you try to justify having a completely pointless job.