500 plant net bust in livingston county
Marijuana plants were discovered growing by the Livingston and Washtenaw Narcotics Enforcement Team during a 2 hour helicopter search in Livingston County on Monday, and Tuesday, July 19, 20, 2010.
According to
clickondetroit.com, the search netted 500 plants said Lt. Philip Menna of the enforcement team HEMP. Livingston County is about 45-50 miles northwest of Detroit.
HEMP, or Help Eliminate Marijuana Planting Unit "...is Michigan’s domestic marijuana eradication/suppression program. Started in 1983, this drug enforcement effort is grant funded by the Drug Enforcement Administration (D.E.A.)," according the the
Michigan State Police website.
HEMP's program objectives are to:
- Arrest and prosecute those who cultivate and traffic in marijuana.
- Seize and forfeit the assets and proceeds from the cultivation and trafficking of marijuana.
- Reduce the availability of marijuana in Michigan.
- Reduce criminal activity incidental to marijuana cultivation.
- Promote the safe use of our public and private lands.
However, using this kind of manpower, and machinery costing ten's of thousands of dollars could be better spent elsewhere, especially in light of the public's view in Michigan, and around the country about decriminalizing, and/or legalizing the drug outright, especially for medical reasons.
Charges against a person/s may be forthcoming after the crime lab analyzes the substance, and the information turned over to the prosecutor's office.
The Michigan Department of State Police, "...is responsible for administering the D.E.A.’s marijuana eradication/suppression program in Michigan, according to the MSP's website.
Now, whether you think this is an outrageous waste of taxpayer money better spent on more serious crimes is a matter of personal opinion.
However, marijuana eradication/suppression programs are currently being funded by the federal government in all 50 states.
With public opinion leaning toward legalization, decriminalization, and/or use of marijuana for medical reasons, this program appears to be bad policy because not only does it fly in the face of most American's beliefs, it also causes more than 800,000 arrests annually in the U.S. for possession cases. (
drugwarfacts.org)
Legalizing this drug would actually take some of the wind out the Cartel's sails because that would put a dent in their profits, at least for that drug anyway.
As long as operations like HEMP continue to exist, it looks like more money will continue to be wasted, and more Americans locked up for possession cases, at least in those states, and cities where it has not been decriminalized, or approved for medical use.
The federal government, and marijuana have a strange relationship, but the states appear to be slowly coming around to untangling their laws regarding the substance.
For drug addicts, and those thinking about experimenting with pot, think more than twice about your actions. For many, marijuana is not their drug of choice, much harder, and
lethal drugs are. For tweens, and teens, their pre-frontal brain lobes are not fully developed yet, and exposure to any mind-altering substances could have negative long term consequences later in life because you never know if you might be one of those persons susceptible to drug addiction, and this doesn't mean to marijuana either. Although some people find it very difficult to stop smoking pot, not from serious physical withdrawals, but mental ones
Detroit will likely being voting to legalize possession of up to one ounce of marijuana on personal property come November 2010. It will probably pass.
