
War in Weed Country - Thevet
http://www.vice.com/read/war-in-weed-country-v22n11
======
tsomctl
Legalize it, and grow it in the valley like all the other crops. They estimate
it would be about as cheap as tomatoes to grow, since it is cloned and planted
by machines. I want to be able to hike in my back yard.

~~~
dvanduzer
The cost of cultivation really isn't the issue, regardless of how legal
California makes it, until something changes at the Federal level.

The water rights issues won't go away, no matter where you grow any crop. Here
in Colorado, where plenty of people are growing their own tomatoes and
marijuana at home, there is a fascinating jurisdictional problem with the
commercial operations.

Many of the counties in Colorado are not allowing the commercial operations,
so Denver county is one of the few places where it's even remotely feasible to
produce at scale. While the processing facilities aren't exactly advertising
their location, it's very easy to tell which parts of town they cluster just
by driving around. It is very very very very obvious which neighborhoods have
big commercial facilities.

Right now, Denver is the only US city whose residential real estate costs are
increasing faster than San Francisco's. But _warehouse_ space is even further
through the roof than that, in Denver county. It just doesn't get nearly the
level of detailed analysis as the residential market, because it's more of a
niche market. So most people who _aren 't_ in the weed business wouldn't care
about this fairly localized problem. But if you wanted to, say, open a new
hackerspace anywhere in Denver county? You're screwed.

~~~
PhantomGremlin
_But if you wanted to, say, open a new hackerspace anywhere in Denver county?
You 're screwed._

Oregon recently legalized, and is now grappling with various practical issues.
E.g. can recreational pot be sold by medical pot dispensaries? Answer: Yes,
for now, until recreational stores are licensed.

The point is that, if and when it's legal in most states, that should
drastically reduce the demand for pot from Colorado. Of course, as you note,
there's still the whole Federal issue.

And especially from other countries. The growers in the article seemed
relatively harmless compared to what's happening in Mexico. But I don't pay
much attention to that, maybe the problems in Mexico are because of higher
value drugs, rather than marijuana.

~~~
dvanduzer
As far as drug policy goes, a lot of the momentum in Colorado came from some
simple observations after enough experience with licensed medical
dispensaries. With enough local access to a grey market, trafficking across
international borders vanished.

The economics involved here involve the difference between the cost of
something, the value of something, the difficulty of producing it, and the
difficulty of distributing it. What is unique about marijuana is that it is,
indeed, as easy to produce as a tomato, which is a garden vegetable anyone can
grow easily anywhere in the world. (I'm unaware of any jurisdictions where it
is illegal to grow and consume tomatoes. Transporting them across state lines,
though?)

Plants like tobacco are much more climate restricted. Plants like hops are
incredibly easy to grow. So you see plenty of people brewing their own beer at
home, but nobody making their own cigarettes at home.

You're misunderstanding what I'm saying about changes at the federal level,
though. The warehouse space in Denver county is rapidly filling up purely
based on supply and demand _within Colorado_. Sure, there's some tourism, but
If the DEA rescheduled cannabis and _nothing else_ , then almost nothing would
change about the commercial real estate market in Denver. If nothing changes
at the federal level, then almost nothing would change about the commercial
real estate market in Denver.

Also, this _just_ happend: [http://fox40.com/2015/11/02/ballot-initiative-
filed-to-legal...](http://fox40.com/2015/11/02/ballot-initiative-filed-to-
legalize-marijuana-in-california/)

I was unaware of this until I decided to research it just now, because I don't
really care about this issue in California because I don't live there. I was
responding to the original commenter because it really is unsafe to hike in
Humboldt County, regardless of whether you care about marijuana. This is
something that affects the poster directly.

And I'm not saying I want to repeal the law in Colorado, but it's definitely
having an unexpected negative effect on my neighborhood, and this is unlikely
to change. Whatever industrial / warehouse space that isn't being demolished
to turn into condos, is used up by the _regulated_ marijuana industry. There
is no longer any cheap real estate anywhere near me that is suitable for a
hackerspace.

Since the hackerspaces can move, and the marijuana processing facilities can't
(until the laws change at the county level), this affects me in my backyard,
regardless of how they deal with the practical legislative refinements. And
because Colorado regulators were first out the gate, regulators in almost
every other state that moves forward this way will use that as a model.

I'm not saying we shouldn't care about violence in Mexico, but it's just not
something that's going to be on the mind of most voters as these ballot
measures gain momentum in other states. There will be unrelated economic
sectors in Colorado and other early adopter states that will suffer ripple
effects. If those ripple effects reach any special interest group here, then
similar special interest groups elsewhere will fight harder against these
initiatives.

