Drug Czar’s CA Photo-Op Can’t Hide Failure of Marijuana Policies, MPP Charges
Drug Czar to Tout Marijuana “Eradication” Thursday, but Marijuana Is State’s Top Cash Crop Despite 1,200% Increase in Seizures
REDDING, CALIFORNIA — White House Drug Czar John Walters’ Thursday marijuana “eradication” photo-op in Shasta County will only underline the utter failure of current U.S. marijuana policies, officials at the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) charged today.
Walters is scheduled to visit a marijuana eradication site in Shasta County on Thursday, followed by a news conference with other officials in Redding at 2 p.m.
“The drug czar will tout his expensive eradication adventures and hope nobody notices that they’ve actually helped the illicit marijuana industry thrive,” said Bruce Mirken, MPP’s San Francisco-based director of communications. “Eradication has simply boosted profits and pushed growers to more remote locations.”
According to a press release issued by former California Attorney General Bill Lockyer in October 2006, law enforcement seizures of marijuana plants increased by over 1,200 percent in the last decade, from 132,485 plants in 1997 to 1,675,681 in 2006. Also in 2006, a study by researcher Jon Gettman – not disputed by the drug czar’s office – found marijuana to be California’s number one cash crop. Based on federal statistics, California’s 2006 marijuana crop was worth almost $14 billion – nearly twice the combined value of the state’s number two and three crops, vegetables ($5.7 billion) and grapes ($2.6 billion). The value of California’s marijuana crop exceeded the combined value of national production of wheat and cotton.
“Walters denounces marijuana growing in national forests and other public lands, but the very ‘eradication’ efforts he champions are what drive marijuana producers into sensitive wilderness areas,” Mirken said. “There’s a reason you never hear about clandestine vineyards hidden in national parks and forests. If we regulated marijuana as we do wine, the problem Walters denounces so vehemently would disappear overnight.”
According to the attorney general’s office, as recently as 2001, marijuana seizures on private lands greatly exceeded seizures on public lands, 189,560 plants to 124,216. As eradication efforts ratcheted up, growers moved to more remote areas and the ratio reversed spectacularly. Of the 2006 seizures, 1,340,545 plants were on public lands and 335,136 were on private lands.
“Either authorities were ignoring a massive problem on public lands just a few years ago, or their misguided efforts actually created the problem,” Mirken said.
With more than 23,000 members and 100,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit www.MarijuanaPolicy.org.
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