Marijuana and Terrorism

Recently, I've turned on some of those Border Patrol tv shows and tv documentaries. They are usually trying to catch marijuana smugglers and growers. It seems marijuana smoking is booming in California, and the cross border trade is feeding this demand. Now I do not have a big problem with people smoking small amounts of marijuana, especially for medical purposes. But, I do have a problem with where the marijuana is coming from.

If you grow your own marijuana, fine. But as some of these programs show, Mexicans are being forced to smuggle or grow marijuana to feed American's desires. In one recent documentary I saw, there were Mexicans who snuck over the border to grow massive amounts of marijuana in forests in California. It's hidden and hard to find, but they have whole camps in rural California growing the stuff. According to the officials most of the men are forced to live in these camps and protect the crop. If they lose the crop, they are threatened with the killing of their families back home. This is terrorism.

Everyone has heard about the Mexican drug crime going on. Is it possible that this is America's fault? Is our greed for drugs forcing families into the drug trade, with no way out. (I also recently saw the great (fictional) movie, Sin Nobre, about what it's like to live in one of the drug gangs.) Think about it: Do you want your weed smoking to be responsible for the rape or murder of families in Mexico?

I spoke to a source in the marijuana business who told me that even if you buy your pot at a legal shop, it's in no way guaranteed that it was grown legally. I think if we want to legalize marijuana, we have to do it fully, and put all operations under supervision. Anyone that sells marijuana should have to verify that it is from a legal growing source.

In the meantime, know where your weed comes from. Just think about the families in Mexico, and the power the drug rings have right now. And if that does not move you, remember that Afganistan is now a prime drug exporting country.