Althouse: "There are business foreclosures, storefronts closing. There's a lot of instability and anxiety."

May 18, 2010

"There are business foreclosures, storefronts closing. There's a lot of instability and anxiety."

In California. Because the price of marijuana has crashed.

35 comments:

rhhardin said...: Bad news for drug smugglers.

The price was supported by the risk.; 5/18/10, 5:22 PM
traditionalguy said...: Now who will buy the super mansions and the European sports cars? Drug profits were profits. Alas they are all going away too. Laundering money requires a need to sell illegally. Now all that laundered money wont trickle down any more. To launder money a man opens/purchases a legitimate business that cannot turn a profit, but strangely keeps open for years always reporting huge profits. This is going to hurt that part of the trickle down economy.; 5/18/10, 5:27 PM
The Drill SGT said...: Not drug smugglers.

Domestic drug growers.

The folks that plant 1/2 acre sections of the National Forest in the NW counties of California, then plant land mines and auto-firing shotguns to fend off hikers, Forest Rangers and other druggies.

These folks have turned major sections of the National Forests into NO GO zones.

Forest Service Rangers go there only in pairs, armed.

wait till DBQ shows up to tell the story...; 5/18/10, 5:28 PM
david7134 said...: This must make Obama officially the worst president that the US has ever had. If he has messed up the economy so bad that even the illicit drug guy can't sustain their economy, then we are in trouble.; 5/18/10, 5:29 PM
Big Mike said...: Predictable, but I'd still be happier if someone could come up with an equivalent of the breathalyzer, except for THC. I think driving while stoned is every bit as dangerous as driving while drunk.; 5/18/10, 5:36 PM
Brian said...: We can't discount the fact that with Ricky Williams playing football in the NFL again, he can't use marijuana. That probably accounts for 15% of the problem right there.; 5/18/10, 5:51 PM
AllenS said...: It's just flat out bad everywhere. Go to the Googles, and type in your zip code and foreclosures. Bad, bad, bad.; 5/18/10, 5:53 PM
Rialby said...: Cali is really in trouble. First the adult filmmaking industry and now drugs. What's next, the death of rock and roll? Whoops. Too late.; 5/18/10, 6:00 PM
Paddy O said...: Well, this just about completes my turn. I'm still against legalizing drugs.

But, I'm more against half-assed enforcement that turns swaths of forest land into dangerous pot growing farms. It's not only in Northern California either. All the national forests here in SoCal get the occasional big drug bust. We can't keep up with the illicit growing, so let's go ahead and keep crashing the prices.; 5/18/10, 6:07 PM
Penny said...: California is a disgrace of a state on so many levels that one barely knows where to begin...except that Althouse provided some parameters through this article.

Citizens, as well as local and federal government "enforcers" have turned a blind eye to the LAW for so long out there, that we are now expected to be sympathetic to a change in business conditions for illegal pot growers?

No matter how you feel about whether marijuana should be legal or not, as a nation we need to be outraged by those who don't follow the laws.

Flaunting the laws you don't agree with is an all too slippery slope. Look at California for best case examples...not only with pot, but with illegal immigration as well.

If you don't like the law, get off your asses and work to get it off the books. In the meantime, as a nation we should have every expectation that the set laws need to be followed and enforced or REPEALED.

Ohhhh...what? You say we NEVER repeal because if enough of us IGNORE, it's nearly the same thing?

Bullshit! Repealing what doesn't work makes America stronger. Ignoring what doesn't work makes America weaker.; 5/18/10, 6:18 PM
Unknown said...: raditionalguy said...

Now who will buy the super mansions and the European sports cars? Drug profits were profits. Alas they are all going away too.

When, one wonders, will the administration point its self-righteous finger and demand these soulless profiteers be brought to book by the selfless moral guardians that are the US Congress?; 5/18/10, 6:32 PM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: This should be easy enough to fix. Between Raich and the ObamaCare precedent, the federal government can simply require everyone to purchase marijuana.

Problem solved.; 5/18/10, 6:37 PM
Anonymous said...: "... the federal government can simply require everyone to purchase marijuana."

I don't think that's going to work.

I, for one, am no longer voluntarily paying my federal income taxes until ...

a) ObamaCare is repealed and

b) Timothy Geithner is arrested for felony tax evasion.

If you're still voluntarily paying your taxes, then you're just a fucking schmuck.; 5/18/10, 6:41 PM
former law student said...: Read the 1985 book Cash crop : an American dream by Ray Raphael. That stuff's been going on for 30 years now.; 5/18/10, 6:45 PM
dbp said...: If the price of marijuana is falling then I suppose that is good for users. In the sense that they will have more money to spend on other things, if it becomes so cheap that they over-use, then that is obviously another problem.

What the story never mentioned is the possibility of transporting the drug to other states. It probably already is happening, but it could be increased. It must be far easier to transport from California to other states than from Mexico or over-seas.; 5/18/10, 6:53 PM
Phil 314 said...: Call it "medical marijuana" and like all things medical its price will increase 10-fold.

(And you can then probably get some govt subsidies); 5/18/10, 6:56 PM
John henry said...: What I found amazing was the prices. I lived in CA in 66-67 for a bit and did some low level dealing. I'd buy a pound and sell it in ounces.

Really top quality weed at that time as $100/lb. Nice, tightly packed bricks dripping with resin. Just thinking of it gives me the munchies.

John Henry; 5/18/10, 7:33 PM
John henry said...: Blogger Big Mike said...

"I think driving while stoned is every bit as dangerous as driving while drunk."

Can you cite any studies or evidence for that, Big Mike?

I have read 3 studies, 2 by the US Dept of Transportation/NHTSA that say the opposite.

One study involved giving a sample of pot smokers measured amounts of weed to smoke then running them through an obstacle course. They found that the drivers actually got slightly safer as they got stoned.

I have also read a study from Australia. It was a government agency but it was some years ago and I don't remember which one.

Similar results. No significant increased danger.

So, unless and until you can point me to some studies that show pot smoking makes people more dangerous on the road, I'm not going to worry overly much about them.

John Henry; 5/18/10, 7:40 PM
roesch-voltaire said...: The price would be even lower and the damage to society less, if the war on drugs simply stopped and we at least legalized mary jane. I can remember when the mob didn't control the sale of pot and it was possible to buy nickel bags from friendly Wisconsin growers who did not have to carry guns-- alas.; 5/18/10, 7:55 PM
garage mahal said...: If the price of marijuana is falling then I suppose that is good for users

Free Markets!

Oh, and NO REGULATIONS.; 5/18/10, 8:02 PM
Unknown said...: Which is why I always say: Buy Coke, Sell High!

@ John Henry: OK. I MIGHT believe that Drunks generally drive faster and more recklessly than Schmokers. Which would be safer in the aggregate. BUT, I don't think that stoned people are safer drivers than Straights. ("Dude, I'm not riding anywhere with you til' you toke these two mega-bowls and pack a jay for the road...you are waayyy too cognizant of your surroundings right now, man." End Scene.); 5/18/10, 9:28 PM
Unknown said...: P.S. By "MIGHT believe" I, of course, mean "DO believe". I am skeptical of the medical Mary Jane movement (because it's an embarrassing lie and causing it's own problems of wink-winking at laws) and probably more amenable to an outright decriminalization and eventual legalization path. But, I'd have to see the details of the plan before I'd sign on. (Every time I come across some NORML guys with a petition I totally backtrack on that previous statement. Rubber meeting road meeting pretentious stoners.)

WV: press: A word previously referencing the profession of journalism. Before the end of journalism. Now references pundits.; 5/18/10, 9:51 PM
Unknown said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/18/10, 9:53 PM
Wince said...: "A Panic In Calif... There's a lot of instability and anxiety..."

I guess pot can make you paranoid -- and a bad driver.

"HEY, MELLOW OUT, MAN!!!"; 5/18/10, 9:54 PM
Eric said...: Yep. I'd rather have stoned people on the road than drunk people or people chatting away on a cell phone.

But in all likelihood the same people are doing all three of those things, often at the same time.; 5/18/10, 9:59 PM
bagoh20 said...: Nationalize it. That will kill it.

Seriously though, I prefer it legal. It's illegal status has ruined the lives of many harmless peace-loving people for decades and clogged the courts and our jails beyond capacity. It has made us comfortable with police breaking into peaceful homes with tactics that are not legal under our rules of engagement in Iraq and Afghanistan against homes that shooting bad guys have just run into. This is a national disgrace and should have been what the fools in our state department used to self-flagellate in China rather than Arizona's mild immigration reform.; 5/18/10, 10:00 PM
Unknown said...: @ Eric: EehhckZActly! (That was my roommates' rolling M.O.)

@ bagoh20: Yeah, that raid sh*t is whack-outta-hand. Seriously. I mean, non-violent, non-terrorist, non-in flagrante bank robbery does not require the sh*t that is these supra-military police tactics. Well, not until the USA is fully a Banana Republic (i.e. 2012).; 5/18/10, 10:09 PM
bagoh20 said...: I think legalizing pot will make it safer, and I don't even think it's that dangerous now. Legality will make it less popular among the young who use it most irresponsibly. You don't want to do what your parents or their peers do at home watching Wheel of Fortune.; 5/18/10, 10:25 PM
Revenant said...: If only there was some sort of law about demand, or supplies. That might let us predict this sort of thing in advance.; 5/19/10, 12:42 AM
Anonymous said...: I'm glad the price is down. It will make it more affordable for those with low incomes. We all know how much people with limited income need more MJ. Nothing bad can happen here.; 5/19/10, 6:51 AM
MadisonMan said...: Apparently it's time for a Govt Subsidy for the farmer.; 5/19/10, 7:48 AM
TMink said...: John Henry, I am familar with those studies as well. One of the important differences between marijuana and alcohol intoxication is the way that alcohol lessens inhibitions at even social use levels. This is the cause of most dui accidents.

But there are not many dui accidents anyway. States have to grossly inflate the numbers to rationalize the money they spend in enforcement.

Trey; 5/19/10, 8:50 AM
former law student said...: Is the Humboldt County climate suitable for tobacco?

Tobacco prohibition is just around the corner. Let's ban it, and give the pot growers a new way to earn a living.; 5/19/10, 8:56 AM
Calypso Facto said...: Ah, MM beat me to it: How long until the appeal for a subsidy/bailout for the 420 family farm?; 5/19/10, 9:02 AM
TMink said...: fls, witty and cogent post!

Trey; 5/19/10, 1:09 PM