Wayne County sheriffs recently raided a marijuana growing operation in Detroit valuing the plants confiscated at $1 million.
The alleged kingpin is a man in his 70's who is suspected of running the operation by himself according to an article by myfoxdetroit.com 4-29-2011.
Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napolean hinted that either a tip, or tips came in from the public that led to this marijuana bust. Whether that is true might be debatable.
On 4-28-2011, another bust took place in Detroit netting about $300,000 in pot, and 2 weeks ago another $1 million pot operation was taken down.
Seems like law enforcement in Detroit is more interested in busting marijuana operations these days rather than concentrating their efforts, and resources on hard core drugs like heroin, cocaine, and prescription narcotics along with other substances that actually cause significantly more problems than marijuana ever has.
Sure, pot is still illegal except for those carded to use it for medical reasons in Michigan, however, that is on shaky ground depending on what city your traveling through in this state. For instance a Dearborn judge will convict you even if you are carded to smoke because he says federal law trumps state law. Marijuana is still illegal on the federal level.
Even the fed's have gone back on their word about leaving medical marijuana dispensaries alone as evinced by the Spokane, Washington raids that took place Thursday, 4-28-2011 according to the Associated Press.
"Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Rice told KXLY-TV and The Spokesman-Review that several dispensaries were raided, but he declined to provide further details. Rice's boss, Mike Ormsby, said earlier this month that about 40 dispensaries in the area are illegal and must shut down," reported AP.
But would you rather have the police cold-trailing marijuana smokers, and growers, or that car-load of wanna-be gansters who do drive-by's, persons who assault others, rape kids, or elderly folks, and those that wouldn't blink an eye at busting a cap in your skull for your sunglasses?
Seems like the priorities in Detroit are a little off, and instead focus on marijuana operations that do not typically cause the kinds of crime problems that hard drugs do, with the exception of the Cartels of course. But legalize pot, and that is one source of revenue that would dry up pretty quick for them as well.
This country could save tons of money not having to deal with the 800,000 or so people arrested each year for possessing pot.
Unfortunately, law enforcement does not take the approach that drug abuse, and addiction are public health issues.
"The vast majority (82.5 percent) of the 1.6 million annual drug arrests in the U.S. are for mere possession – and almost half (46 percent) of all drug arrests are for marijuana possession alone. In fact, in 2010, more New Yorkers were arrested for marijuana possession than can be seated in Yankee stadium!" according to Drug Policy Alliance.
In Michigan about 35,000 persons are arrested each year for a drug offense.
And in Detroit, those heinous pot smokers, and growers will continue to draw the attention of officials at the expense of resources that could be better spent on the more serious crime problems plaguing Detroit, and the burbs right now.
Peace...
- The adolescent brain is not fully developed, making a young person extremely vulnerable to drug and alcohol addiction among other problems.
Drug war info:
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