Thank you for your excellent story, “The Public
Land’s Big Cash Crop” (HCN, 10/31/05: The Public Lands’ Big
Cash Crop). As a recent transplant to Northern California,
I’ve had a rapid education on the cultural impacts of this
taboo plant.
The argument that if only cannabis were
legalized the problem would disappear was given short coverage. If
legalization were to occur, there would be a dramatic decrease in
the price, because black-market forces (the risk of prosecution)
would no longer restrict the supply. Ironically, what the CAMP and
DEA efforts do enable is the persistence of small-scale producers
in alternative communities. For many Northern California counties,
income from the harvest supports everything from environmental
activism and renewable energy installation to meth labs; not to
mention the local economies that manage to survive and thrive
despite the reductions in timber and agriculture income.
Legalization would hurt some producers in the short run, but it
would force Californians to move towards more sustainable
economies, and save vast resources currently spent on enforcement
and incarceration.
Name withheld
Northern
California
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Homegrown protectionism.
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