After the good news about weed now this.

[tod evans]

Wisconsin asks hunters to be on the lookout for marijuana


http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/17/us/wisconsin-marijuana/index.html?hpt=hp_c2


CNN) -- The U.S. Forest Service is urging hunters and fishermen to keep their eyes open for marijuana growing operations in Wisconsin's Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest.
Since 2008, nine marijuana growing operations have been discovered on public land within the state. Most recently, in late August, a fisherman visiting the forest happened upon a marijuana field that netted more than 8,000 plants worth $8 million.
"The fisherman was walking along the banks of the Oconto River and noticed these patches that had been cleared and disturbed. Trees were down, things didn't look right, and he reported that to authorities, and a surveillance operation was established," said Jane Cliff, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service eastern region.

Approximately 150 federal, state, tribal and local law enforcement agents were involved in the sting that followed, leading to the arrest of seven people. All of the suspects pleaded guilty and are in prison awaiting trial. The suspects each face anywhere from 10 years to life in prison, a maximum fine of $10 million and five years to life of supervised release.
The Department of Justice could not comment on details of the investigation because the case is still working its way through the judicial system.
But this isn't the first time this has happened, the Forest Service says. It's actually the third big bust in three years at the forest, resulting in the eradication of more than 80,000 marijuana plants that were cultivated by large drug trafficking organizations. That's why authorities say they are reaching out to hunters in their regulation books and offering them training programs, warning them to be careful and asking them to note the GPS location of any suspicious areas and call the authorities as soon as they can.
"Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest is large, secluded and heavily roaded, so our personnel cannot by themselves keep an eye on every acre," Cliff said. "That's why we are relying on forest users to share information with us."
By using covert digital cameras, GPS devices and ground and aerial surveillance, law enforcement officials do what they can to apprehend illegal marijuana growers who frequently switch up their patterns to avoid detection.
Dr. Gupta on medical marijuana The debate on marijuana
"We conduct aerial surveillance, and we have seen a change in the growers' tactics. A number of years ago, there would be large multithousand plant fields concentrated in one area, and now they have a couple of hundred plants in one location and then another couple hundred plants a couple hundred yards away which makes aerial detection more difficult," said David Spakowicz, the director of field operations for the Wisconsin Department of Justice's criminal investigation division.
Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said he and special agents at the Wisconsin Department of Justice are "not only aggressively investigating and eradicating these grows, but also working with our local and federal partners to hold accountable the individuals responsible for operating such grow operations."
Highs and lows of using marijuana
"That kind of aggressive eradication and enforcement ought to send a message to those who think they can profit from growing illegal drugs on Wisconsin's public lands, threatening our natural resources and potentially the people who enjoy them," he said in a statement to CNN.
Spakowicz says that every occupied marijuana growing operation that led to arrests has also resulted in the seizure of firearms, and they've also found ammunition left behind by other growers.
The concern is that a person walking through the forest will come across not only an illegal grow operation, but also heavily armed growers.
"If they are protecting $10 million of marijuana plants, that's a lot of money, and there have been gun battles with law enforcement in other states such as California," Spakowicz said. "We worry that they will bring the same level of violence with them."
Because the concern for public safety is so great, the state attorney general's office works in conjunction with the Department of Justice to strongly prosecute marijuana growers.
"We believe we need to arrest people in order to send a message to these marijuana growers that they are not welcome in Wisconsin and that their activities will be not be accepted," Spakowicz said.

Marijuana growing operations can cause serious damage to the forests.
Wisconsin is targeting illegal marijuana growers because it has millions of acres of remote public land. According to the state Department of Justice, 32 people have been arrested for illegally growing marijuana since 2008, and most were non-U.S. citizens in the country illegally. All of the suspects are expected to serve their sentences before they are deported, the department says.
Several suspects interviewed by law enforcement said they were recruited from California to come to Wisconsin. In some cases they were told openly that they are to work in a marijuana growing operation, while in other cases they came believing they were to work in a restaurant. Some suspects also said they didn't even know what state they were in.
Suzanne Flory, public affairs officer for the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, said that these growers operate on a large scale.
"They are large, drug trafficking organizations; they are not mom and pop operations," she said. "These are people doing this to make a lot of money."
The operations also cause serious damage to the forest. The growers chop down trees to let sunlight filter through to their plants, divert water away from trout streams and filter harmful chemicals back into the water.
"It causes a lot of environmental damage from soil erosion and it increases sedimentation in rivers and streams which affects the fish. There is possibility of chemical runoff from poisons and other wastes," Flory said. "They destroy the vegetation and leave their garbage behind.
"It leaves a scar on the landscape," she said.

[torchbearer]

People should hunt these psychopathic authoritarian freaks down.

[paulbot24]

Keep your bloodshot eyes peeled for that evil wacky weed!

[specsaregood]

8,000 plants worth $8 million.

See! The govt really is magic. It can take something that will grow wild if allowed and turn it into something worth 8million. Magic!

[torchbearer]

everyone should johnny appleseed their national and state parks.

[camp_steveo]

10 years in prison fro growing a plant. wtf

[ClydeCoulter]

10 years in prison fro growing a plant. wtf

Surreal, surreal.

[paulbot24]

See! The govt really is magic. It can take something that will grow wild if allowed and turn it into something worth 8million. Magic!

As magical as creating money out of thin air and making it vanish just as quickly?

[NorfolkPCSolutions]

What a crock.

[Origanalist]

As AF says, war on us.


Marijuana growing operations can cause serious damage to the forests.

Nowhere near the damage caused by misguided and ill considered Forest Service regulations. I can't believe they even say this.

[angelatc]

everyone should johnny appleseed their national and state parks.

I always used to throw my seeds into the wild. If everybody did that....the south would prosper.

[BAllen]

Tie up their resources. Report non cannibis plants on a regular basis. Get all your friends to do the same. Waste all their time you can.

[BSU kid]

Not only is this dumb, but if the government really wanted to find weed they just need to do some remote sensing. Instead they are making a big fuss about it, and trying to get the public to do their bidding.

[Victor Grey]

everyone should johnny appleseed their national and state parks.


I always used to throw my seeds into the wild. If everybody did that....the south would prosper.

I can't say with certainty, but I do think and have heard anecdotally, that if you leave the plants untended to their own devices in the wild, that in a short time they will generally revert back to a natural hemp-like state, of relatively lower potency than desired. Perhaps not in one generation.

Man-cultivated high potency expression, isn't a great natural benefit to the plant's survival.

It might still work to tie up government agencies though if large amounts popped up everywhere. Feral hemp surely looks and grows pretty much the same as any other plant would in appearance.

[Victor Grey]

Tie up their resources. Report non cannibis plants on a regular basis. Get all your friends to do the same. Waste all their time you can.

You wouldn't want to "waste our taxpayer money" doing that though, wouldn't you?

[thoughtomator]

Tie up their resources. Report non cannibis plants on a regular basis. Get all your friends to do the same. Waste all their time you can.

This is spot on, and I might add you can increase the fun by cross referencing land records with names of public employees and their relatives, especially those in the departments that enforce these foolish, tyrannical edicts.

[thoughtomator]

You wouldn't want to "waste our taxpayer money" doing that though, wouldn't you?

The money is wasted upon allocation. If the program shows no or negative results then that money is less likely to be wasted in the future.

[CaptainAmerica]

If I was a wisconsin hunter, I'd mind my own business and not get involved in the cartels business.Stupid government created this problem

[Odin]

Can you get arrested for planting poisonous plants like poison ivy or something? My guess is probably not.

Can someone please inform me what the police do with all this marijuana they find? Do they "burn" it? :cool:

[Anti Federalist]

If I was a wisconsin hunter, I'd mind my own business and not get involved in the cartels business.Stupid government created this problem

This.

These idiots are out of their rabid ass minds.

You think I'm calling cops or feds when I'm out in the woods with my gun?

LOLOLOLOLOL

[thoughtomator]

Can you get arrested for planting poisonous plants like poison ivy or something? My guess is probably not.

Can someone please inform me what the police do with all this marijuana they find? Do they "burn" it? :cool:

I would not be surprised in the slightest to find that it is routinely sold out the back door onto the black market.

[tod evans]

Calling out Tpoints......

WTF with the neg rep?

[BAllen]

This is spot on, and I might add you can increase the fun by cross referencing land records with names of public employees and their relatives, especially those in the departments that enforce these foolish, tyrannical edicts.

That's even better. See what happens when creative people put their efforts together?

[Occam's Banana]

Calling out Tpoints......

WTF with the neg rep?

You were neg-repped for the OP? That's messed up.

Here's a +rep just for general principle ...

[tod evans]

You were neg-repped for the OP? That's messed up.

Here's a +rep just for general principle ...

Thanks man!

Some folks......

[Kotin]

Thanks man!

Some folks......

that is not a neg rep... he does not have enough rep to give so it is seen as grey not green.

[Tod]

Is industrial hemp appreciably different in appearance than marijuana that is high in the active ingredient (THC?)?

[Tod]

that is not a neg rep... he does not have enough rep to give so it is seen as grey not green.

I was confused by the color too...

[tod evans]

that is not a neg rep... he does not have enough rep to give so it is seen as grey not green.

Okay?....Sorry I mistakenly thought it was negative...

[tod evans]

Is industrial hemp appreciably different in appearance than marijuana that is high in the active ingredient (THC?)?

I've never seen or been around the industrial variety to say....

[Victor Grey]

Pretty sure a wild horse looks like a work horse looks like a race horse.

Unless it's a zebra.

[heavenlyboy34]

As AF says, war on us.



Nowhere near the damage caused by misguided and ill considered Forest Service regulations. I can't believe they even say this.
Indeed. For an example of this-consider the ginormous wildfires that start in AZ pretty regularly. i.e. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/17/arizona-wildfires-2012_n_1523382.html and http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0514/Arizona-wildfires-Five-fires-mark-start-of-2012-wildfire-season-video

[kathy88]

Not only is this dumb, but if the government really wanted to find weed they just need to do some remote sensing. Instead they are making a big fuss about it, and trying to get the public to do their bidding.

They are getting people in the habit of narcing on their neighbors.

[kathy88]

Calling out Tpoints......

WTF with the neg rep?


A little sensitive to the old neg rep? You get over it. LOL.

[tangent4ronpaul]

I can't say with certainty, but I do think and have heard anecdotally, that if you leave the plants untended to their own devices in the wild, that in a short time they will generally revert back to a natural hemp-like state, of relatively lower potency than desired. Perhaps not in one generation.

Man-cultivated high potency expression, isn't a great natural benefit to the plant's survival.

It might still work to tie up government agencies though if large amounts popped up everywhere. Feral hemp surely looks and grows pretty much the same as any other plant would in appearance.

Mix it with bird seed and feed it to to your local, larger birds. That will guarantee wide distribution and a fertilizer payload to help the poor seedling get started in life...

-t

[James Madison]

Is industrial hemp appreciably different in appearance than marijuana that is high in the active ingredient (THC?)?

Industrial hemp is closer to the wild varieties that still grow in central Asia chemically. Appearance, however, is more or less identical since both were domesticated from the same source.

[AFPVet]

Is industrial hemp appreciably different in appearance than marijuana that is high in the active ingredient (THC?)?

Well, that depends. There are several strains of cannabis. Hemp just happens to be one of the strains which contains very little THC. There are also cannabis indica and ruderalis varieties. Indica and ruderalis strains are also typically lower in THC, but are still considered marijuana. Ruderalis is a smaller strain as is indica. Sativa strains like high THC (marijuana) and low THC (hemp) can get very tall unlike indica and ruderalis.

[Origanalist]

Indeed. For an example of this-consider the ginormous wildfires that start in AZ pretty regularly. i.e. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/17/arizona-wildfires-2012_n_1523382.html and http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0514/Arizona-wildfires-Five-fires-mark-start-of-2012-wildfire-season-video

We get the same thing here, environazi's do everything in their power to keep anybody from clearing out deadwood or managing the forests in a logical way.

Keep hugging that tree, just be ready to run from the intensely hot fire caused by the over abundance of underbrush.

[tangent4ronpaul]

Pretty sure a wild horse looks like a work horse looks like a race horse.

Unless it's a zebra.

Or a unicorn...

-t

[VBRonPaulFan]

http://i.qkme.me/3qzajq.jpg

[Peace Piper]

Hemp Field in England

http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/2538/ducketthemcore.jpg

Hemcore (www.hemcore.co.uk), the UK's only commercial hemp processing company, is to expand its operations with the construction of a new £3.6 million industrial hemp processing facility near Halesworth in Suffolk. When running at full capacity the facility will employ 35 people and enable Hemcore to process 50,000 tonnes of hemp straw a year.

The hemp plant has two constituent parts: the fibre and the woody core or 'shiv'. Demand for both of these products is growing rapidly. Hemp fibre is increasingly used in the automotive sector, primarily in the manufacture of door panels and other parts. Demand for hemp products is also growing in construction, where the shiv is used as an energy efficient building material and the fibre is used as a natural insulation material.

Emerging markets for hemp products include plastics reinforcement, nutrition, clothing and horticulture.

The new facility is being installed in an existing building at the Halesworth Business Centre. The site was selected to ensure it was close to the majority of existing hemp growers, many of whom are in the East of England. This is also an area where the growing base is expected to expand rapidly as the demand for hemp products continues to increase...(more)

http://www.hempreport.com/archive/2007_08_01_archive.html

The world-leading producer of hemp is China, with smaller production in Europe, Chile and North Korea. Over thirty countries produce industrial hemp, including Australia, Austria, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey and Ukraine.[82][83]

Hemp for Food, Fiber, Fuel and Medicine! Hemp 4 Victory!
http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/2675/hererg.jpg
The King of Hemp (rip)

[Origanalist]

Not the US, hemp is for hippies! Who needs jobs? Not US.

[AGRP]

Thank God for the fisherman! Do we know the dangerous side effects if wild animals such as deer much on these deadly plants?

[tangent4ronpaul]

Stoned deer - what a concept. They might even get the munchies and come up n start chowing down on Aunt Jill's apple pie cooling in the windowsill. We can't have that, can we? I mean OMG!!!!

-t

[specsaregood]

Thank God for the fisherman! Do we know the dangerous side effects if wild animals such as deer much on these deadly plants?

Deer eating your weed aint no laughing matter, man. And yes, they will.

[tod evans]

Deer are paranoid enough...

[Ronulus]

Remember people, if you see peaches or any fruits on the ground that have been busted open to contact authorities immediately. That tree should be prosecuted for making alcohol illegally and not regulating the animals/people that may eat it and get intoxicated.

[specsaregood]

Remember people, if you see peaches or any fruits on the ground that have been busted open to contact authorities immediately. That tree should be prosecuted for making alcohol illegally and not regulating the animals/people that may eat it and get intoxicated.

And let's not forget, dude. Those peach pits contain the dangerous chemical arsenic; better call the EPA as well and get a hazmat team on the scene.

[Ronulus]

And let's not forget, dude. Those peach pits contain the dangerous chemical arsenic; better call the EPA as well and get a hazmat team on the scene.

Think of the children!

[libertyjam]

And let's not forget, dude. Those peach pits contain the dangerous chemical arsenic; better call the EPA as well and get a hazmat team on the scene.

It is cyanide (compound), not arsenic (element)!

[coastie]

I wasn't aware you could grow weed in the winter months(usual hunting season)....it should be no small wonder they can never find any, fucking idiots.

Hell, I bet you can't put anything in the ground until at least May that far north.

[specsaregood]

It is cyanide (compound), not arsenic (element)!

Clearly you are a govt secret agent, sent here to spy on us.

[specsaregood]

I wasn't aware you could grow weed in the winter months(usual hunting season)....it should be no small wonder they can never find any, fucking idiots.
Hell, I bet you can't put anything in the ground until at least May that far north.

I'm no expert; but temperature variations increase THC output as the plants use it to protect themselves. So, I would think in theory, that harvesting in late fall would be a tactic to get a more powerful harvest.

[libertyjam]

Clearly you are a govt secret agent, sent here to spy on us.

Making a list, checking it twice ... :eek:

[coastie]

I'm no expert; but temperature variations increase THC output as the plants use it to protect themselves. So, I would think in theory, that harvesting in late fall would be a tactic to get a more powerful harvest.

Not that far north...it can't tolerate less than 40* F for very long. Temperature has more of an effect on color-not potency.;)

[specsaregood]

Not that far north...it can't tolerate less than 40* F for very long. Temperature has more of an effect on color-not potency.;)

How many of those pinup girls have you collected so far?

[angelatc]

I can't say with certainty, but I do think and have heard anecdotally, that if you leave the plants untended to their own devices in the wild, that in a short time they will generally revert back to a natural hemp-like state, of relatively lower potency than desired. Perhaps not in one generation.

Man-cultivated high potency expression, isn't a great natural benefit to the plant's survival.

It might still work to tie up government agencies though if large amounts popped up everywhere. Feral hemp surely looks and grows pretty much the same as any other plant would in appearance.

That's possibly true, but my main intent was to make it impossible for the police to keep up with it all. Apparently my dastardly plan has failed. :)

But that brings me to a question - isn't Wisconsin too cold and dark to grow pot, especially in November?

[angelatc]

This is spot on, and I might add you can increase the fun by cross referencing land records with names of public employees and their relatives, especially those in the departments that enforce these foolish, tyrannical edicts.

Poison ivy looks like pot to me.

[Matthew5]

I'll play devil's advocate...why does everyone have an issue with public property managers wanting to keep private enterprises off the public land?

[angelatc]

I would not be surprised in the slightest to find that it is routinely sold out the back door onto the black market.

Somebody has to fund the CIA, dammit.

[angelatc]

I'll play devil's advocate...why does everyone have an issue with public property managers wanting to keep private enterprises off the public land?

We have more of an issue with public property.

[Matthew5]

True, we could debate the merits of public property, but as is, it doesn't seem unreasonable that they'd want to keep a private agricultural endeavor off the land.

[tod evans]

True, we could debate the merits of public property, but as is, it doesn't seem unreasonable that they'd want to keep a private agricultural endeavor off the land.

Who is "they"?

Public land belongs to the public, and this member of the public is cool with folks growing some weed on my part..

[Matthew5]

Who is "they"?

Public land belongs to the public, and this member of the public is cool with folks growing some weed on my part..

So where do you draw the line? What if I wanted to build a home or start a business "on my share"?

[tod evans]

So where do you draw the line? What if I wanted to build a home or start a business "on my share"?

For me plants/wildlife/ non-invasive stuff...

Others may have other ideas..

[Matthew5]

Clearing timber, tearing up the land, and using public land for profit is invasive. Is it right for a private individual to profit from the taxpayers?

[tod evans]

I see growing weed on par with deer hunting.....You may not?

Neither is "Clearing timber, tearing up the land" in my book..

[Tod]

I gather that if industrial hemp were legalized, the abundance of it and similarity to potent varieties would make it almost impossible to enforce laws against the more potent stuff. Sound correct?

[Tod]

Collective ownership more or less equates to having no ownership, so the "custodians", the government, does whatever they darn well please with it.

[opal]

Mix it with bird seed and feed it to to your local, larger birds. That will guarantee wide distribution and a fertilizer payload to help the poor seedling get started in life...

-t

good plan.. now if I only knew where to get the bird food additivies sigh