Invasion Of The Marijuana Growers

[4570Man]

If it was fully legalized vs highly regulated so only the select few could play it wouldn’t be such a mess.

 

[KiotiKowboy]

..............

The OP says that in his situation a "Cartle" came to town and ran up the price of land on an adjoining farm/property and suggested that the labor was imported and housed on site. That's not how it happens in Oregon. The Growers are usually separate from the Property Owners. The Property Owners just lease the land. Growers put in all the infrastructure and take care of the local labor and the operational costs. The Growers are professional management companies, not the typical Hollywood, outlaw, villains. ............

Actually, that's not quite what I said ,,,, but close enough.

Even our state reps will tell you that most of these operations are run by Russian or Mexican cartels. The reps also say that about 60% of them are selling illegally under the table. The state has brought on quite a few new site inspectors - not law enforcement - to check on the operations. They have found a large percentage speak no English and will great the inspectors carrying firearms. Many of the inspectors are inclined to say "Have a nice day" as they put their pencils back in the pocket protector and head back to their cars.

When these people come in - pay massive amounts of cash for property - they raise everyone's property taxes. The placement of these sites next to rural homes/ranches/farms destroys their property values. Who in their right mind would want to live next to one of these eyesores? There is TRASH - Traffic - Light pollution - and the smell can water your eyes.

The person who bought next to me .. who I then had to take out a mortgage on my home to buy out .. found other land 2 miles away. He did not import workers .. he brought in his extended family, put them in 9 trailers than make FEMA trailers look good, and proceeded to build a dozen greenhouses. I have driven past this place a few times and can tell you - I Praise God Almighty that we had the equity in our home to get rid of him. It is not uncommon to see 8ft fences, razor wire and even privacy fabric hung around the entire acreages.

The legislation that allowed this to happen is a disgrace.

Frankly - it doesn't matter to me how anyone else feels about this issue - because I know our story and what it has cost us. To those who think all of this is just dandy - please let us know how you feel when your new neighbor arrives. If you ever intend to sell, or leave a desirable property to your kids ... I already know the answer ... even if you don't - yet.

 

[KiotiKowboy]

Should have bought the 20 acres to begin with. Anything comes up for sale adjoining my land, I buy it.

But where does it stop? My neighbor to the south is about 60 acres and on the east is another 88 acres. I do play the lottery.

 

[lman]

Should have bought the 20 acres to begin with. Anything comes up for sale adjoining my land, I buy it.

I thought you were selling.

 

[cqaigy2]

Has anyone noticed any regulations on what and when a product can be applied to hemp? I've known a couple people that tried their hand at growing on their land, one had no idea how to process it, stuck green crop in plastic garbage bags, it molded and the lost it all. He asked if it was moldy would it be bad to dry it and sell anyway The other person, i don't recall the outcome, but we had a discussion about what pesticides, i haven't used them in so many years so don't know much about them, but do know if it's for human consumption, there's some that can be used, and some that shouldn't be.

 

[PuffyC]

Has anyone noticed any regulations on what and when a product can be applied to hemp? I've known a couple people that tried their hand at growing on their land, one had no idea how to process it, stuck green crop in plastic garbage bags, it molded and the lost it all. He asked if it was moldy would it be bad to dry it and sell anyway The other person, i don't recall the outcome, but we had a discussion about what pesticides, i haven't used them in so many years so don't know much about them, but do know if it's for human consumption, there's some that can be used, and some that shouldn't be.

They typically don't define what you can do, just what you can't. Which pesticides they test for and allowable amounts (for OK) can be found here.

 

[ericm979]

Has anyone noticed any regulations on what and when a product can be applied to hemp? I've known a couple people that tried their hand at growing on their land, one had no idea how to process it, stuck green crop in plastic garbage bags, it molded and the lost it all. He asked if it was moldy would it be bad to dry it and sell anyway The other person, i don't recall the outcome, but we had a discussion about what pesticides, i haven't used them in so many years so don't know much about them, but do know if it's for human consumption, there's some that can be used, and some that shouldn't be.

For hemp some mold might be ok. The important thing is the hemp fiber in the stem, which has to be extracted by pounding the stems. Pesticides or herbicides might be ok at some level too, at least for non organic. Hemp is actually great stuff- it's super strong and durable, and the plant grows like a weed. In WWII there was a "Hemp for victory!" program to encourage farmers to grow it. Part of the reason marijuana is illegal and until recently there was no legal difference between marijuana and hemp (which does not get you high) is the paper industry wanted to get rid of the competition.

Mold would greatly devalue a marijuana crop. It might still be useful as raw material for extracting THC or CBD but it's no good for consuming as bud. Pesticides and herbicides would be a problem though that did not stop the US government from spraying Paraquat on illegal pot farms in the '80s and '90s, or the growers from quickly harvesting and selling the poisoned product.

And I forget who posted it but yea it's terribly short sighted for governments (like my state) to tax the bejesus out of legal pot and make it super hard for farmers and retailers to be legal. That just makes them stay illegal. They had the example of Colorado who did it right and they still screwed it up.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Herbicide drift has been a problem for years, and legislation on the subject has been pretty active. Around here it was dealt with decades ago, when the vineyards first came in. Almost anything will kill grape vines, and of course insecticide residue will ruin the crop for human consumption.

Southern Oregon has had a real influx of illegal grows. Our hot, dry summers are ideal for outdoor growing, and they try to disguise the grow as a USDA legal fiber hemp grow. Not too long ago the cops seized 25 tons from one warehouse.

If you really want to screw up the pot growers, plant male plants on your property line. The potency depends on unfertilized flowers. It doesn't hurt fiber production at all, but the THC production gets trashed.

 

[Jstpssng]

I have a bit of a different viewpoint. When it was illegal, growers would plant it on other people's land and put out crude booby traps to guard their crops. One former coworker told of a patch which was surrounded by fish line with hooks dangling from it at eye level. Now that it's legal they are more inclined to grow it on their own land, making it safer for those of us who work in the woods.

 

[GeneV]

I'd say much better to have a legal operation than commando one, but yeh, that sux. I wouldn't want all that stuff next door either, and I say that as somebody who's smoked a whole lot of wacky tobacci over the years.

On a side note, it's so funny though, I was always pining for legalization. But now that I could get primo high-thc level stuff with the purple hairs and all that, legal, from a dispensary 20 min away, at any time...I'm like, meh!