Rio Dell Busts Property in the Permit Process Where Owner Failed to Follow Conditions, According to Police
On August 10, 2018, officers from the Rio Dell Police Department served a search warrant on a parcel located off of Northwestern Avenue in Rio Dell. The owner of the property had applied to the City for a conditional use permit to cultivate marijuana on the property, but had failed to follow through with any of the conditions, including participating in the track and trace program.
“I’m disappointed that these cultivators did not comply after given an opportunity to enter the legal market.” Rio Dell Police Chief Jeff Conner stated. “I am pleased that the operation went by without major incident.”
Rather than allow the marijuana to enter the black market, the Rio Dell Police Department elected to seize and destroy 581 flowering marijuana plants, 818 drying marijuana plants and/or stalks, and 158 marijuana plants in a vegetative state. Approximately one pound of processed marijuana flowers and ten pounds of trim material were also destroyed. The Department will continue to monitor the property to ensure that marijuana cultivation does not take place until the conditions of the permit are complied with.
Mayor Frank Wilson summarized the position of the city. “The message is clear: Illegal or unpermitted marijuana grows are not welcome in Rio Dell. Play by the rules or get out.”
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Play by the rules or get out. I love it! I might consider relocating to Rio Dell.
Or…… West Texas? Oklahoma? Just saying, there are other places for mainline republicans clinging to the past like you — conservatives today support legal businesses (Trump supports permitted weed now, and lower regulations and taxes 4 example)…Maybe there are better places to relocate and re-live the 1950’s and early 1960’s besides Norcal… Rio Dell is more of a out of work mill town from my memory and it doesn’t seem like they support local permitted business or jobs… Job killing regulations! Next you’ll be complaining about the bad fuel economy of those Ford’s the cops drive around in… All I can say is that they tried to get legal, but no one is doing track and trace yet countywide or statewide. Did they go too big? Yep, them boys should have checked their egos in a town as rough and tumble as that one.
Rio has been completely unfriendly to most of the more successful businesses in town. Favoring the falling apart , run down, dilapidated building and business owners over modern fresh and new up and coming entrepreneurs. There are multiple buildings, ex autoshops, restaurants ECT, with tweakers living in them, Windows papered out, dope hustling out the door while the city watches on. A crew of older grey ladies works tiresly around the tweakers and addicts to attempt to beautify a city the landlords could give a shit about cl waning up..
the mayor will act tough to these small time pot farmers across the River, but they never did shit when their boys were pushing 400 lights in the big green garage off northestern. They never do shit when their supervisors harass great up n coming entrepreneurs for attempting to employ locals and bring non marijuana jobs into town. You’d be a lot more respectable if you shared that same sentiment with the dope fiends living on wilds of and first avenue frank..try this one out for size Mr. Mayor.. how about , “living in delapadated commercial locations, and hustling dope out of the windows” or “tweeking your brains out on wildwood” or “rat infested broken buildings as storefronts for dope sales” or”sitting at the busstop all day on bikes hustling dope bags” get out you all are not welcome…
The amount of daylight dope sales on first ave or wildwood alone spells you are not shit frank.
So funny. There was a building for sale on the main drag I was looking at. I believe it was taken off the market, so I thought how cool, new business. No, windows stayed covered up and some guy would hang outside all day in a chair. Looked to me he was selling dope, but I would just laugh and think no way he would be so blatant. Maybe he was doing as I thought.
Lol Rio Dell sucks,The cops dont play by the rules,the people are mostly mean back stabing thiefs,the town holds u there,& wares U down ,& will keep u dont.its got a nagitive gloom,the indains long ago put a cerse on it. Its just a worning for some born & raised there for 50 yeats.
Dude, [edit] Rio Dell’s no better or worse than anywhere else. Didn’t see anything negative at Wildwood Days.
You weren’t looking then. Junkies everywhere.
Yeah. Thanks. I’ve lived here for over 60 years. Still love Rio.
There’s a lot of other crap they need to clean up there before I would consider moving back. Rio Dell used to be a pretty nice little town. Not so much anymore. Very sad.
What did we learn from this:
Don’t do what this guy did!
“But , officer i was only trying to get the medicine to the patients and didn’t have time to follow through with the permits and play by the rules. Greed had nothing to do with it. Honestly.”
Bullshit. How is this greed? As well please tell me what other legal industry anywhere in the world that the police come and ruin everything you own then take you to jail because of “infractions” whether environmental or otherwise? Your comment along with what’s currently going on in Humboldt is bullshit
Escort services, card houses, liquor stores, import business, exotic animal stores, stock brokerages,etc. Speaking of bullshit, that rancher arrested in Arcata. First 6 months of legality have not changed many mindsets so that they are really legally operating even if the type business is legal. Even the legal businesses still have follow the law.
Ask anyone in the restaurant biz about regulations and the consequences of not being compliant. One tiny mouse turd can shut you down.
Except if the health dept. chooses not to shut you down.
I’ve heard directly from pest control companies that Eureka leaves plenty of restaurants open with rat issues.
I think the ones who don’t provide money and kickbacks for the inspectors are the ones that close down. Crooked town from top to bottom.
Yes but if you fix the problem you’re open again and in that they don’t come arrest everyone and chop their building down. My comment still stands and it’s s true, no other industry in the world is treated as such
And no, one tiny mouse turd can not shut you down. I worked in the restaurant industry for 30 years, I’ve cooked in every establishment there is, fro 5 star to short order cook at a diner, you mr friend are full of shit as well even if a restaurant were so bad as to get shut down no one is going to jail or fined half a million a day or having their building destroyed. You should probably think before you speak or can you not?
no permits = no plants, the HCSO made it very clear. nobody is getting fined $500,000 per day. it will be added to the property’s tax liability. most of the ‘fines’ are for code violations attributed to the irresponsible production of weed, not for weed itself.
the county has been derelict in their duties to enforce code violations for decades, about time they get on it. Ford’s enforcement is protecting the legal grows, the people abiding by the law, the people who pay taxes. the plants grown outside of the system are at risk of being destroyed. this is act 64 meets capitalism.
hey genius spoiled alert ahead – the state will be up your ass next. no state license = no plants. no track n trace = no plants. get it? unpaid taxes = fines/jail. ^%$# with the environment = lose your property. and when the feds take it off sched 1 expect yet another new set of regulations and taxes.
47 to answer your question Class 3 firearms dealer.
And that’s about it, all other industries if caught not following the rules are fined and given the chance to come into compliance and all without being arrested and having everything chopped down or destroyed
to our communist (sorry democratic socialist) politicians any form of working for a profit is “capitalist greed”…lol… You have to work for a stalinist tech company in slick con valley if you want a paying job. These guys must not have been down with the Red party. Cops are compartmentaized and just follow their mauist orders.
Damn it.
Earl nailed it 👌🏻
The more time goes by, the more conservative people comment here. To me it is ignorant…”if ya cant play the game”then bla bla bla….makes me angry. You people make me angry. It costs thousands of dollars to permit with the friggin rules changin constantly. It has been likened to flying a plane that hasnt been fully built. People run into mass obstacles trying to permit. Is this what Redheaded blackbelt is about….a forum of selfish, brainless people. Pfffffft.
It helps if people of all points of view take the time to comment.
Yes, but the expression “flying a plane when it isn’t fully built” certainly describes it…
I believe the phrase used by CA State Senator Mike Woods was, “we are building the plane as it’s flying.” I’ve been using it for the motto at my farm. If its an excuse good enough for lawmakers, it’s good enough for me.
Is the comment section just for pro-drug types? May persons only having similar viewpoints to you type out a comment? Does anyone actually read the comments?
It seems clear that Rio Dell does not want drug activity, and, since Rio Dell appears to be pretty religious and right-wing, it probably wasn’t a good idea to just go ahead and grow there while failing to operate within current laws and with current permits…
Rio Dell and Scotia obviously want to cash in on the drug thing, but they don’t want people to just do whatever, wherever, without paying the town off…
Sorry if my views don’t align with yours. My feeling is that drugs add nothing, and the wildly out-of-control whack-job growers have engendered a culture of druggie-ism that has ruined a large geographic area for normal, sober people who work for a living and obey common law.
The message appears to be clear: pay Caesar, follow the rules, get your permits, or lose your plants.
Thanks!
pro-medicine? Anti-Cancer? Yes, drugs? Heck no… Meth started with the logging industry. Pot is not a gateway drug it’s used to help alchoholics and drug addicts recover and cancer patients survive and live in remission. That’s why they legalized it. You would change your tune if you or a loved one was diagnosed with cancer. I know it has saved people from dying in my life. Historically, pot was put under prohibition to control the black and hispanic populations and was a racist push. I bet a lot of us on this board are also pro-equality like our President who today condemned “all forms of racism.” It’s time to move past prejudice…
OH, my!
I think I have heard enough of this fantasy!
You may be delusional as heck, but do you also believe in the tooth fairy?
Drugs, are drugs. The best thing to do is, well, not drugs…
If I get Cancer, give me Cocaine, Heroin, Vodka. Screw pot.
Thanks for your opinion.
Nope, not the tooth fairy, just the Lord Jesus Christ, my savior. It’s his plant. It’s his laws that matter to me. Though shall not judge being one that I find utterly important. Best wishes to you and I do not mean you any ill will or harm. Bless
Well, as the Turkish President said, “(they) have their dollars, we have God”…
Humboldt growers have suitcases of Krugerrand, from the old days, buried out back, and some of them spout garbage about Jesus’s weed…
You are not a fantasist, but you’re an obvious satirist…
Thanks for teasing the audience… Get your permit, or get the heck out of here…
You do realize that cocaine, methamphetamines, and heroin are also all drugs used in the medical profession to treat pain? But it isn’t legal to have huge poppy fields, cook methamphetamines in your bathtub or to grow coca plants now is it..
You are not paying attention..there are more drugs in the open in Rio than almost anywhere else..topped by eureka and redway/garb respectively…half the town is on drugs.
Rio Dell ca. Is synonymous with methamphetamine. Not a big pot town, pretty into heroin, but meth is where it’s at. The meth production in that little town is on a very large scale. It started in the late 80s but not fully embraced until the mid-nineties. It has since always been their bread and butter. The way many feel about pot having been an economic crutch to Humboldt county as a whole, as is Rio hell to meth. Community compliance is key
Nice to know that Redway and Garberville have a better balance, with their weed and meth in equal proportions…
I never knew this about Rio Dell… I thought it only had religious crazies…
There is almost 0 meth production in the US never mind Rio Dell, maybe years ago but no more, it’s almost ALL produced in Mexico now
Meth production is a thriving cottage industry in the States. Despite the crackdown on the precursor chemicals required for meth production, meth manufacturing is GROWING in the USA. The legalization of marijuana is forcing criminals into alternative markets. Same driving force has expanded meth production in Mexico where the labs are more centralized and free-lancing is highly discouraged.
Did you miss the whole legalization thing? I bet you if a multimillion pharma corp wanted to move into the Dell and give the city big $ they’d be all for it so please take that “the city doesn’t want drugs” comment and put it where it belongs, right up your keester
Agree. This comment section use to be enjoyable with thoughtful respectful locals with opposing views and now, it’s a platform for a lot of racism, bigotry and hate speech. Obviously individuals with serious mental issues. She didn’t even censor ppl using racial slurs and very derogatory words for dead children. The moral standard is low. All the people who got blocked from other sites are here because this site supports hate speech, racism and bigotry.
If I missed racial slurs, please point them out by responding to them with my name. For example, “Kym, I don’t think this is okay.”
I make mistakes but I’m willing to fix them. The fires have left me little time for the comment section so it could be getting out of hand but I’m doing the best I can on little sleep.
@guest – That’s not true.
If your looking for censorship perhaps the New York Times or CNN would be a better fit?
There is no such thing as hate speech, either you have freedom of speech or you don’t! what’s it to be?
that’s why commi’s hate weed growers… For one, they are the competition, and two, it wakes people up to the whole Muslim brotherhood takeover of congress.
New local news site is needed to balance the news and highlight the stories untold and not a copy/paste press release b/c that’s covered. News somewhat dictates policy and law so, we need some news that reflects a part of the community that is underrepresented and not just law enforcement sentiments. We’ve got 3-4 news sires all telling the same story from the same perspective.
I’m happy to teach you how to work for little money and lots of criticism.
I’d repeat your oft said advice to critics about there being other sites but I’d really miss you if you didn’t keep this one up. Dependency is such a two edged sword and I’ve come to depend on this site in part because the comments can really expand understanding. I like that sometimes more depth is covered even if it is only that more information doesn’t exist.
Thanks for your wonderful service, Ms Kemp!
You are truly the blogger goddess!
Kym rocks… No criticism from me! If she keeps up the hard work it will one day pay off in spades for her, as a bigger company in the space will buy the site from her. With her traffic stats I would say at least 7 zeros at some point, provided the red tape lovers don’t ruin the county completely
Hehe. You rock Kym. !!!!!!
You’re welcome to start your own site/blog. You might have to stop ragging on someone else’s to do so.
Everybody bitching about the cost of a permit. If you can not afford to be legal and permitted, then simply put, you can not afford to be a legitimate cannabis business in today market. Its really simple.
Pushing back against government overreach is a long an honored tradition in America since revolutionaries threw tea into Boston Harbor.
Oh, I’m down! I’m no hater, I want people to succeed at being a cannabis company. Im just saying, if someone is that broke, there is zero chance of them surviving. Right now this is a game of having enough cash flow to get you to market and be able to jump through the hoops. I don’t care how good of a cultivator you are or how you’ve been doing this your whole life, no money, no ticket. No ticket, no getting on the ride.
More like Rio Don’t
Haters. At least, first go after the egregious sites not using solar power and trashy property’s or some Meth labs. Pictures highlighting nice vehicles because the property wasn’t trashed. Lazy bust. Any Petition to extend the permit process floating around so ppl can become compliant. These images are not offensive and of course a one-sided story not even educating the public of what actual condition wasn’t met.
I completely agree but what do you mean by “pictures highlighting nice vehicles?” All vehicles pictured are those of LE
track and trace, no comply weed go bye bye
What track an trace? Who has it? O ya thats right, you give them numbers from your inventory because no one has track n trace from the company that has been hired for the job? I’ve been around to the nurseries in the area and they have all told me that no one has officially got track n trace up and running in Cali. So the destroying people’s houses and personal effects, bullying of law enforcement and building planning departments will continue. But they want people to go in and sign up, take tons of money from you then send in law abusers to rape all your hard work and money’s . ABUSE OF POWER.
If you don’t know what track and trace is by the middle of this year, you deserve to get raided
Yep..track n trace is alive n well right here in humboldt..all those not using it or complaining it doesn’t exist are either ignorant shady or not paying attention. They are definitely next in line for an article and some pics like this guy..And I agree they deserve it.
If he had any sense in what he was talking about he’d know nurseries are now required to tag every 100 plants. He’s screaming for attention preaching false points to get a stir out of the public. He’s full of shit.
You wish. Yes, t&t is “alive n well”, but there is zero incentive to join the program in any specified amount of time. Lots of farms with temp county and state license are NOT t&t. If you ask me, thats completely f*cked of the county to let this happen. It really is on them. I could care less about black market, i hope it never goes away. I care about the farmers that put faith in the system and are now playing an unfair game with the non t&t permit holders.
this is the correct answer.
It was just lowhanging fruit nothing more..all the neighbors are in compliance and up to date so this guy was just playing in the middle of the circus if you will. It’s not his first rodeo. He’s been popped before. Really the county shouldn’t have let him he has no intention to follow through. They just wanted the money.. funny no pics of the house..it’s blown the fk up.. everybody knows. There is probably more dope inside that house than could ever be found in the yard..lol
This house has been busted do many times for growing weed over the years
Heaven forbid a person who stands to make hundreds of thousands has to spend thousands or pay taxes like the rest of the non-cannabis hard working Americans …
Holy cow! The division between pothead “doctors” creating “medicine” just trying to scrape out a meager living while blinging their GIANT rimmed trucks, and the “clearcutting is the best thing to happen to an old growth forest” D-bags is getting bigger by the bust! Can’t wait for the final score… Except for the living I eeked out as a steelhead driftboat guide. You bastards better never let me find out that I have 2 weeks left to live… Peace…
Your whole damn community has been supported by the cannabis industry. Without it this economy would have collapsed long ago. There has of course been a lot of greed, but name one industry where greed doesn’t exist in one form or another. This wasn’t a trashy property, you can see by the limited photos that these people at least took care to set up a property maintained business.
Permitting itself he been costly and the rules keep changing. People need to make a living to support their families, pay bills, make land payments, pay for permitting. It’s a double edged sword. Not everyone was able to rack up enough money in time to pull it off. If you aren’t in the cannabis industry , you don’t know what it takes to put it all together, the costs of biz, the cost of permitting (site specific variable). There are a lot of people that have invested a lot of time and energy into this community of Humboldt , so GFTO with your blanket statements.
Sounds like the same argument could be made for the Timber and Fishing industry that built the majority of this county.
People forget where they came from and how they got here.
The over-regulation, restrictions, taxes and fees killed both large and small independent companies.
My mother worked in the seedling greenhouses for Simpson Timber. Seedlings that the company planted to sustain thier livelihoods and business model. There were fish hatcheries that our family visited regularly that helped to replenish and sustain our local fishermen.
It’s sad to see anyone work hard and have the rug pulled out from under them but, unless you present yourself or your business as an asset to your community, you’re going to get hurt. There are rules that have been out in place too help serve everyone. Make sure you support the people that have your best interest at heart in November.
One of the things made clear by many of these comments is that way too many growers and maybe users only see things in one light- “me, me, me…” Not everyone’s life revolves around pot, nor should pot growing have been allowed to become a replacement economy in the first place. It was never honest or more than accidentally supportive of the surrounding society. It never created long term good jobs that also contributed in turn.
This idea has all the same beliefs of every “trickle down” theory of economics. The trouble is that little really trickles down in ways that create independent and responsible citizens who in turn create a safe place with a future. It’s a lawless dog-eat-dog world that fueled ever further lawlessness.
Three words for you, today .
“Made in CHINA”
Those three words have a far greater impact on our society.
It’s just quite possible that we just don’t understand how things work in the world of capitalists.
To Big Bang what you going to do… Big man with little boat syndrome. Sounds like your threatening the entire cannabis community. I speak for myself “ bring it on”. Your ignorance is blinding.
The score is 350 or so to 9750. We are still winning, loser.
“The times they are a changing” ends with the line “And don’t speak too soon
For the wheel’s still in spin.”
Song by Bob Dylan
Track and trace, sounds like a great way to deal with humans. Oh wait, they already do it. Nothing to hide, nothing to fear. This just drips of manipulation and abuse.
Local guide? How many clients did you paddle that were growers or smoke cannabis?
No one‘s playing by the legal game at all every legal grow has 20 undocumented workers the legal farms on Fruitlyn ridge are a joke. You want to be legal illegal pay workers comp and have documented workers this whole thing is a fucking joke. And quit shitting in the woods pigs. And none of these pigs will hire local so many displaced people right now.
Just curious isn’t that the old Eel River Sawmill locale? It looks like it, and wasn’t that site slated to be the legal pot production area for ALL of Rio? Somebody please explain, not for Rio Hell but for a clearer picture to the whole new uncertainty here locally, as the rest of the state is blowing up with pot, and they say, only 30% of the new legal production will be needed by the dispensaries.
Yup it looks like it. I guess they really wanted their taxes and went for confiscation instead. Ouch.
No tracks. No train. But I smell train wreck and Not of the cannabis form.
Sure but the brainiacs at the Rio Del city council decided to levy taxes in excess of the state and county taxes combined..there is a reason no one is growing down there and this guy wasn’t following through. THere is a reason that the whole property and all seven permits is for sale on craigslist for $2.5mil or so. Current owner is trying to get out now..No one will ever succeed there. And the city is cashing checks before the eggs hatch…good luck loosers..haha
$2.5 mil? I might consider going as high as $80,000 for the whole parcel and the permits.
the property is an open Water Board cleanup case for chemicals related to the former mill. Rio Dell doesn’t seem to understand this concept and should be sued for being inept. no State permits until the case is resolved.
track and trace should be on the blockchain
loop road doesn’t like to follow rules either fortuna PD
the county has made it clear that anyone growing after July 1 must have state permit . “Being in the process” isn’t good enough. You can’t sell to legal market if you’re only “in the process” . They sent every applicant a letter stating this so it’s no surprise to anyone “in the process”
Those with temporary permits absolutely can sell.
Huh? That statement was pretty general and vague. LEGALLY they can only sell to permitted distributors. Anything else is illegal. Absolutely- thanks to “legalization”!
The only reason to issue temporary licenses, and both the county and the state do, is so that businesses can continue to operate. So yes, businesses can operate if they have temporary licenses.
Not everyone in the permit process has temporary licenses. Those businesses cannot continue to buy and sell.
I don’t know exactly how Rio Dell works but that is how the county and state work.
Yes . If they have a state temp also. Most people I know have county temp and no intention of getting state permit . Everyone that signed up received a letter from director ford that if you don’t have a state (temp at least) you need to stop . That’s in big bold letters. We have county and state temp permits and we’ve been flown really hard twice , the other day for 25 minutes . There’s no way to fake it . We’re legal and still freaking out that the county mafia will still screw us somehow .
If you have a valid local temporary permit AND a valid temporary state permit you can still be in the process. This is scary due to the lack of explanation as to what they weren’t doing properly other than track and trace. The state has yet to successfully launch their t and t program yet and I don’t know the status of the Humboldt program so…..
It would be awesome Kim if you could get more info into what triggered this raid.
What about burr valley road that place is disgusting
Burr Valley is a nest of huge grows. Hopefully there are convoys headed that way soon! The planning department is a joke. Zero abatement letters sent to Burr Valley or Larabee? And Willow Creek area- completely untouched?!! It seems like they are playing favorites or have some backroom deals going on…
There’s a mountain in Willow Creek where some of the very first abatement notices went out, almost a year ago.
Brennan mountain road and three creeks I think
[edit] don’t seem to get busted ever…hmmm…weather burr valley, or panther gap, or Miranda, the largest super grows remain. It’s been said by more than one deputy that it would just be too much work to bust a mega grow.. so they just let em be..I feel it’s more than that. More like they are more powerful than the cops..period..they bag that they kicked out the mexican mob from the hills…and They are the only ones who go that big unpermitted and unchecked. Period.
It’s all one big experiment by government, which is trying to figure out how to force outlaws to comply, when for years it was either ignore or arrest, without the attempt bankrupting the county . That these outlaws are frustrated, uncooperative and resistant is no surprise. That they turn on those they have arrogantly victimized for years and call them haters is also no surprise. Anyone who has made money by treating law abiding society as the enemy is themselves a hater but is unlikely to ever admit it. Nope. The usual is that they prefer to paint themselves victims for the wrongs done them while flicking off the wrongs they have done to others for years.
You are right that some are pot haters. I am one but am trying to adjust my thinking that a drug that I have seen used as a crutch to allow people to tolerate their own poor choices is now more or less legal. I will have to put up the hated stink ruining the unpolluted air I used to enjoy. That I will have to live with less water and deal with people who don’t care as long as they have what they want. That a few more awful accidents will occur, a few more impaired people will do poor work if they work at all, and probably many other issues. I will adjust even though I resent my having to accomodate this.
Hopefully an equilibrium with establish itself when those who persist in denying the effects of their indulgences will be now be an open and clear object lesson to those who have previously wondered why such bad decisions were being made and therefore pot becomes just an unglamorous joke like alcoholics.
So yes, I hate the pot and every delusion that goes with it. But less than the pot users hate the people who don’t play along with their delusions. I hate pot but not the people who use it whereas pot users hate people who don’t go along with their fantasies. Not that they are likely to understand the difference.
Prior to the last few years, those selfish outlaws were providing ganja for the people. Not like anybody else was, were you? An outlaw would be anybody and everybody who grew or smoked marijuana…remember?
Yes. That is the very point. That you think this means anything else is very revealing.
I was refering to his generalization of pot growers. [edit]
Getting more revealing by the second. Besides if you understood, you would join in condemning those pot growers referenced. Not condemn those who condemn them.
Feel free to give real examples of growers being civil and law abiding. I hope to think better of them if the laws actually improve their behavior. Your aspersions though only confirm the worst beliefs.
[Gee Kym, that was fast editing.]
I can give one motto that sums up most marijuana growers–break one law at a time. Most of the ones you see arrested are the ones who don’t follow that rule.
For the most part, the growers I know are good parents and many are passionate volunteers for causes they care about–everything from politics to coaching Little League.
They don’t tend to value following laws if they think the laws are wrong. I can see where that doesn’t appeal to you and you entitled to think that is wrong. But I also think you are willfully ignoring those growers who contribute deeply to our communities. My guess is that you don’t “see” the growers who don’t fit your stereotype and so you may value them as community members without realizing they are also growers.
I just don’t think that cherry picking which laws you think are worth consistently violating does anything other than create an ever expanding pool of people making expanded choices. Hiring illegals or making water diversions or not paying taxes or filing for welfare benefits or utility subsidies by lying about income, etc etc etc. All small incremental steps to a very ugly society where no one is to be trusted.
It takes a lot of ignoring the sordid details to arrive at the conclusion that people who are living a double life are “good people.” It’s confusing pleasant with good. If you found that the Bulgarians which are constantly mentioned in the comments were indeed trafficking women as alleged and that it sometimes ended in their deaths, would you then say the donations of time and money to schools totally offsets it? I don’t know they are but just the comments about seeing women looking distressed makes me wonder if there is more to it than bigotry. Where I would say that violations of law would make such a thing more likely and would want to invesigate, you would say that breaking the pot laws means nothing. It is a fundamental difference in understanding.
Beside the comment about violating one law at a time is to practically avoid being caught, not a matter of principle. No honor there and frankly, not likely much a restraint on behavior when it is not likely to be caught.
I think maybe we disagree on some fundamentals and I don’t know if there is much that can be done about it.
My definition of good people is those who help others, who do as little harm as is reasonably possible given their understanding, and I add to that those who try not to judge others. Nobody I’ve ever met fills those criteria exactly but many, many do a pretty good job.
Given my definition, a number of my grower neighbors who pitch in to help others, try to do the right thing in almost every regard (much more stringently than some who don’t grow) and try to not judge harshly people who have other beliefs, are some of the best people I know.
You may have another definition of good people that involves laws. I don’t. That said, I think many laws codify good moral principles that help communities function together better. I think one should think long and hard before breaking them (that said, I am not always good about doing that–speeding laws are incredibly difficult for me, for instance, and I keep working on being better.)
But, breaking a law, even a good law, does not necessarily make someone a bad person in my book. In fact, I think there has to be a preponderance of bad acts before someone becomes what I think of as a bad person. (And, even then, most have the ability to make changes.)
And breaking a bad law…well, in my books, that just might make you a better person.
Who gets to decide what is a good law and what is a bad law. To the Aryan brotherhood the civil rights laws are bad. To the BE A the gun control laws are bad. To the cocaine dealer the drug laws are bad. Di o we all get to pick our laws depending on our mindset and geographical location. There are still A lot of people in this country who think making weed legal is a bad law.
Society has the responsibility of enforcing laws. That’s its job. But everyone gets to decide whether the risk of the punishment is worth breaking the law. So, everyone gets to decide and obviously, not everyone is going to decide the same.
Well, this is pretty much what hospitals and healthcare organizations do too… Break laws they feel they can get away with!
If we have a society which focuses on making money ny breaking on law at a time, then what are we?
Amoral, immoral, cowardly, stupid and deluded?
What the hell? How can you say drug growers are good parents? Are you raising children to only break one law at a time, to ignore any rule they can “get away” with ignoring? Is anything at all OK if you don’t get caught?
And a lot of these “drug people” claim to be religious! Did God set up some rules? Is it OK to break God’s rules if God does not catch you?
Here is the problem with chronic intoxication! It seems to cause a large group of people who think that whatever THEY do is fine, no matter what OTHER people feel…
I feel pretty sad for the future, but in my next life I am definitely going to be an Attorney…
I predict that the world will continue to decay, because of people who break one law at a time…
Kym, I am with you. People with independent minds can decide what is best for their world and can choose to follow laws or not depending on their situation, and the risks involved. Very few people follow every single law and if it is such a huge black and white issue for some of these commenters, I wish them luck in their sheep-like existence and ask them to let others do as they choose. I’m sure they get a lot of satisfaction in their lives by shaking their fists at all the ne’er-do-wells and buckling their seatbelt every time they get in their Prius.
Thanks, Em. I hope you never have to live on and by your wits, and off the pot farm…
Just doing according to your own wishes, and on your own terms may seem like, well, a utopia! Unfortunately, there are a few other people in the world and that hippie “ideal freedom” will be hard won…
Maybe out on the frontiers of Lapland or Alaska, or Northern Iceland!
For, in Humboldt, you will feel the pinch of society, the ringing in your ears caused by encounters with the realities you will face! For all of you who are high all the time, this may feel unpleasant, but you will get used to it!
Have a beautiful day, Emily!
“Society has the responsibility of enforcing laws. That’s its job. But everyone gets to decide whether the risk of the punishment is worth breaking the law. So, everyone gets to decide and obviously, not everyone is going to decide the same.” Kym Kemp
The original issue was whether a person who deliberately violates the law for their own profit can be a considered a good person. You say be cause you have known some people you consider good who grew pot.
My contention is that, if a person deliberately violates the law, when the law is not morally reprehensible, can not be a good person. Think of all the other violations of law that accompany this choice. Not paying taxes, not paying workers for the guarantees that Fair Labor laws have enacted. Their employees must also agree to act illegally. What if one of them is injured, either on the job or off? No benefits because no taxes are paid. What about hiring illegals, who have not been screened and may or may not be dangerous? On and on. What about the example to children that disregarding society’s rules is ok or even a good thing? They make make some pretty poor “choices”, having learned contempt for society. There is no such thing as anisolated crime. It sends out ripples of other crimes like a weed spreads its seeds.
The point of laws is just the opposite of what you say. It is society saying”In these things there is no choice.” It can be enforced by prison,fines or other aggressive actions depriving a person of the freedom to act. Or it can be enforced by a general consensus amount the populace that the tranquility and safety is worth a general respect for the law, by which the freedom of action in other things happens because most people have agreed voluntarily to avoid doing those few things covered by law.
BTW militia groups have the same fundamental ideas that they get to choose what laws suit them. Again a similarity of thought that comes from a willingness to take without caring for society. At least the militia groups do so for principles as opposed to pot growers who do so for profit.
Running short on time but…if all marijuana growers are only concerned with profit, how come so many of them voted for legalization knowing that was going to vastly drop the money they made? If they are only concerned with profit, how come so many non-profits have been created and thrived because of their donations? If they are only concerned with profit, why did so many of them choose simple lifestyles in the back hills of the Emerald Counties?
If you care about laws so much corporations violate the most important law of all. It’s called natural law, and common law. Why do you care some much about laws or barriers. MOST of the important revolutions we have had in this country happened because people broke laws. There was a day when it was against the law for women to vote, and people of color had to sit in the back of the bus. You are obviously are a person who is just spewing rhetoric that’s been spoon fed you and not an individual with the ability of critical though. Question Authority. Think for yourself.
these days it’s the corporations who write the laws… Look at what the big logging companies get away with compared to joe shmoe land owner… Regulatory capture… it’s a thing
This is nothing more than a personal insult fired out of a shotgun. Not well thought out at all. The more enlightened would understand that is being discussed is a law so morally repugnant as to be morally unacceptable to honor it. It includes as you so innocently put it “common law” too, which has a history of victimization as society choses to act with its predjudices in full force.
It’s a ludicrous to consider pot growing for profit as having such a level moral standing. People grow pot because it gives them the most money for their effort. If it was a real moral imperative the people would be growing and handing it out as a good work without profit and be willing to go to prison to support their beliefs in the process. Liking pot is not of the same level as opposing slavery or restricting the vote to certain sexes or races. It just not. If Harriet Tubman had the same principles, she would have simply been a human smuggler, providing a trip on the Underground Railroad to those who could pay enough.
“Bad laws”, by which some people seem to mean laws that inconvenience or irritate them, are not ever enough to risk the ugly side effects of deliberately creating a lawless society.
Since you were so rude in your post, I have no compunction in telling you that, not only do you not understand what I was saying, you are apparently unable to tell the difference between thoughtful debate and regurgitating the rhetoric off some hate filled conspiracy theory website. Choosing your non-thinking ideas from a weird place is not original thought. To put in simple words you might understand, even if Prohibition would be considered a bad law, this did not mean that bootlegger gangs were good people.
Jazzy Jeff is in the church.
Cop Guest’s beef is that growers are rewarded financially for their labor. That means you’re pro slavery bruh! Also they seem anti-drug. What is a drug? You can get high off oxygen. Diabetics can get fucked up off apple juice.
Most importantly, what is a law? A concept conceived by perhaps a majority of society, probably by elites, maybe somewhat recently.
“I never asked to be a citizen.” -propagandhi
“It was the guest of times!”, so you think that someone who defrauds old people should be rewarded for their labor? Or that a thief should? A meth cooker? Or, to readjust your mistaken simile, that some who holds a slave, which is illegal, should receive profit from it? That all labor is to be rewarded no matter how selfish or criminal? That sounds just like a rationalization to feel better about breaking the law.
The reality is so clear- that growing pot, before legalization or without following the law now, is done solely to make the more money than could be earned following the law. Along with that outlaw attitude, where it is all about the money maker, comes the similar actions of advantaging self over others in taking water, not paying taxes, hiring under the table to avoid labor laws, putting others at risk by not considering effects of grading or sewerage disposal, etc. All things the law objects to because it harms others. All stemming from the same willingness to disregard the laws to maximize reward for themselves. That is not a shining example of a good human being, no matter how much they say otherwise.
Monsanto
Corporate charters.
Might make for a good read. Last time I checked, the bottom line is PROFITS.
Monsanto employs many parents and families, as well. If marketing and selling poison is the only way to feed your family, I trust that many people will figure out why providing for their families is more important than the poison they sell.
People are capable of doing just about anything for a healthy paycheck.
Officer guest: your argument was that people shouldn’t cherry pick laws they follow, they should just follow laws. This notion is patently ridiculous and nihilistic. Laws should change in response to de times.
I don’t think people growing herb in a non harmful way should have to do it for free to have a moral high ground. Work should be compensated. Doctors do important work and get paid fat. Bully for them.
If laws are to prevent harm and you’re not harming anyone, laws need not apply.
I never said any of that. Simply put what I said was that due the fact that having a life based on criminal activity disrupts society on many levels, a person needs to have a very, very good reason to do so. And greed for the money produced by pot growing is not a good reason. Not principled, not moral or anything else. Just greed. That is all pot growing was for decades when growingvwas illegal – a way to get a great deal of money without being inconvenienced by taxes, regulations or responsibilities.
So if you grew a little cannabis over the years you are a burden on society but if you grow a ton now that it is legal it is ok?[edit]
Similar situation with growers who are trying to get county permits – many think they are above.playing by the rules and are very self entitled…they speak and act like they are owed something by society. They are also liars.
Sometimes but mostly I think that the very idea that regulations mean something is out of their experience. It is a habit of acting outside the law where lying is seen as normal and being truthful as something odd. Sort of like humans growing up- at some point you learn that there are other priorities in the world than oneself.
“Not compliant with track and trace”, meaning they were being watched when they sold weed. Why were they being watched? Applying for a permit means law enforcement will put you under surveilance, and regardless of any applicant’s intentions, it’s not kind of the govt to not explicitly say they will do so before a person applies.
In a small town, people know if you haven’t done the dishes. Doesn’t need police surveillance at all.
Beside simply having found no appropriate record keeping systems, the lack of tracking is obvious.
It’s naive to look at the pattern and ignore it. A single person working full time could monitor every permit applicant’s finances behind a computer in a cozy office. You think they don’t? It’s the 90’s, criminal science and technology have come along way since the 60’s.
You think better of Rio Dell’s resources than I do. Do you mean that pot dealers sell on the internet? Or that banks release everyone’s bank records on demand? Or that pot growers use bank records that identify sales? Really?
I just noticed that you said it’s the 90’s. Does that mean something too?
yes, it’s still the 1890’s in many folks minds…
You know, ten years ago back in 1988
If you grow it they will come…..
what about deer creek.. 3 ponds people sucking that thing dry on burr valley road !! tired of all these ungrateful neighbors. Law enforcement needs to do something about these legal guys not following the rules an stealing the environments goodies
What about deer creek on burr valley road my neighbors could careless about the legal rules I have heard pumps running 24/7 near the creeks. An there definitely not following the rules, law enforcement needs to make these legal guys follow the rules. They have 3 ponds how is that even legal. Not including the hillside sliding
ummmm that’s called dry snitchin! I’ll snitch on a snitch — the communists and muslim brotherhood have too much power over democrats who wrote prop 64 in order to consolidate their power over the black market. Droppin knowledge now …
Here is a history lesson for many to ponder on. The county as a whole was founded by renegade, thieving, murdering, genocidal , running from the law crooks from the offset. Rio Dell was just a party town for the mill folks. It was called wildwood for a reason. Prostitution, illegal gambling, prohibition and making booze , fast cars and heroin was here in the twenties. If you want to look at this part of the state kinda like a prison colony, before we had a capitol let alone a court. “Yeah I like run on sentences” . Anyways back to what I was saying lets look it like Australia sort of. Just because we all did not play by the rules does not mean we cannot be civil and law abiding as a whole. It is in my opinion that being in a earthquake prone region were building along our people and law skills as we go along. Rome was not built or civilized overnight.
No gmo foods at the Monsanto cafeteria!?
It’s a team mentality that over shadows much of the my side vs your side. The businesses, large and small, rally their employees to produce more with incentives at best, unemployment at worst. It’s hard not to understand what this team mentality has done to our communities and society as well.
Now which teams rules do you live under? Chances are that team is called government. At “8.3 million dollars an hour” $pent on the military over the past 10 years, I’d venture to say that is an awful lot of money spent waving the flag in front of the world’s faces. But, hey, if that’s your team, and they are doing what’s best for you… you probably aren’t going to hold them accountable for breaking a few laws here and there.
Everything is moving ahead according to plan. Trouble is, some of us are having a hard time convincing each other what exactly that plan is.
To all of you who think of pot as a drug, why don’t you all get together and and wait for Jesus to come back,…. then put him under surveillance and wait for him to lead you to his father, he is the original pot grower. Where do you all get off thinking and speaking that you all know what is best for everyone. I’m not talking about just the pot haters, everyone of you judgemental crabby old grumps that have nothing better to do then pass your judgement on everyone else . I would bet that if you look in your own back yard you would find something that you could work on to better yourself. I know it seems that you need to do this but believe me nobody is losing any sleep over your opinion of others. ( just saying). I realize that i am putting myself in the same class as you but, I can fix that……GOODBYE.
Bye bye 👋
Promises, promises. Too late.
Well said Kevin!
Rio Dell offered a great opportunity that wasn’t utilized . Deadlines were given that were not met.
I just wanted to now what the law is for growing 6 personal pants for own medical. No response
from Mendocino Cannabis gov site on that issue, even though they said they would respond to any
questions. Not for sale, just personal. Maybe cause no profit for them????
Obviously a tidy, well run, small time family operation. It’s sad to see hard working local citizens persecuted like this. Such inquisition is neither necessary nor useful… in fact… it’s shameful. Legalization was supposed to protect the local farmer, but it has done the opposite. It’s a very stupid, small-minded, and idiotic approach. I expect better from our leadership and social institutions.