California’s Drug War 2.0 – A Closer Look at the State’s Campaign Against Marijuana Cultivation (CAMP)

A Closer Look at California’s “Drug War 2.0”

California has long been at the forefront of cannabis. However, that all changed when they “legalized” recreational cannabis. In fact, their launch was so murky that they are now beginning to ramp up a new form of prohibition and actually use drug warfare tactics to ‘ensure’ the success of their industry – sadly, it doesn’t work!

In today’s article, we’re going to take a closer look at how California managed to ruin a perfectly good system through bureaucratic nonsense and greed.

This was perfectly highlighted in a recent Reason article, which described how California Attorney General – Rob Bonta – was boasting about his “recent successes” in eradicating nearly a million “illegal” cannabis plants with a program built on the designed at the height of the drug war.

The enforcement program Bonta is referring to is the state Campaign Against Marijuana Cultivation (CAMP). It was formed as part of the War on Drugs to try to combat the many illegal marijuana growers in a vast state with vast tracts of land.

The data itself is a fascinating look at how little drug legalization means when a state’s regulatory systems are so repressive that they undermine the legal market. In 1984, CAMP’s first full year of operation, the program was responsible for eradicating 158,000 marijuana plants. In 2022, after nearly 40 years of drug wars and eight years of state legalization, that number has grown to 974,000 plants spread across 449 farms in 26 counties, Bonta’s office announced Oct. 11.
SOURCE: Reason

That’s right – under California’s highly taxed and bureaucratic system, the number of “illegal cannabis growers” has proliferated and their failure to make a single dent in the illicit market. In fact, Bonta and his “drug warriors” will rename the CAMP taskforce to the Eradication and Prevention of Illicit Cannabis Taskforce — or EPIC for short.

Indeed, Bonta’s reinterpretation of this tool of the drug war will be more draconian than under the prohibition rhetoric. In fact, he wants to modernize the drug war and give it a new name so he and his “eradicators” can continue to spend government money hunting down the “evils” of marijuana. Of course, he’s not saying “cannabis is bad” directly, but rather that “illegal growth” is bad.

While it’s true that many of these illegal crops are dangerous to both wildlife and humans, it hasn’t evolved into what it was just because. The real reason the black market is thriving in California is because of their horrific cannabis policies.

The fact is, Bonta will only take the old drug war rhetoric and tactics, give it a new name, and continue their endless war to stop the factory and keep money flowing into the government’s pockets. However, absolutely nothing is achieved. You could wipe out 10 million plants and there will always be another illegal crop somewhere in the vast chunks of uncultivated land in California.

If Drug Warrioring Doesn’t Work, What Will?

If you want to beat the cartels or illegal farming operations, you have to take away their incentive. When the risk of being caught outweighs the perceived benefit, these surgeries are discontinued. The only way to achieve this is to lower taxes and the threshold for individuals to participate in the market.

Currently, you have to dig deep to break into the California cannabis market, and as a result, illegal growers are making a lot of money. They risk a lot to grow on public land, but they also make insane amounts of money.

In fact, many people continue to buy from the black market simply because it’s cheaper. And it’s only cheaper because they don’t have to pay those insane duties and taxes.

So how do you cut off the supply?

Make it incredibly easy to get into the weed game. I’ve written extensively about how this could be accomplished when building a two-tier cannabis industry. The first tier will be reserved for small cannabis farms, where they can grow and sell cannabis in a “farmer’s market” type facility.

The total cost of a license should be around $1,000 per year, covering up to $1,000,000 in annual profit. Once that threshold is reached, the company should have to upgrade to an “enterprise license” where they would have other options, such as: B. Selling at major retailers like Walmart and the like.

The Tier 1 licenses are aimed at entrepreneurs who create local jobs and don’t require a lot of testing. This is more of a peer-to-peer system where small markets can pop up, people can buy and sell their weed (and products), directly benefiting their communities.

The Tier 2 enterprise license requires more rigorous testing and will most likely focus primarily on products. While there will be a handful of “flower companies” at this stage, I would imagine most of them would sell pre-packaged goods such as beverages, edibles and other products.

These Tier 2 licenses can also be sold across state lines, meaning they can play in the national market.

With this solution, as the public competes with the cartels, the price per gram will drop, meaning the risk of running an illegal grow operation becomes more problematic and intolerable. As a result, most cartels will do what smugglers did in the 1920s when they repealed alcohol prohibition – go legal!

It would make far more sense to invest in companies that can sell in major retailers and have a national reach than try to compete in the much lower-cost local market.

This approach solves pretty much all the major legalization problems;

1. It gives equal opportunities to minority communities

2. It promotes growth

3. It eliminates the black market and replaces it with the “local market”

4. It offers jobs

5. Cannabis is truly becoming “of the people”.

In fact, I believe this is the best model for the entire nation. Can you imagine that every state has a local marketplace – where the weed grown in Colorado and California differs due to soil, elevation, growing techniques, etc.

But you can also get “company weed” that stays fairly consistent no matter where you are. This is the solution that can work if only implemented.

But people like Bonta would never think of such a thing because they’re trained to use a sledgehammer to drive a nail in. They don’t want the drug war to end because it would essentially take their EPIC program and reduce it to nothing.

Then how else are they going to get all that public money to pay people to run around in the forest incinerators because the cartels are growing it illegally?

It’s time to fight back!

Don’t let places like California reinvent the drug war. The drug war is a failure. It always has been. It never achieved a single goal it set out to achieve. It won’t now.

The only way is if we get beyond the idea that drugs are bad and start embracing the fact that humankind will take drugs, whether it’s legal or not. We shouldn’t use law enforcement for drugs – we need education. We need programs that teach people how to use drugs properly.

Of course, the Californians will probably just let that happen. Those who grow illegally will continue to grow. Public money will continue to be used to fuel the Drug War 2.0, and people like Bonta will continue to brag about their victories – victories that don’t work.

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