What would you do with the 500,000 pounds of marijuana that the Oregon police just confiscated?

We are at a time when sales of legalized marijuana are increasing across the country. However, the problems with illegal marijuana continue to reach new heights in the northwestern state of Oregon. Last week, Oregon state police seized 500,000 pounds of illegal marijuana in an outbreak. The outbreak occurred near Medford, Oregon and the illegal marijuana seized is estimated to have a street value of $ 500 million.

The police claimed to have found more than 100 employees, including undocumented immigrants who worked in poor conditions. The Oregon State Police Southwest Region (OSP) arrested, questioned, identified and later released these immigrants who worked on the site.

In the course of the investigation, anti-narcotics investigators discovered that the leaders of the ring were stealing water from private sources to irrigate the illegal cannabis farms in the warehouse. During the bust, police alleged that officials from local law enforcement, the OSP and the Drug Enforcement Administration had confiscated large stashes of cannabis and a weapon over the course of the two-day raid.

In a press release, OSP continued to claim that the case was still very open and that the investigation would continue for several weeks. Hence, further revelations are awaited from the investigation as the OSP keeps the public informed.

Oregon cannabis laws

Cannabis was officially legalized by the state of Oregon in 2014 through an electoral initiative known as Measure 91. This initiative enables the medicinal and recreational sale of cannabis through licensed pharmacies to citizens aged 21 and over.

Oregon’s Liquor Control Commission oversees the licensing and sales of medicinal and recreational cannabis companies. The Oregon Cannabis Act specifically prohibits the production of marijuana without proper licensing.

The state of Oregon has set a certain limit across the state for purchases of recreational marijuana products. The law also restricted the use of legal cannabis in public places like lobbies, hallways, parks, etc.

Cannabis recommended by a licensed physician has some special regulations compared to recreational cannabis. Medical marijuana, unlike recreational cannabis, can be bought by patients 18 years of age and older who have proof of their health.

Qualified medical conditions under the Oregon Cannabis Act include cancer, HIV or AIDS, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), severe pain, severe nausea, seizures, persistent muscle spasms, and so on.

The bigger picture

Last week’s Oregon outbreak is part of an overall, ongoing fight against illegal cannabis production in California. Most recently, authorities on the outskirts of Los Angeles County, California, confiscated $ 1 billion in illegal cannabis.

This outbreak opened up much of the California underground cannabis market and gave a glimpse into the illegal cannabis market. The outbreak also highlighted various challenges officials faced in ruling over illegal operators. However, while the Los Angeles outbreak proved to be a big step in the right direction, industry experts doubt that the illegal cannabis market will disintegrate anytime soon.

Currently, the illegal cannabis market continues to dominate the entire legal cannabis market in California. Corporations struggle to compete with illegal farmers who evade state and local taxes, including government bureaucracy. In addition, these illegal farmers and retailers can also sell their products at lower prices, making it difficult to compete for legal cannabis growers.

Growth on the black market

Recreational use of cannabis was legalized by voters in Oregon during the 2014 vote. However, since legalization, illegal cannabis growers acting as legal cannabis growers have moved to rural areas. These bootleg farmers are now growing cannabis and shipping it out of state for high profit margins and avoiding taxes.

In September, the bi-governmental bodies responsible for regulating cannabis made some interesting discoveries. They reported that more than half of the registered cannabis farmers were found to be illegally growing cannabis. This illegal cannabis actually has a higher THC content than the federally approved maximum of 0.3%.

About a quarter of registered cannabis farms reportedly tried to block Oregon’s regulators from accessing the farms. Even if access is granted, the police have consistently found unlicensed weapons during controls and inspections on these farms.

To get out of control

Nathan Sickler, the Jackson County Sheriff, made an interesting claim during a speech to a legislative committee in Salem. He said crime in the county was out of control. He alleged that illegal cannabis production had contributed to an increase in break-ins, violent crimes and even sexual offenses in the county. Sickler testified that this increase in crime has now become an issue that they have to deal with on a daily basis.

In fact, the outbreak came just under two months last week after local Josephine and Jackson district commissioners issued emergency declarations. Both counties asked lawmaker and Governor Kate Brown for additional funds to crack down on illegal marijuana farms.

Finally, Josephine County declared a state of emergency on October 24th, and drug control authorities carried out another outbreak on the same day. An illegal farm was discovered with more than 17,000 cannabis plants and 4,000 pounds of processed marijuana.

Lack of resources

Law enforcement agencies across California (including Oregon) have claimed they lack the resources and manpower to crack down on illegal farms. And this is a major limiting factor in eradicating the illegal cultivation of cannabis in the state of California.

As a result, many of the harsh cannabis-related penalties designed to contain illegal farmers were canceled in 2016. The cancellation was the result of Approved Proposal 64, which provided for the legalization of cannabis for adult use.

In the absence of severe penalties or consequences, the illegal farming network obviously continues to grow. This illegal agricultural network is scattered across the high desert of Southern California, as both ground and air surveillance shows. Despite these recent developments, however, local law enforcement agencies promise that they will not stop giving their all in the fight against the illegal cultivation of cannabis.

Conclusion

No doubt the crackdown on the illegal cultivation of cannabis will continue in Oregon and across California. As a result, you should be ready to learn more about the illegal farms bursting and raiding across California. Certainly, many legal cannabis farmers will benefit from increasing efforts to eradicate illegal farms across California.

LARGE CANNABIS BUSTS, READ MORE …

NYC POLICE NEEDS HUGE DRUG BUST, ONLY IT’S HEMP, guys!

OR..

LAOS POLICE ACCIDENTLY MAKES THE BIGGEST DRUG BUST EVER!