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Sunday, August 28, 2016

Marijuana bust: Crucial mission or waste of time?

Officers from 10 law enforcement groups confiscated 107 marijuana plants worth an estimated $214,000. MILTON POLICE DEPARTMENT

A police operation that uncovered marijuana plants in Sussex County has been hit with a backlash of criticism on social media.

Numerous commenters wrote that the 2-month investigation involving 10 law enforcement groups was a waste of time and money, and many called for police to focus instead on the heroin epidemic and child molesters.

“Pot??? Come on, let's do something about the heroin issue. Waste of resources,” wrote one of 115 commentors, all but a handful opposed to the counterdrug effort dubbed Operation Summer Harvest.

Milton Police Chief Robert J. Longo headed the operation that included officers from Ocean View, Dagsboro, Georgetown, Selbyville, Delmar, the Delaware National Guard, Delaware State Police and the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.

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50 comments:

Anonymous said...

That pot is not worth $214,000. They are comparing the price for high grade hydro weed for that outdoor grown swag. No one wants weed grown outside anymore.

Anonymous said...

What a waste of time and public money and police resources.

The National Guard helicopter time costs over $1600 per hour, not including crew pay, and the flights are each several hours long. How many flights were there in the two months of looking for this tiny plot?

Two months and ten agencies. And all that comes of it are some immature plants and a photo op that will one day soon be a photographic curiosity.

A FOIA request by some diligent Delaware citizens should be submitted for an accounting of monies spent on this piddling weed hunt.

Anonymous said...

Outdoor cannabis won't be mature in the Mid Atlantic Region until at least late September or early October. Therefore, these 107 plants are not worth anything, let alone over $200,000.

And it's usually the case that law enforcement uses the weight of the entire plant, including stalk and stems and growth leaves, just as it's harvested and full of water, to determine the street value. It's all baloney to justify the snipe hunt.

Anonymous said...

Total waste of time and resources, they are proud of that? Just a smoke screen so they don't have to go after real criminals.

Anonymous said...

I could be a good "DOO-Bee" and take it off their hands!!!!! LOL

Anonymous said...

The pot needs to be left alone. It is the heroin that needs to be addressed.

Anonymous said...

The majority of Americans want the legalization of pot but the police departments keep going after it because it's "the law".

Anonymous said...

So many potheads commenting here, I almost got a secondary high from the stench.

Anonymous said...

I am the first commenter, successful business owner and have not smoked pot in over 15 years. 11:01 is just an old hater that resents the fact that times are changing.

Anonymous said...

All covered by the White House grant money. Complain to your boy not to the guys making 30k a year working grant money.

Anonymous said...

The difference between eradicating outdoor Delaware grown pot and high grade heroin from Afghanistan? The government controls Afghanistan and the borders it goes through to get in here. The government gets a large cut of the sale. They are involved in planting, harvesting, packaging, transportation, and distribution. It's worth BILLIONS in unaccounted for dollars.

These pot farmers should have given the Feds a piece. Then they would have been protected and been able to grow a lot more.

Anonymous said...

how many of those heroin addicts just "started" with pot?

Anonymous said...

Tough job you got there taking down a bunch of plants. I feel so much safer now.

Anonymous said...

Heroin addicts start with alcohol, fact.

Anonymous said...

Been smoking for 21 years. I don't drink and I sure don't, and never have, done heroin. So I'm speaking from experience and you're talking out your ass.

Anonymous said...

12:08 you must be so proud of yourself. Smoking ANYTHING will kill you. Forget the moral/legal arguments about pot. I got throat cancer from only 15 years of smoking cigarettes. Glad to see you are taking care of yourself. The only thing that should go into one's lungs are the air we are blessed to have.

Anonymous said...

12:25 Sorry you got cancer but smoking pot has never been shown to cause lung cancer. Google- "does smoking pot cause lung cancer?". Many people over 40 feel this way because those were the adds and lies spread during the war on drugs in the 80's. Not one person has ever overdosed on pot.

Anonymous said...

"How many heroin addicts started with pot?" I wonder how many were breast fed and started with breast milk? Using that same logic breast milk is a gateway substance.

Anonymous said...

Okay, so you're talking about something else entirely. Nobody is referring to cigarettes. Sorry about your cancer, but that is off topic and unrelated.

Anonymous said...

All this money spent for the war on drugs, yet, rapists are not doing 1 day of prison time. Probation sentences for violent criminals while drug dealers are given harsh prison sentences. I'd rather have a drug dealer on the street than a rapist. At least I have a choice with the drug dealer.

Anonymous said...

Just noticed this: Lots of farmers on your blog, Joe.

Anonymous said...

The main economic activities on the Eastern Shore are...farming, seafood, large scale chicken breeding...Wikipedia.
If you would like to change the topic of the forum to the occupations of the people who took a minute to express their thoughts on this topic, fine. How's your chickens?

Anonymous said...

I should have put "farmers" in parentheses. (Someday there will be a "sarcasm font".)
There was a few references on growing and growing seasons for weed.

Anonymous said...

Everyone realizes you were trying to be sarcastic, maybe even funny. I was acknowledging your failure at both, using "sarcasim." Growing weed would be much like most crops. Plant sprouts after the last frost, harvest before the first frost, water and give plenty of sun light for the duration. That's 101 stuff most kids who went to school learned in the 1st to 3rd grade. So I geuss now I'm a "farmer!" I should go on that website that says city girls are stupid, and find me a weed growing country belle!

Anonymous said...

Lol what's a secondary high?

Anonymous said...

Lol what does it matter?

Anonymous said...

Cigarettes are bad mkay?

Anonymous said...

Truth here #formulaorheroin

Anonymous said...

8:00. Creepy.

Anonymous said...

Great Job guys, it all starts somewhere.

Anonymous said...

Total waste of time.

Anonymous said...

I absolutely hate hearing about marijuana as a gateway drug, why in the world would we use it for medicinal purposes? As said earlier no one has ever over dosed, in fact would you rather deal with a drunk crowd or a stoned crowned? I don't believe my tax money should be spent in this manner; heroin is flooding our schools, colleges, etc. I would like to see more focus on the things that change a persons personality drastically things that cause the community danger-- someone smoking a j on the side of the road is a less threat then someone highed up on heroin, I appreciate their time and effort, but for what? I would feel much safer with $214,000 worth of crack or heroin off the streets, but this country is moving towards the marijuana movement more and more so why isn't the law enforcement?

Anonymous said...

Painkillers prescribed by physicians with a legal prescription are also gateway drugs. Big Pharma is the biggest drug dealer in America. The problem is most don't see prescription abuse in quite the same way as they see banging with needles or hand-rolling joints. Given Marijuana is still illegally on federal level, should be interesting to see who will be victor in the illegal verses legal stances between the states and federal government.

Anonymous said...

that's why the feds have two patents on pot right? because it holds no value. I am so fed up with this pos fed gov't and the millions of idiots in this country.for every disease nature has provided a cure. big pharma and some doctors don't want you to have any cures or to even know they exist. They would go out of business then. They want to prescribe you their pills every 1-3 months. and of course docs want to get office visit payments every 1-3 months along with kickbacks from big pharma to prescribe their poison pills. then of course you have to politicians who enjoy and want to keep receiving those 'donations' from big pharma lobbyists. Haven't any of you seen the number of nature based treatment doctors who have mysteriously died or disappeared? And no, this time it wasn't killary. An old tried and true addage: follow the money.

Anonymous said...

8:00 PM - When you find her, ask for me if she has a sister.

Anonymous said...

This time next year I will be smoking pot legally. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

How so?

Anonymous said...

Plus they count the entire plant when they add it up. So a 5 lb plant (roots, stalk, leaves) in an outdoor setting may only produce an ounce or 2 of buds. Couple hundred bucks a plant x 107 plants is probably less than $50k worth, and that's being generous.

Anonymous said...

I know a bunch of older people that say they never smoked pot but are hooked on painkillers their doctor prescribed them. I also know a few of said older people (50yo+) that were cut off by their doctor and turned to heroin to curb withdrawal. Pot is not as much of a gateway drug as "the man" wants you to believe. That was all part of the anti pot propaganda.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous Anonymous said...
What a waste of time and public money and police resources.

The National Guard helicopter time costs over $1600 per hour, not including crew pay, and the flights are each several hours long. How many flights were there in the two months of looking for this tiny plot?

Two months and ten agencies. And all that comes of it are some immature plants and a photo op that will one day soon be a photographic curiosity.

A FOIA request by some diligent Delaware citizens should be submitted for an accounting of monies spent on this piddling weed hunt.

August 23, 2016 at 10:03 AM

Just because you are an F'n Crack Head doesn't mean that I want that pot reach my kids lungs and brains. Thank God these officers did their jobs and got this nasty meth off da skreet.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
I know a bunch of older people that say they never smoked pot but are hooked on painkillers their doctor prescribed them. I also know a few of said older people (50yo+) that were cut off by their doctor and turned to heroin to curb withdrawal. Pot is not as much of a gateway drug as "the man" wants you to believe. That was all part of the anti pot propaganda.

August 28, 2016 at 2:06 PM

This idiot is making excuses to justify him smoking pot. Stupid Crackhead!

Phronesis said...

Just the wages for one day, at minimum, for just these 9 guys posing and the cop taking the picture amounts to $1600.
40 hours of their time, or one five day week, comes to $8,000. Four weeks of their time costs taxpayers $32,000.
These ten people were admittedly not the only field personnel working this weed hunt. Add $1600 (minimum) per person each for four weeks for the others.
Then, add transportation costs for SUVs, helicopters, marked cars, unmarked cars and whatever else they might use. Let's generously call this $100,000 per month, remembering that helo ops run $1600 per HOUR.
Lastly, let's not forget administrative costs in multiple agencies, including lab work, transcription and records keeping, inter-agency communications and meetings, federal reporting, grant application writing, storage, disposal, court time (with personnel overtime), etc., etc., etc. These could easily account for $50,000 per month.
This brings us to the total for a month of activity for this hunt,
that netted a very dubious $215,000 in confiscated, now worthless vegetation, the sum of from $200,000+/- to an estimate of over $500,000; this to keep a probable total of less than 200 ounces of field grade (i.e., inferior) marijuana out of private and/or public use.

There''s nothing to cheer about here. We are caught in a massive boondoggle that has been a loser since its inception, which now has been going on for the better part of 80 years. And because of it, we are the ultimate losers, our tax dollars falling down a bottomless rabbit hole dug by tax and spend legislators and ignorant policies.


It's well past time that things change, that our law enforcement, paid for in total by our tax dollars, concentrated on protecting us from far worse things than this.

Anonymous said...

Let's be clear:

Crack is a derivative of cocaine. It is smokable cocaine.

Maijuana is a green plant that has flowers called buds. They are dried a bit and smoked.

Both products are smoked, but that is where the similarities end.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Painkillers prescribed by physicians with a legal prescription are also gateway drugs. Big Pharma is the biggest drug dealer in America. The problem is most don't see prescription abuse in quite the same way as they see banging with needles or hand-rolling joints. Given Marijuana is still illegally on federal level, should be interesting to see who will be victor in the illegal verses legal stances between the states and federal government.

August 28, 2016 at 10:33 AM

No it isn't a gateway. They are prescribed legally because the patient needs them and they work. You are just trying to justify your need to smoke weed you stupid pot head. Go away Jerk!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous Anonymous said...
How so?

August 28, 2016 at 1:31 PM

How so what??

Anonymous said...

If you had a termite problem, and the exterminator told you that it would cost you $10,000 to treat your home, but that the termites would be back the next day, for which he would charge you another $10,000, and on and on and on, into eternity, would you pay the price?

That's what's happening with our marijuana intervention policies.

Let's get real and put an end to this ridiculously pointless chase.

Anonymous said...

All the cartels started with weed and then branched out. Most hard core addicts started with weed and alcohol. The bottom line is it is illegal period end. You libtards are all the same. The laws should never apply to you. America the number consumer of illicit drugs. Why because of people like you libtards who can not deal with reality. Get high on life not dope. Some people just can not enjoy or live in a free society they self destruct.

Great Job as long as one soldier stands the war continues.

Anonymous said...

It's funny listening to people call someone stupid potheads or crackhead because they don't believe this is a good use of government resources. Also referring to weed as poison and meth. Just shows how ignorant and jaded some people are. Most of these people were brainwashed by the government campaigns of the 80's. These people are fighting a losing battle. The truth about this plant is becoming known and it will be legal soon everywhere. I don't even smoke it (or drink) and never have but I don't agree with wasting resources on something studies have shown to be harmless and even beneficial to some people. As long as people don't smoke the crap and drive I could care less.

Anonymous said...

God made pot, big pharma made pharmaceuticals! who would you trust?

Anonymous said...

Never try to rationalize with stoners. A stoner is just like a rock. They both lay around all day doing nothing. Neither a stoner nor a rock can absorb factual information. Hopefully in the end, cancer will take most of them out.