Coast Guard War With Smugglers in So. Cal

[mikereed100]

It used to be I would sail out to the Channel Islands to get away from the madness ashore. I never felt more secure than while at anchor in a remote anchorage by myself. Nowadays, not so much. Fisherman friends report seeing pangas lurking around the islands and it seems that hardly a week goes by that a superpanga doesn't turn up on a beach somewhere along the coast. These are often claimed as salvage, then taken down to San Diego where they are sold at auction only to turn up again in Santa Barbara.

[Matt sachs]

Originally Posted by John A

Still a dumb idea. going uphill on the Left side is difficult at best.

Besides, go back and read the attachment in the post that started this thread. The GC delights in chasing people with pot.

To be legal in Washington, where I live, you're going to need to wait until State run pot stores are opened and growers contract with the State to supply the stores. Growers will be licensed with the state, fees and taxes at every step of the way. States still decide what's legal and what's not. The only thing now legal is posession of an ounce of pot.

Be aware that records can be kept of how much pot you buy over a period of time. It's still a controlled substance, and the State is going to be in control more than ever.

This is just one more example of we the people creating an idea and getting a petition and voting on something without thinking the process through.

Someone needs to invent a sarcasm font, it would have been useful here....

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by salticrak

Surely medical intervention would be cheaper.And another thing is the sailing community probably would not get the third degree while going thru customs and immi.

It would save billions.

It would stop a lot of boardings too I would think.

[bobconnie]

Seems like theres this kind of stuff going on all over the place !! Theres drugs found all the time down the Bayous in South Louisiana!! Pot, coke, and other stuff also!! Boats from Mexico, boats from here that were in Mexico, the stuff gets found by locals fishing in the marshs all the time!! Seems like as long as theres money to be made, folks can be found to transport this stuff!! In my mind it seems to could be stopped with makeing it leagle, and controled! but Im old and don't have any experince with drugs, leagle or otherwise! so Im probly wrong !!

[hellosailor]

It gets more interesting. One of the national network nooze shows said the drug cartels are going from semisubmersibles (which they usually dramatize as submarines) to REAL submarines.

At which point it isn't a major step in creative thinking to realize they will arm the submarines, and the USCG is going to have to play an entirely more dangerous game.

Or...some lame duck second term president could do what every (every) presidential and congressional drug committee has suggested, find a way to force Congress to decriminalize the damned stuff so it can be regulated and taken away from the criminals.

[xymotic]

Originally Posted by David M

Dramatically increase the supply with the same demand and the price drops significantly. That is ECON 101 in a nutshell.

Yeah, well I fear Wa has in fact done the exact opposite.

There's no downside for the user, so why not!

there's really no way to grow it or to buy it, that's still criminal so you might as well buy it tax-free from a criminal and then you are home free. I think there's now going to be huge demand and the same (criminal) supply. Only now dealers will only get caught with .9 ounces on them at any one time.

[hellosailor]

"you might as well buy it tax-free from a criminal"
And you're right, on that one point, with outstanding tunnel-vision.

Folks still buy cigarettes and booze that have been produced or delivered "tax free" by criminals. But you may notice that rum-running and bathtub gin died with the end of Prohibition, because the criminals can't make the same HUGE profits, and they turn to other enterprises and stop taking the huge risks.

If a drug cartel can afford to spend two million dollars (typical figure) to build a disposable semi-submersible to bring in 150 million dollars worth of drugs (typical figure again) that's a great return on investment. But now, if you make decriminalized drugs available, and that 150m load is only worth ten million or five million compared to fully taxed legal drugs? Eh, the return on investment is suddenly not so good, certainly not when you factor in the jail time, which tens to skew the economics of the profits.
Dealers with only 0.9 ounces? Yeah, that's been done before. Runners and caches and underage kids who get a wrist slap, all been done before. You make thing inconvenient enouhg, you add enough nuisance value, it becomes simpler and easier for folks to buy from a store, and to get jobs that require less running around.

When's the last time you went out to buy some good country moonshine instead of bottled goods? Or tax-free imported "Indian" cigarettes?

[salticrak]

All the above is so true, i think prohibition is more a moral thing than a common sense thing and you know what they say about common sense.

[xymotic]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

"you might as well buy it tax-free from a criminal"
And you're right, on that one point, with outstanding tunnel-vision.

Folks still buy cigarettes and booze that have been produced or delivered "tax free" by criminals. But you may notice that rum-running and bathtub gin died with the end of Prohibition, because the criminals can't make the same HUGE profits, and they turn to other enterprises and stop taking the huge risks.

If a drug cartel can afford to spend two million dollars (typical figure) to build a disposable semi-submersible to bring in 150 million dollars worth of drugs (typical figure again) that's a great return on investment. But now, if you make decriminalized drugs available, and that 150m load is only worth ten million or five million compared to fully taxed legal drugs? Eh, the return on investment is suddenly not so good, certainly not when you factor in the jail time, which tens to skew the economics of the profits.
Dealers with only 0.9 ounces? Yeah, that's been done before. Runners and caches and underage kids who get a wrist slap, all been done before. You make thing inconvenient enouhg, you add enough nuisance value, it becomes simpler and easier for folks to buy from a store, and to get jobs that require less running around.

When's the last time you went out to buy some good country moonshine instead of bottled goods? Or tax-free imported "Indian" cigarettes?

But again, you have mass-produced quality competition, with Marijuana there is none. Frankly I think the cartels will have a better product at a better price for the forceable future.

Because even if WA makes it legal no farmer is gonna plant 100 acres of weed knowing full well the feds would descend in 3 seconds.

[islander20]

Mexican cartel marijuana is of inferior quality to what is produced domestically on west coast. We grow some of the best pot in the world, it makes so sense as a user to go through the hassle of buying from a criminal when you can easily purchase high grade pot from a corner store.

[John A]

Originally Posted by xymotic

But again, you have mass-produced quality competition, with Marijuana there is none. Frankly I think the cartels will have a better product at a better price for the forceable future.

Because even if WA makes it legal no farmer is gonna plant 100 acres of weed knowing full well the feds would descend in 3 seconds.

Is there any truth to the claim that marijuana has replaced logging as the number one industry in sections of the PNW?
I know for a fact that the US Forest Service hands out instructions on what to do if you suddenly find yourself on a pot farm.

[Outwest34au]

Originally Posted by John A

Is there any truth to the claim that marijuana has replaced logging as the number one industry in sections of the PNW?
I know for a fact that the US Forest Service hands out instructions on what to do if you suddenly find yourself on a pot farm.

And that would be spark up??

[mikereed100]

Originally Posted by xymotic

But again, you have mass-produced quality competition, with Marijuana there is none. Frankly I think the cartels will have a better product at a better price for the forceable future.

Because even if WA makes it legal no farmer is gonna plant 100 acres of weed knowing full well the feds would descend in 3 seconds.

Doood, you need to expand your circle of friends. Don't you know any cops?