Pubdate: Mon, 07 Mar 2016
Source: Porterville Recorder (CA)
Copyright: 2016 Freedom Communications Inc.
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/AJm5UIc8
Website: http://www.recorderonline.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2887
Author: Don Curlee
Note: Don Curlee is an agriculture consultant in the Valley. His 
column appears each Monday in The Recorder.

NEXT GOLD RUSH MAY BE FARMING

Unofficial of course but widespread is the belief that marijuana is 
already California's largest cash crop. Many who believe that also 
predict that "we ain't seen nuthin' yet."

They project the belief that pot will lead to another gold rush 
economically, probably with as much wildcatting, thievery, claim 
jumping and bedlam as the first. If that were not so, they say, tighr 
controls on the illegal weed would have been relaxed long ago.

With approval of marijuana for recreational use on next November's 
ballot it is not hard to believe that smoking it in a legal context 
will skyrocket. If voters determine that it can be smoked legally can 
it be long before it will be grown and distributed legally?

If all that occurs it will certainly lead to an absolute bonanza for 
growers, and why wouldn't they enter in? In its illegal growing mode 
the weed has done well at all elevations and all climates and 
conditions offered by the dynamic California agricultural complex. 
"The damn stuff will grow anywhere," one law enforcement observer told me.

However, with all that going for it I have found little enthusiasm or 
optimism among farmers and in the farm community for such a lucrative 
but hazy future. Some of the reluctance may come from the skepticism 
that says it is all too good to be true.

But I think there is a greater depth to the reluctance. It is based 
on what I judge to be a moral commitment. I see farmers wanting to do 
the right thing in most circumstances. That is certainly an 
evaluation too broad to stand up in today's world, or even 
yesterday's. But coming to grips with a long illegal drug is 
difficult for farmers, especially those in that "greatest generation" category.

Relating the production of marijuana to the growth of tobacco, so 
basic to some of our southern states, is an easy association to make. 
Once widely accepted, at least in the south, as a respected piece of 
the agricultural landscape, production of tobacco is coming under 
attack. How can tobacco's production be admired when the detrimental 
effects of its use has been so convincingly shown?

Following that reasoning, how can farmers gain respect by growing a 
plant that might mimic tobacco in its ability to damage lungs and 
respiratory tissue? Even more extreme in marijuana's case is the 
possibility that brain tissue might be affected as well. Can there be 
any doubt about that?

Farmers, as I observe and understand them, don't want to be part of a 
system that might cause damage - to humans or anything else. I think 
most of them would like to have a friendly session even with 
overeaters, explaining how it is not the food they eat, but the 
quantity that causes health risks.

If farmers are so concerned about the weight and well-being of 
consumers who buy their food products, they are sure to be concerned 
about those who might smoke marijuana they have grown. Tobacco 
growers in the south and their neighbors and friends are becoming 
increasingly concerned about those who smoke that tobacco, especially 
young people.

I've heard that tobacco growing is slowing down in the south. Is it 
possible that marijuana growing in California or elsewhere might slow 
down before it begins. Smugglers and importers will never accept that 
premise. But perhaps they haven't dealt with honest-to-goodness 
farmers, only back door criminals and smugglers.

Business is business they say. But moral degradation has to be 
overcome lest a society deteriorates and crumbles. Farmers have been 
perennial supporters of a strong society, at least in America and 
California. If the legal production of marijuana is seen by many 
farmers as a threat to society the pot of gold may be way beyond the 
end of the rainbow.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom