Citizens Against Legalizing Marijuana (CALM) has a new brochure arguing against legalizing cannabis. Not surprisingly, CALM has decided to use disingenuous and illogical arguments against legalizing and regulating Cannabis. From their brochure (via DrugWarRant):

MARIJUANA CULTIVATION =

ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER

Drug cartels and illegal traffickers have found it

easier to grow marijuana in our national forests

than risk importing it across the border. Vast areas

of public lands are being used for grows, including

Yosemite and Sequoia. Homicides and threats

against hikers have already occurred on California’s

public lands.

Pot plantations are ecological disasters, poisoning

earth and water with outlawed pesticides. Taxpayers

pay the cost of clean-up, sometimes as much

as $1 million for a single site.

The environmental impact of growing cannabis is no different from the growing of any other plant, be it basil, tomatoes, rosemary, or oranges. legitimate farmers growing cannabis on their own property would not damage our public lands, use illegal pesticides, or put a financial clean-up burden to taxpayers.

The clandestine use of public lands to grow cannabis by criminal enterprises is a serious problem, but it is a problem created solely by the illegality of cannabis, a problem that would basically be solved by legalizing marijuana.

The only reason all cannabis is not grown by professional, tax-paying farmers, on their own property, following government regulations on the use of pesticides and other chemicals, is because it is ILLEGAL. Since growing cannabis on property owned by someone could result in significant financial harm and loss of that property, criminal organizations have made the cost-benefit analysis decision that it is better for their profit margins to use public land.

As I have asked before: Does Coors send armed men to plant illegal hops farms in Yellowstone? Does Tropicana try to hide orange groves deep in state parks? Of course not–because it does not make financial to do so with a legal crop.

Get Ready for the Disinformation Campaign

Sadly but not unexpectedly, CALM has decided to follow the path of many other anti-cannabis legalization efforts, using disinformation and nonsensical arguments instead of having a real debate. Expect more of it as the debate heats up in the coming months and years.

I do have to praise CALM for one thing, however, and that is pure chutzpah. To use a problem caused by prohibition that would basically be eliminated by ending prohibition as an argument against legalizing cannabis takes real guts.