cannabisnews.com: A New & Illegal Cash Crop Growing on Refugee Farms





A New & Illegal Cash Crop Growing on Refugee Farms
Posted by CN Staff on May 16, 2004 at 09:55:52 PT
By Mark Arax
Source: Boston Globe 
Fresno, Calif. -- On the edge of suburbia here, where farmland awaits the developer's plow, the magnificent gardens of Southeast Asian refugees rise and fall.On leased ground no bigger than 5 or 10 acres -- small potatoes to the giant industrial growers -- the refugees plant their own longshot dreams: Chinese bitter melon, Chinese broccoli, Thai chili, ong choy, su choy, daikon, and kohlrabi.
The best strawberries in the San Joaquin Valley are grown by a tribe of CIA-trained commandos who fled the highlands of Laos after the Vietnam War. Thai eggplant, slightly spicier than its Armenian cousin, is the specialty of the lowland Lao.This spring, anticipating another harvest of low prices in the nation's most productive farm belt, some Southeast Asian niche farmers are planting a new cash crop under the brutal sun: marijuana.In the past month, Fresno County investigators have busted a half-a-dozen marijuana fields hidden by borders of cherry tomatoes. A more ideal camouflage crop -- the tomato and the pot plant have similar leaves -- would be hard to find. Nearly 40,000 squat but prolific bushes have been yanked out and set ablaze, an illicit harvest worth $40 million on the streets -- more than last year's value for cherries or Valencia oranges or sweet corn.Five lowland Lao refugees have been arrested and charged with cultivating marijuana for sale. The record heat of spring has not only pushed the vineyards and fruit orchards several weeks ahead of their growing cycles, but matured the marijuana in half the time."This is the earliest in my 23 years as a narc that we've taken off so many marijuana plots," said Lieutenant Rick Hill of the Fresno County Sheriff's Department. "Usually, the plots we find are in the mountains, and they're mostly operated by gangs from Mexico. These new plots are down on the valley floor, and it's Southeast Asians who are growing them."As sheriff's deputies canvass the truck farms of Fresno County looking for greener-than-green plants, Southeast Asian leaders are contending that their community is being unfairly singled out. In one news release, the Sheriff's Department advised landowners leasing property to Southeast Asian farmers to inspect the rows for cannabis.The refugees counter that the vast majority of their truck farms are clean and that authorities, by targeting Southeast Asian farms, are making it difficult for future refugees to lease farmland."Anyone who reads the local paper has the conception that Southeast Asian farmers grow marijuana," said Tzexa Cherta Lee, a leading Hmong grower and packer in Fresno County. "Someone even asked me the other day if the white caps we put over the plants to protect them from frost is the Southeast Asian way of hiding the marijuana."The Hmong, a tribe of 18 clans from the Laotian highlands, were slash-and-burn farmers who lived in jungle huts until the CIA recruited them to fight communist forces during the Vietnam War. After suffering high combat mortality rates, the Hmong began resettling in central California by the tens of thousands in the late 1970s.By contrast, the lowland Lao, city dwellers back home, have had a somewhat easier time crossing the cultural divide. But this hasn't led to economic gain, at least not for the majority.Twenty-five years after their resettlement, both the Hmong and lowland Lao communities still rely heavily on government assistance. While more than half of the second-generation Southeast Asians have gone on to college or well-paying careers here, social workers say, 40 percent flounder in dead-end jobs or a cycle of gangs and welfare dependency.For many unskilled refugees who speak no English, the truck farm represents the best shot at escaping poverty. Making the fringe of Fresno bloom, though, is no easy go. The labor is long, and everyone in the family must pitch in.They say with pride that no bosses look over their shoulders when they trudge to the wooden tent in the middle of the field to eat noodles and spicy beef. But at the end of the day, the buyer's prices are low and they struggle to cover the rent.Each year, the production value of Asian vegetables increases slightly. Last year, farms totaling 1,470 acres produced $10.3 million -- just a sliver of the $4 billion in crops grown by Fresno County."For the most part, these guys are legitimate small farmers. Now a handful lured by the big bucks have stepped over the line," said Dennis Plann, the county's deputy agricultural commissioner. Complete Title: A New and Illegal Cash Crop Growing on Refugee FarmsSource: Boston Globe (MA)Author: Mark Arax, Los Angeles Times  Published: May 16, 2004Copyright: 2004 Globe Newspaper CompanyContact: letter globe.comWebsite: http://www.boston.com/globe/CannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #14 posted by Cannabis Enthusiast on May 17, 2004 at 14:50:10 PT
Asian refugees growing OPIUM too
Remember the plot of poppies they found in California recently?I personally have never tried smoking Opium, but to me it is still a *legend*. When I first started educating myself about illegal drugs on the Internet, I read a lot about the Chinese opium-smoking immigrants who built our railroads. I have since been fascinated by Opium, and hope to try it someday.But it seems all Opium is converted to Heroin nowadays. I wish there was more raw opium for people like me who would never stick a needle in their arm.
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on May 17, 2004 at 09:26:41 PT
RasAric
I watch MSNBC and I heard it was most likely from the Iran-Iraq war years ago. They said that the persons who used this device might not of known that it was Sarin.
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Comment #12 posted by RasAric on May 17, 2004 at 09:17:58 PT
FoM & Sam Adams
FoM: Thanks for the input. I had not heard the part where it was admitted to being old even though they are constantly rehashing the story on ammo found(more corporate media spin?). BTW where did you get the "old" part of the story?Sam: I have heard nothing regarding Mallove's murder in the corporate media channels. Just heard about it on a Coast to Coast(Art Bell& friends) A.M. radio discussion 2 nights ago. I would not doubt this being carried out by the gov(US dept of Energy).
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Comment #11 posted by FoM on May 17, 2004 at 08:06:55 PT
RasAric 
They are saying it was old so hopefully this won't be used to further the war. Remember we had incidents in the states where tests on white powders came up as sarin and then they found it was a false positive.
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Comment #10 posted by Sam Adams on May 17, 2004 at 08:06:44 PT
Saw this in today's paper
Are we really supposed to believe this? How often do middle-aged men in suburban CT get beaten to death for a used minivan? Consider that Condelezza Rice used to hire mercenaries to kill natives that were interfering with oil production. Sorry for going off topic here.Police eye robbery in killing of scientistBy Lisa Kocian and Connie Paige, Globe Staff And Globe Correspondent  |  May 17, 2004A scientist who was educated at Harvard and MIT and known for his passionate promotion of cold fusion was slain in a possible robbery Friday night, police in Norwich, Conn., said.Eugene Mallove, 56, of Pembroke, N.H., was unresponsive when police found him in a Norwich house owned by his parents, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.Several items were taken from him, including his Dodge Caravan, which was found hours later in an employee parking lot at the nearby Foxwoods Resort Casino, police said.Mallove worked in Concord, N.H., as editor-in-chief and publisher of Infinite Energy magazine and president of the New Energy Foundation, both of which explore alternative forms of energy not generally recognized by mainstream scientists."One measure of the type of man he is is that we've had thousands and thousands of e-mails and phone calls already. It's fresh news, but it's all over the world already," said Christy Frazier, managing editor of the magazine, when reached by phone yesterday."It's going to impact the world, not just his friends and family," she said of Mallove's death. "This will change the face of new energy. He was the biggest fighter for new energy and new energy inventors."From a professional standpoint, the loss is particularly difficult, said Frazier, because the US Department of Energy had recently announced it had ordered a review of cold fusion for the first time since 1989, which Mallove had called a "breakthrough" in a New Hampshire newspaper interview. Cold fusion, a theoretical way of creating energy, has been largely discounted by the scientific establishment. Proponents hope it could produce cheaper, safer electricity, among other things.Mallove wrote several books and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for his 1991 work "Fire and Ice: Searching for the Truth Behind the Cold Fusion Furor." Frazier, who worked alongside Mallove for six years, recalled him as caring and generous.Although he was perhaps best known as an expert in cold fusion, Mallove's 1975 doctorate from Harvard University was in Environmental Health Sciences, and he earned a bachelor's in 1969 and a master's in 1970 in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, according to a biography provided by Frazier. Mallove also worked as a consultant to corporations and investment firms doing research and development of cold fusion, according to his biography, and he was the chief science writer at the MIT News Office when cold fusion first came on the scene.He worked as technical adviser on the 1997 thriller "The Saint," an action movie centered on the discovery and control of cold fusion.Police said robbery was a possible motive in the killing, and they were looking for anyone who saw Mallove's green 1993 Dodge Caravan after 7 p.m. Friday. The death was ruled a homicide after an autopsy performed Saturday at the office of the Connecticut chief state medical examiner.The cause of death was blunt force injuries to the victim's head and neck, according to Norwich police.Norwich police Captain Franklyn Ward said yesterday afternoon that he could not say whether one or more individuals participated in the attack or what kind of blunt instrument was used.Mallove's family usually rented out the house they owned in Norwich, but it was vacant at the time of the killing, Ward said.Mallove leaves his wife, Joanne; his daughter, Kimberlyn; his son, Ethan; and his mother, Gladys. According to Frazier, the family was celebrating the recent birth of Mallove's first grandchild. Norwich police Lieutenant John A. John said that 20 to 25 people were working on the case yesterday afternoon, including local police and investigators from the office of the state's attorney for the Norwich district, Kevin T. Kane, and the State Police Major Crimes Squad.Associated Press material was used in this report. Lisa Kocian can be reached at lkocian globe.com.  
© Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.
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Comment #9 posted by RasAric on May 17, 2004 at 08:00:40 PT
Off Topic...sort of
I said "sort of" because this can apply to any situation the current administration comes up against...including a drug war.Just heard on MSN"BS" that the military "found"(planted) a round of ammunition containing sarin gas. The timing on this is almost too perfect for Bush and "accomplices". I had always been taught that the ends don't justify the means....but hey, who's gonna do anything about it. The U.S. always gets away with war crimes. It's not like we can't take on any country in the world. And when election and war support times look bleak, we can alway manufacture and plant our own "ends to the means"(WMD's).
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on May 17, 2004 at 07:46:52 PT
Ganda
I did a search and this is all I found. Sri Lanka To Legalise CannabisFrom correspondents in ColomboMay 12, 2004SRI Lanka plans to lift a ban on growing cannabis and begin government cultivation of the plant, which is a key ingredient in traditional medicine, a minister was quoted saying today.Indigenous Medicine Minister Tissa Karaliyadde said he hoped to introduce a bill in parliament to allow practitioners of herbal medicine known as ayurveda to grow at least five plants each.The state itself hopes to start cultivation and land has already been earmarked for the pilot project, The Island newspaper quoted Karaliyadde saying.Despite an official ban on cannabis in Sri Lanka, it is easily available on the clandestine market both for traditional healers and smokers. http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,9542026%255E1702,00.html
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Comment #7 posted by Ganda on May 17, 2004 at 07:40:13 PT
Sri Lanka's plans to legalise cannabis....
does anyone know what the Bush Adminstration's response to this is? ;)
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Comment #6 posted by cloud7 on May 17, 2004 at 05:50:21 PT
40,000 plants!
BUT, I dont think anyone here read an article about a shortage of marijuana in California and mayan's right, there never will be one.
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Comment #5 posted by mayan on May 16, 2004 at 23:39:42 PT
Prohibition Has Failed
That's better.
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Comment #4 posted by mayan on May 16, 2004 at 23:38:22 PT
Prohibition Hs Failed
"Nearly 40,000 squat but prolific bushes have been yanked out and set ablaze, an illicit harvest worth $40 million on the streets -- more than last year's value for cherries or Valencia oranges or sweet corn."Everyone and their mother is growing the herb which is now, thanks to prohibition, worth it's weight in gold. There will never be a shortage of cannabis as long as it brings in a thousand bucks a plant!More on Afghan opium...Kabul government concedes officials assist drug trafficking:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20040514-100923-2659r.htmThe way out...White House 'tried to block film':
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/3719261.stmFahrenheit 9/11 could light fire under Bush:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections2004/story/0,13918,1218376,00.html9/11 International Inquiry - Toronto, May 25-30:
http://www.911inquiry.org/
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Comment #3 posted by Jose Melendez on May 16, 2004 at 19:36:55 PT
drug war: the antitrust
from: http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/foia/divisionmanual/ch2.htm1. SHERMAN ANTITRUST ACT, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1-7
 
 § 1 Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1 Trusts, etc., in restraint of trade illegal; penalty  Every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, is declared to be illegal. Every person who shall make any contract or engage in any combination or conspiracy hereby declared to be illegal shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by fine not exceeding $10,000,000 if a corporation, or, if any other person, $350,000, or by imprisonment not exceeding three years, or by both said punishments, in the discretion of the court. 
 
 § 2 Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2  Monopolizing trade a felony; penalty  Every person who shall monopolize, or attempt to monopolize, or combine or conspire with any other person or persons, to monopolize any part of the trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by fine not exceeding $10,000,000 if a corporation, or, if any other person, $350,000, or by imprisonment not exceeding three years, or by both said punishments, in the discretion of the court. 
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Comment #2 posted by RasAric on May 16, 2004 at 12:45:50 PT
 In The So Called Land Of The Free
I smell a Racial Discrimination lawsuit brewing against the authorities and landowners...Heros they most certainly are!!!
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Comment #1 posted by cloud7 on May 16, 2004 at 10:22:17 PT
These Southeast Asian farmers = Heroes
...
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