Biggest Drug Bust = The Herb Marijuana

I could not resist the phrase the Biggest Bust, and posted the appropriate picture.

This bust would be insignificant if not for this claim, North Little Rock police described it as one of the biggest drug busts in the city’s history. This struck a raw nerve as I feel that Americans need to be taught that marijuana is not a drug and was never a drug. Marijuana is a plant that best fits into the category of a Herb or more specifically a medicinal herb. Marijuana contains a small percentage of the psychoactive compound THC. A drug would be extracted THC or synthesized THC like Marinol 100% THC, and Marinol is a legal prescription drug.

Now lets examine the rest of the article;

North Little Rock narcotics officers and sheriff’s deputies from Pulaski and Saline counties took part in the raid which began as a two-month undercover investigation in North Little Rock.

We see that this big Herb bust cost taxpayers for not only 2 months of police work, but also had Sheriff's and or Deputies from two counties at the scene. This is not only costing taxpayers money but depriving them of law enforcement time to work other more serious cases.

“As you can see, this is a significant bust, and it will make a difference in Pulaski County just by getting this much dope off the street,” North Little Rock Police Chief Danny Bradley said today.

Will this really change anything in Pulaski county, my bet would be no. I say this because the networks for dealing are still in place and the buyers still have a want to to use marijuana. One unexpected results of cutting the supply of marijuana is it pushes people towards buying other street drugs dealers may be selling.

North Little Rock police spokesman Sgt. Terry Kuykendall, a former narcotics investigator, said the largest prior marijuana bust he could remember was about 300 pounds seized in 2000.

Busting 300 lbs did not stop people from pedaling pot in Pulaski county as seen from Sgt. Kuykendall statement.


The Brag List:
Officers seized 615 pounds of marijuana, $23,000 in cash and six guns in a raid Sunday afternoon at a southern Pulaski County business.

So they got 615 pounds of a Herb that should never have been outlawed, six guns and $23,000 dollars. How many guns did the officers bring to the arrest? How many officers were present to make one arrest? How many man hrs went into the two month long investigation? How much will the prosecution and court costs be? How much will the prison time cost? What will the total overall cost be for the biggest drug bust in BF Egypt really be when Mr. Green is a free man once again?

Bradley estimated the marijuana had a wholesale value of about $2 million, but states that he hasn’t calculated what the street value of that would be.
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In my humble opinion, we will all be much better off when marijuana is Taxed and Regulated as any other business. We are all paying a dear price for this preponderous game of keeping the holy profits of health care and the pharmaceuticals companies protected from competition of medicinal herbs.

Update:
The seizure came after a two-month joint investigation with the Saline County Sheriff's Office. Kuykendall said North Little Rock narcotics investigators are deputized to work throughout Pulaski County, which is why they were able to conduct the raid outside of city limits.
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It might have been even more costly than I first suspected.

Taxation not Prohibition!