Breaking it down (Pot Economy 101) (Arcata)

Reply to: pers-760148717@craigslist.org
Date: 2008-07-18, 10:56AM PDT



I have been following all the "pot talk" on this page for some time now, the back and forth between those for and against 215. I should probably start off by saying that yes most 215 growers in this area are not terminally ill and probably grow over their limit for some profits. Whether or not that automatically makes them bad people, is for you to decide, but I would have to say NO. I personally don;t care how much a person grows or makes ($$), because it doesn't affect me and it doesn't affect you, so don't be a jealous hater when you see Natty dreads in their Toyota Tundra driving down the plaza. The only people that I sympathize for are the landlords that are lied to straight up and have their rentals trashed bc/ of it. To them I say make it 110% clear no growing herb! Screen all tenants well, write no 215 into rental agreements, set security deposits high, and do inspections 3 times a year.
That said, if you own your house or rent from a "friendly" landlord then more power to you, everyone knows that the economy up here is depressed try finding a job that pays more than 40,000 a year. Most of the people up here complaining about 215 growers are either lower-middle class straight-edge blue collar joe types working lumber,fishing, construction that are jealous of the $$ growers make, or retired old farts with lots of $$ they made somehow (?) that don't need to grow, or undercover conservative (so called liberals) who proabably made bank off buying up houses in the mid-90's that trippled in value (so no need to grow). I am an HSU grad that spent a year making every effort to find a good paying job around here, only to find out that I could work for Los Bagels, or a data entry postiton for $10 an hour, maybe a record store or Sun Valley??? Or I could grow herb in my pot friendly landlord's house and make 5 times what I would at those jobs. Do you blame me??
Pot growers are entreprenuers that are making new money on their own, which is the American way plain and simple, it's called "venture capitalism" and has been engrained in us growing up in this capitalistic system. If you think growers are rich, try going down to S.F., Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, etc. and see all the "old money", people born into riches, that have fat trust funds and get brand new BMW's when they turn 16. Those are the people who deserve your scorn not the intelligent young entrepreneur in Arcata who turns 5,000 into 50,000 on their own.
Next thing is, whether or not you grow or smoke or are against it, it is a simple fact that the pot industry drives the economy around here. If you think otherwise you either got your head up your a$$ or are in complete denial. Go out to eat at a local restaurant in Arcata/Eureka/Trinidad/Garberville, etc. and half the people or more in their are growers... The CO-OP, Wildberries, Eureka Natural Foods... Mid-City Motor World (who do you think are buying all those Tundras and F-150's)... Sports stores (growers like to go mountain biking, camping, kaying)... How about music shops, auto-mechanics, etc... The fact is if you live in Humboldt CO. and make money here, you spend money here. Period! Now the next big thing, that no one around here wants to admit, but it's plain truth... Home prices around here are directly connect to 215, if you think about it, why have prices here stayed so stable when the rest of the country's real estate market is screwed?? Don't try to tell me it's bc/ we are a "retirement community" (B.S.)!! Yes we are coastal california, but were so incredibily isolated ( 5 hours to S.F., 7 to Portland), that it's a mute point. The economy around here is not strong if you don't grow herb than your annual income probably doesn't reflect home prices. So if you whine about 215, how would you like it if pot became decriminalized everywhere in the U.S., and home prices here dropped 30%? When you lose equity in your home, I'm sure you'd wish those darn pot growing hippies were still doing their thing, in our special little pot growing scene.
Oh the hysteria around empty neighborhoods and unfriendly neighbors, how about a lot of people like living in Humboldt bc/ they enjoy their privacy. I am from a "Beaver Cleaver" neighborhood where all the neighbors are up in your business all the time, spying on one another, judging them on every little thing. Personally I kind of like how people up here keep to themselves, if you don't like it then move to Iowa, or Indiana or some place where you can go to church socials with all your neighbors. I find that if I make an effort to befriend neighbors they're cool, if they don't want to be bothered, than whatever that's their deal... Would you prefer that HSU be more like Chico State? Then instead of quiet pot growing neighbors, you'd have loud crazy drunken frat boys keeping you up till 3 am.
Any how I am nearing the end of my rant, a final thought is that the pot scene up here is relatively harmless, shouldn't we be focusing our attention on meth, crack, and heroin they are around Humboldt CO. too and cause way more violence than a little herb ever will. The fact is marijuana should be legal and people should be able to grow and have as much as they want with out Big Brother telling them what to do, it's a plant that grows natural for God's sake. Any ways, I can't wait to hear what the haters got to say... probably something to the effect of "shut up stupid liberal hippy", or pot growers are "horrible criminals that are destroying society".... Refeer Madness (You tell me).




Location: Arcata
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PostingID: 760148717