'It's heartbreaking': Inside the unintended consequences of marijuana farming
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- Опубликовано: 12 дек 2022
- ABC News’ Mireya Villarreal previews a year-long investigation in southern Oregon where organized crime syndicates are attempting to blend in with licensed pot farms to exploit captive workers.
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#ABCNL #marijuanafarming #oregon #investigation
There are literally only two reasons why the illicit market still flourishes. #1 - because it is not legal across the entire U.S. both at every state level as well as federally, and #2 - because it is over taxed, & licensing costs are outrageous. PERIOD!
Until they make it fully legal these things will keep happening
I still think weed should be required to undergo spot teasting and periodic inspection just to make sure illegal pesticides aren't being used but other than those basic standards, I agree with you. Barely stricter than regulation over lettuce (just because inhalation is more prone to cause damage via contamination)
ever read "Brave New World"?
that would not stop Human Trafficking and slavery, this has nothing to do with Marijuana, more because we allow illegal aliens that are used for slave labor by Mexican cartel
it is fully legal. They need to allow people to grow how much they wasn't as any other plant you would put in your garden. The disappearances want to make a profit so that's why they're pushing to not be taxed. This plant should not be a cash crop but rather a shared crop.
you mean relegalize it?
did you know there were states that made there citizens grow this back in the day? it helped produce sooooo many things
Until it's legal to grow all the weed you want at home, like any other garden crop, the profit motive will remain. "Legalization" hasn't meant "free". The government still taxes & controls it, like alcohol or pharmaceuticals. Laws, regulations, and taxes create the problems we're seeing. Government greed goes hand-in-hand with black market greed.
It’s legal to grow at home here
Well stated! @glennr9913
Right its funny they never cared about the farmers condition when it was Illegal now they using it to make weed business sound evil🤔🤷
It's still illegal to grow your own tobacco
lol weed is like $2 a gram in cali i dont think it would be worth selling it in ultra legal places
Just legalize it federally.
Hit up 👆 the handle..He ships 🍄🍫💊💨………..
For real, ita so annoying
@@evonne315 growing strong 4 10yrs
It's legal in California and look at what a chit hole It's turned into
@@winning3329 that was inevitable, wasn’t bc of weed
What's really heartbreaking are the lies that we've been told forever about it, that's what's heartbreaking.
It's the licenses and permits that cost a fortune that's keeping it "illegal "
Only if you have felonies
@@winning3329 wrong buddy. Oregon wants all your money and whatever you can borrow
It's ridiculous and predatory
If the 'wise' lawmakers would put Marijuana at the same status as parsley, the crime part of it would go away. But, they want their cut.
Georgia busted a slave ring last year operating out of a fruit farm. I don't think this has to do with legalization i think this is capitalism
Operation Blooming Onion 2021
You truthers don't know when you are beat. Epstien only slipped, peasants are loosing their guns, and countries are initiating false flag attacks in order to close the halls if government to those who aren't wealthy enough to buy a seat, and arrest anyone who is against how things are. Just give up.
Did you hear what they just said? ORGANIZED CRIME ORGANIZATIONS ARE STILL INTRODUCING CRIMINAL ELEMENTS INTO THE LEGAL PROGRAM OF GROWING MARIJUANA. Such as possible sex trafficking rings… forced and unpaid labor… probably rampant substance abuse of other drugs illegally introduced into the system etc.
Exactly
Maybe I’ll put my middle school earth science education to good use and grow my own plants one day 😅
Hit up 👆 the handle..He ships 🍄🍫💊💨
Totally worth it. So friggin fun also. Makes u feel like a kid again
facts only use for the useless education we got
It’s easy lol
That guy has a lot of courage going on air with his discoveries without disguise.... The cartels are very bad people.
Just legalize it…. No more excuses
Obviously you are not watching the story. Lol 😂
@@YourMom-vl2sp this is human error not the plant if you watched the video
@@YourMom-vl2sp the video is predicated on the idea that weed is "legal" when it's not. it's still federally illegal, and illegal at the state level in most states. we can't half ass the ending of prohibition, then act like we fully ended it and that's what's causing the problems. black markets and the criminals that profit will exist as long as there's prohibitive laws on the books... pretend weed is guns, then maybe you'll get it 🤷♀️
@@YourMom-vl2sp did you ?
America's love for drugs is so overwhelming, that if all drugs were legalized, cartels will highly under price their street drugs. And not miss a beat.
All over taxes it's sad u got to hide people like that to grow plants because only Rich people with millions can get permits and so on great job guys keep making them stay busy
None of this is the fault of marijuana or it's users. Marijuana's price has come down but the taxes placed on it by the states brings the price right back up to where it was for the end user. Now growers are incentivised to sell weed underground because it doesn't require testing and isn't taxed. The end user gets more bud for the buck and the grower has way lower overhead. It is not the drug that makes all this dangerous, it's capitalism and greed.
As a smoker, I should be able to find a local grower that I trust to grow my clean weed and they should be able to sell it to me without restrictions. This way the best growers will rise to the top and will far outclass underground weed so why buy that when you can buy from a trusted source for the same prices. The government is creating this storm yet the news media is blaming the plant. Don't be fooled by this garbage.
@Albert Bundy Cant trust some people. Friend got a Cart at a "Secret Sesh" for growers/vendors . He let me hit it and me being an ex cig smoker i could tell right away it was mixed with nicotine.
are you for real??????????????????????
Allow people to grow how ever many plants they want. Problem solved.
@@peacenow42 Yes.
@@mache2784 That's correct. Flood the market with self grown weed and the price per pound would drop drastically. It doesn't take much more time and energy to grow marijuana than it does tomatoes'. This way local growers could sell their weed based on the quality of their product not based on their ability to skirt law enforcement.
Sounds like they're growing in the states that are legal and then they're shipping it to states that are still illegal. The cop's know every single one of these people in their counties and what they do for a living.
Hit up 👆 the handle..He ships 🍄🍫💊💨……
¿Cuanto tiempo te tomo aprender Ingles?
Unfortunately this is no different than any farming industry in the US. Dairy farms, vegetable farms. It’s just that some choose to focus on the marijuana farms. Prayers for change.
The product you say is no different as from dairy or such. Ok what about human slavery deception comes with these organized crimes in these farms ? Are you saying same conditions of slavery
Exist in dairy farms and such?
@@sinnombre2857 Dear Moron, I own a wheat farm. We all hire Mexican seasonal workers. The point is, some folks break the law. I don’t. But I’ll still Pat for the cheap labor. It’s no different if it’s wheat or weed. Grow up moron.
@@sinnombre2857 yea when they use undocumented labor. Hopefully you are just offended at clothe manufacturers and cell phone producers as well.
@@DevinSheaProductions you silky smooth bastard. I’m referring to putting gun to a worker and say you can’t leave. Other guy saying dairy farms etc are no different. Do they really hold humans hostage against their will and forced labor in dairy farms, wheat , whatever like we’ed farms are known too? All I’m asking .
👆👆he got Psychedelics are available 🍄 💊🍫.
Wages are keeping us in slavery
Rubbish reporting. The culprit is NOT cannabis, but the legally grown high price, ergo, greed!
I'm confused... Is ABC trying to state that removing legalization and regulation would improve this situation or are they trying to state that there needs to be more time spent regulating/monitoring these grow operations? It's a good thing that they have revenue/taxes coming in for the sale of this product to spend on further regulation of its market.
U.S Government needs to step up their game about situations like this...Cartels should be labeled as terrorists
Majority of black market weed is sold in bulk to buyers from states where it’s still illegal.
Guys it's no joke I live in Phoenix Arizona and I've been smoking long enough to know a lot about it. So I've noticed that the weed quality is really poor doesn't matter how much money you spend at the dispensary for some good stuff you won't walk out with it just about everything they got there sits on the Shelf until it sold. Years ago 2017 weed was a lot better when I had to my card but a lot of the companies disappeared.I it almost feels like there's about a handful of people that own all these dispensaries here in this state and everybody sits down at the end of the day and says this is how we're going to run our business because everybody runs at the same way. There's business to be made with marijuana thinking about growing my own and selling it 15 bucks a eighth helping people.
Correct. I live in Massachusetts and paying top dollar for lab tested cannabis saying that it has so much percentage of THC blah blah, all b******* all garbage it just looks good. The weed I grow legally in my basement is shelves above what I get at the dispensary
Just like everything else. The people with the most money win. smh
AZ has trash weed. Thanks for the heads up.
@@honestlynate7922 bro I live in Ohio and and u guys are all cap or your just buying mid or bottom shelf bc I’m my state we have 30% thc weed and it’s defintley way stronger 😂 u can tell by smoking it and other strains it’s not that hard to find out
I take a qtr-pnd
I live in California. Despite the taxes I still always buy from dispensaries. I don't want anything to do with the black market.
HOW DID WE NOT LEARN FROM HISTORY???
Its simple, similar to the prohibition on alcohol leading to the creation of the mafia, legalize it federally, end the prohibition which will lower the price to a reasonable valuation making it unprofitable for drug cartels to step in.
This is incredibly sad and disappointing.. i blame all parties of those in power as much as those committing the crimes.
ie.. Games, played by both governments and corporations.. you can’t tell me they didn’t see this coming, expect it to and take advantage of.
Weed is legal in California and look at what a s******* is turned into
Yes. Those who don't have knowledge of the past are doomed to repeat the same mistakes. You would think people can put two and two together.
Just another way to take money from people and violate a civil pursuit of happiness and freedom...
If they taxed it like alcohol, no one would farm it, just like no one makes alcohol. It would not be worth what it is unless the gov wants to make the same money as the criminals. Gov Greed keeps the criminals involved.
Is alcohol taxed at 50%? Our pot in Washington is. How about we just get the dirty government fingers out of our domestic profits. Increasing taxation is what keeps narcos in the game. Why would anyone want to sell an ounce legally and keep 120 when they could sell it illegally and keep 240?
That part!
Depends where you live, in dry counties alcohol is being made and sold by the gallons.
The only reason this is an issue is due to it not being FEDERALLY legal. It’s cheaper illegally in its current state than it is legally so of course there’s a market.
I love how they go and talk about just the bad. They forget that it's also helping people too. I myself am a trimmer and it really helps out especially in these financially hard times. There will always be some bad where there is good.
Are you hiring? Can’t seem to get into the field and start to work and move upwards
@@Revlimiter295 as long as your ok with human trafficking and not having to pass a drug test then your hired! 🤭
Well, Nick. The whole point of this was to talk about the bad, so.......
The cartel is obviously taking advantage of the fact they can get away with growing here and send the product elsewhere to sell.
does the drug test include marijuana check?
Even though it’s legal in some states, it’s still really hard get license to grow. At the same time, there are some States still illegal to both consuming and growing. Therefore a lot of cartels are using legal states to grow and sell them to States which are illegal.
OMG are you kidding me!? this is crazy... we had plenty of ppl growing weed prior to legalization that did no require exploiting anyone except poor young hippies...
nice bus in the background by the way. thanks NBC for covering this story - it's been happening since at least 2000s in Humboldt County.
Instead of destroying them, take over and finish the product yourself/the government, and sell it for a profit that is used to help restore the lands and boost/enlighten local economies/towns!
Every pot smoker gets extremely defensive at any criticism of getting high all day
California charges 35% sales tax and black market weed isn't taxed and therefore is much cheaper. You do the math.
The exclusion caused by exclusive growing licenses is honestly a bigger reason for the high prices. Artificially reduced competition is never a good thing for consumers.
Also, I agree marijuana should carry the normal sales tax.
35%!! Hahaha! I live in California and I've never been charged even close to 35%. Heaven only knows where you got THAT figure!
This has NOTHING to do with it being legal🤣🤣
What a waste of time and effort. People are out here smoking meth and drunk driving into school buses.
This is the reason the war on drugs has dire consequences. And now decriminalization is just as bad.
If they just made it legal to grow your own plants at your house everything would be fine
The only thing that's heartbreaking is what has become of this nation since 9/11.
Right. We are on the brink of true clean energy. Thank goodness some people have the proper focus on what Americans can do and what we should be about.
Conservatives are dying out. Covid helped but not enough.
It was an inside job 💯
What a horrible thing to say about my Mom and 22 of my friends and 56 of my customers.
You are happy they are dead so you can have your precious weed.
It's heartbreaking of what happened to usa since Kennedy, king and Malcom were assasinated
Na. Since Woodstock in '69
Imagine making it to national television and your the guy that’s crying 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Weed isnt free till the people can grow it themselves and not be taxed
The issue is that it’s illegal to grow .
According to your video , one guy had health problems in 8 years since 2015 when it was Legal to grow !
What other Factory or job can say that ?
The Government is just Angry because these grow places are making MONEY and the greedy government isn't getting any of their CUT !
Because still Federally illegal. That’s the problem. Needs to be Federally Legal. That will slow them down on the marijuana business.
Methford Oregon has a huge drug problem.
There isn't much of anything that isn't made by slave labor in this society...
Anyone who actually thought legalizing this amazing plant was going to stop the “black market” is just ignorant to what’s really going on.
Human trafficking is one of the smaller problems. Cartel violence, forest destruction, water shed pollution, illegal Insecticide-herbicides, running wells dry, destroying local culture, etc, etc.
Coloradoan here. Not sure oregons laws but I know alot of states limited dispensaries. That limit is what drives the black market. Here in CO The free market competition driven prices down so far that it's simply not worth an illegal market. Grams of concentrate are 6 to 10 dollars and ounces of flower run 40 to 90 depending on quality. Black market is all but gone
Hit up 👆 the handle..He ships 🍄🍫💊💨…
That's exactly how it should be.
If they can’t speak English, I don’t wanna hear it
why is this still illegal in some places. Why did we trade Griner for an arms dealer when we still have thousands of people in our prisons for weed.
Don't confuse these two issues, please. We got Brittney Griner back because it was the right thing to do.
No it wasn't. We traded a notorious weapons dealer that's poses a significant safety risk for a moron that brought drugs into Russia. She should have stayed over there as an example to everyone who thinks we are not above the laws of countries we visit.
@@StephenLewisful is it the right thing to do to go work for a country with a leader like pukin? is it? Since we are discussing what is 'right'
@Holyghost Fire how do you know what I say about those men vs pukin?
@@MegaSuperfatguy he completed half his sentence...we were gonna let him out eventually.
It's really messed up that they treat people like this. If nobody trimmed at large grows the problems would be less likely. Also seems like alot of garbage is left behind when they raid. Perhaps clean up jobs could help the environment
Overtaxation doesn't help, it's way cheaper getting it somewhere other then a dispensary, quality isn't as good but close enough to justify a cheaper price.
Here in Oregon where I live the weed goes as low as 1.50 a gram for flower, and good shatter is 12 dollars a gram. Even with the 25 percent tax, i spend much less on weed then I ever did in my 43 years of life.
Give it out to the community instead of destroying it. That will help stop trafficking
Sounds like if the federal government would be so kind as to create regulations, you’d have your solution. Kinda like when the government created regulations on alcohol 100 years ago to get rid of bootleggers. But no. Instead, here we are. Quick question. Just curious, but how many of these “farmers” were legal immigrants?
Factory farming exists but growing weed is heart breaking
They said all this tax money would fix everything. Another lie. Again
All I can say is if the police do their job, this would be impossible, there are plenty of legal legit farmers who are suffering because of people like this. It's not hard to find these people
Marijuana marijuana is a high-profit,
I don’t understand how they connect slave labor and human trafficking to marijuana being legal. This was happening when it was illegal. It’s a cartel problem.
We have dirty people in every industry. It's a dam shame.
This is taking a few bad apples and making it look like it's the whole industry.
I has to be all the way legal for this to stop
Any one can grow weed but not anyone can cure and make weed have the smell it has … it’s put in jars and that helps it to have aroma and flavors. If not it’s grassy and nasty
Did your dispensary tell you that? Lol
@@mattowens3451 dumb af I know because I grew weed and perfected that over years .. look it up you fool it’s called curing we don’t get our weed from dispensary they get it from us foh
@@mattowens3451 who ever liked your comment Is also dumb af … your weed won’t be the same if you don’t put it in air tight jars … foh
There are a Ton of video's on how to dry and then cure marijuana, and it's Not rocket science, it's just a time consuming process and takes about one month.
Simplified run down for you: When it's time to harvest your plant, hang it in a room or tent with no lighting and keep the temp as close to 60deg F. and humidity around 60% for about 11-14 days (or two week's). After this is done remove the flower from the stems and remove any leaf material from the buds/flowers, then place into small jars filling the jars at least 75%-85% and place a humidity tracker into each jar. Then at least once a day open the jar for a few minutes and agitate the buds a little bit to rearrange them in the jar and put the lid back on. Do this for approximately two weeks until the humidity in the jar stays at a constant 55-60% without having to burp/open the jars, and you should be good to smoke.
This is what I've learned just from RUclips video's, and I am looking forward into putting this to practice once I'm able to grow in my own state.
Just cause your taught to drive doesn’t mean you can drive a race car same goes to growing anybody can grow weed only few can grow good weed
How can u break the law selling LEGAL marijuana.
The feds will shut u down. INSANE.
Legalization ends all of this.
What’s the slave labor have to do with marijuana farms? Is it legal for slave labor on other types of farms?
This is heartbreaking and devastating. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Trafficking and slavery is still happening and at a higher rate then it has ever been.
Too many giant outdoors farms and no one should have to smoke out door pot anymore! 🤦♂️
Why would you leave 7000 lbs at the farm knowing you’re high risk from cops and robbers?
sounds stupid to me to destroy the crops and not sell the crop and spend the money on land cleanup. cops now attribute these farms to legalization. get real, where did it come from before?
@precious_spores666sellsonIG I don't take drugs
6:11 this is very graphic! how could you show something so traumatic without even blurring it!
Man this is gonna destroy the land.we must stop this unjustifiable act
It’s the government’s fault that this is happening. Legalize it federally.
What is really heartbreaking is alcohol has caused more problems than anything more than fentanyl more than crack more than heroin you just don’t see it.. because it kills you really really slow
These types of problems will continue as long as cannabis is illegal on a federal level.
How Is A Marijuana Farm Illegal?😡🤷
If they legalized everything (no Oregon decriminalization it without regulations) and uses agencies like the FDA/DEA to regulate purity, creation method, who makes it, testing etc. Just like they do with pharmaceuticals and food (if not more) I am certian these issues would not exist. If they did it would be easier to stop if regulations were properly in place.
Where's the US forestry environmental services replanting the trees?
Where's the environmental social groups calling for tree projection?
Wow. 18 years ago I lived in that region. My ex owned a few acres in Rogue River Oregon. For almost 3 years I lived in Medford. It wasn't a real prosperous town, but it wasn't what it seems to be now. I'm sure pot was being grown here and there, but I never heard of big grow operations. It's terrible what they are doing to those people forced to work for them. And what they are doing to the land.
No one cares based on your own like lmao
It's not as bad as they are trying to make it.
The Caucasians are extremely racist in Oregon and don't want brown people making money while they sit around lazy like Caucasians do in Oregon
-COMANCHE NATION
Hit up 👆 the handle..He ships 🍄🍫💊💨……..
🥶
Illegal activity, is not the fault of legal weed- number one, catch the law breakers- fully prosecute them. Doesnt matter if its weed or tomatoes.
Am i alone that they didnt need a voice changer cause i dont know Spanish anyway!
Their illegal immigrants. Nothing new.
Same workers are harvesting your fruit and vegetables in those regions. Where are the stories about that exploitation?
The government talks about these farms destroying the environment when they are leaving behind a massive mess when they destroy active farms. A much bigger mess than when they arrived.
6:15 that sucks I really do think if it was just legal to use and grow this wouldn't be happening for sure.
2:53 Is this a marijuana farm? But the Americans have been complaining about food shortage.
“The unintended consequences of unsecured borders”. Fixed the headline for you
I can't believe they work for free. Actually, you should punish anyone on this property. How do you know this person is not the owner of this operation?
Here's a thought; if you don't want to get caught up in being a slave to drug dealers, don't go to illegal grows to work...
THIS IS THE CARTEL
they have been doing this here in Colorado as well, people are getting kidnapped from the streets and being forced to work in these farms
several people from my town have gone missing in the last few years
Last year they found a 5,000,000 plant count grow on state park land in Las Animas county...
THIS IS THE CARTEL
@Jesus H Christ Move along pinko.
@Jesus H Christ funny coming from someone who believes in a "religion" that is nothing but lies
Wait. He's right. Listen the piece clearly says ORANIZED CRIME. perhaps not cartel but... this crap has been happening since like 2000's waaay before weed was legalized. and they ruin the environment too.
Who cares if it is the cartels or not ? If anything we should thank these cartels for giving better discounts .
@@justinanthony9476 #1 stupid fucking thing I’ve ever read good job.
The legalization of pot has only made the black market bigger.
What the hell did you think was going to happen the black market will NEVER GO AWAY 👊🇺🇲
I can't help but wonder where all of these people's sympathy was when these same illegal immigrants was growing their vegetables.
It is not legal everywhere. So of course there is still a crime problem. Piss poor reporting.
Corporate cannabis is the problem.
So this story left the single major factor causing this catastrophe. What a joke of a story.
the solution is to make it legal federally, this cash system is begging to get exploited.
Just make it legal and easy for people to grow at home and you can minimize these issues.
All of these poor folks working on these farms probably arrived here illegally across the border. Perhaps enforcing border laws would stop this.
this is being reported like its the drugs fault when its not saying anything about the people in charge?? why does it cut out twice at 4:00? again at 5:00 and 7:20? "is it safe to call them narcoslaves"?? they don't want to call out the owners and make it sound like they're slaves to marijuana? this is just demonizing marjuana
DO A STORY ON THE ROOFING INDUSTRY AND YOU WILL HAVE THE SAME STORY! IT’S AN IMMIGRATION PROBLEM NOT A PRODUCT SECTOR PROBLEM! WAKE UP BE FAIR DON’T SHOOT AT THE EASY TARGETS! GO BRANDON!
Thanks for sharing
The underground market still is here because of TAXES!!! Lower the taxes allow more license to sell!!!!! Black market 1oz price $150 - $200 Legal market $275 - $300 plus 20% in taxes. FIX THE TAXES AND LICENSES
Nah. Only evil people use slave labor. The fair price is 275-300 plus 20% in taxes. Cheaper prices because of slave labor are anti capitalism and are against the common man. We will stop at nothing to imprison all of the human traffickers and they will pay for their crimes against humanity.
Ban the taxes & regulations
The cartel should be considered a terrorist organization and life in prison
let people like me grow instead of taking my children and prosecuting me for an agenda