Page A-8
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, July 20, 2016
Green Revolution: by Robert Hirning
PRICES gOOD: JULy 22 - JULy 24
seedless
2 lbs.
Watermelon strawberries
$
$
4.99
eACH
5.99
eACH
Have you noticed lately that there are
some new folks in town? It’s been a long time,
probably since the hippies arrived in the early
1970s, since we’ve seen a large influx of active
young people here in the Valley and it is no
secret that the cannabis industry is flourishing
like a 21st century gold rush. Whether it
will sustain or not depends on a multitude of
factors, but 20 yard dump trucks of fortified
topsoil rumbling down country roads, overflow
parking at the building and garden supply
houses and late model pick-ups, driven by 20
something year olds, hauling everything from
Kabodas to fencing, attest to some big changes
around here.
If this change is a positive development
depends on who is looking at it and from what
perspective. A person who has never been
involved in the local pot culture, and taught for
generations that the marijuana leaf is as evil a
symbol as the swastika, then it is only logical
to look with horror at a recreational industry
that produces wealth from people getting
high legally. On the other hand, business
entrepreneurs, who may or may not have been
regular users or underground producers in the
past, welcome legalization with open arms
as a new source of cash in a moribund local
economy.
Few people, if any, remember alcohol
prohibition from 1920 to 1932, but the same
sequence of events evolved through that period
as with cannabis today. For example, during
prohibition one of the first steps to loosening
things up was to allow “medical alcohol”;
has a ring to it doesn’t it. Prohibition also
brought crime into the picture as moonshiners,
bootleggers and speakeasies filled the gap in
America’s thirst for whiskey, beer, wine and
gin. The morality of whether people had a
right to get high, at the heart of the wet/dry
debate, got lost when alcohol consumption
actually increased after 1920. What happened
as a result of the prohibition experiment was
that after 1932 the states became involved for
the first time with tough regulations and, most
of all, taxes. Before prohibition there had been
little alcohol regulation of any kind and booze
was only taxed on a federal level. In fact,
the Federal Income Tax was instituted after
prohibition came in to make up for the loss of
revenue from now banned alcohol.
This little historical view may give us
some insight as to what to expect from this
whole new world of legal pot. The state,
through voter initiative and referendum, has
decided that getting high isn’t all that morally
reprehensible after all and should be regulated
and taxed. Medical Marijuana, as everyone
TALES ...
18 oz.
Apricots
Blueberries
$
3.99
$
4.49
eACH
Per POunD
northwest California California
Cherries Peaches nectarines
$
3.99
Per POunD
$
2.79
Per POunD
knows has been extremely helpful to many
patients but, in reality, it is often a scam to
grow legally and then sell on the black market.
Since medical’s inception in the late 1990s, no
taxes were collected and continually shifting
regulations were enforced unevenly. Workers
were never covered as employees and often
forced to take the rap for others. Whether
being paid in pounds, not being paid at all
or not covered for injuries, and certainly not
able to draw unemployment or pay into Social
Security, the workers in the underground
cannabis industry have often been exploited by
being enticed into short-term gains without the
protection of labor standards.
So let us welcome the new taxes and
regulations and applaud the growers who apply
for licenses to become legitimate businesses.
Complaints about odor, water consumption,
and cutting of timber may be for the large
part red herrings and sour grapes. These
complainers seem silent on diesel fumes
coming off the street into their front yards or
the massive 3,000 acres of clearcuts the Forest
Service let, each year in the ‘60s, ‘70s, and
‘80s, on the I.V. District alone. Water is an
issue everywhere in the west but pot farming
uses very little in comparison to alfalfa and
water rights are addressed in the licensing
process.
Another part of this rationalizing process
for what has been for years and underground
industry, is for cannabis farmers to start paying
into the wider society and quit buying fancy
rigs, motor cycles, and expensive vacations
without contributing their fair share. And they
will when the system ramps up. No longer
will the cops have to come out to bust a grow
with guns blazing. Now an audit and tax lien
will seize the property and result in heavy
fines without the messiness of court trials and
overflowing prisons. Legitimate businesses
pay payroll and quarterly self employment
taxes; being in the cannabis industry doesn’t
excuse anyone now that it is all legal and
reportable.
So let us embrace the Green Revolution
and welcome it as a new legitimate, and
potentially responsible, industry into our
valley. Our State of Jefferson neighbors to the
south in Siskiyou County, California just shot
themselves in both feet by outlawing any and
all outdoor pot growing. Unfortunately those
narrow-minded voters, just like the alcohol
prohibitionists who to this day maintain
dry counties and towns back East, will only
drive a profitable business elsewhere in their
continuing pursuit of morality.
Saturday, July 16
Continued from A-7
*Law enforcement made
the rounds of the Divers Hole
River Access at 4:16 p.m.
*A California driver
was cited for failure to carry
proof of insurance during a
traffic stop at the Store Gulch
Campground at 4:34. He was
also warned for no seatbelt
and failure to carry proof of
registration.
*There were no other
details provided regarding
an incident at milepost two
on the Illinois River Road at
5:16 p.m.
Outside the Valley
*Thirty-five log listings.
*Law enforcement
was in pursuit of a black
Mitsubishi that was flying
down Airport Drive, doing 76
mph in a 55 mph zone. The
maniac cut a car off at 11:30
a.m., but they lost the vehicle
at the end of the road.
*JCSO assisted OSP on
Airport Road at 12:27 p.m.
*Donevin S. Maloney,
28, was detained in Josephine
County Jail on a $50,000
bail warrant for failure to
appear after his arrest in the
800 block of Airport Drive
at 12:38 p.m. The original
charges were first-degree
criminal trespass and second-
degree criminal mischief.
An additional charge of
possession was the result of
a consent search. His bud
Justine Farr was federally
cited by the U.S. Forest
Service officer for possession
of marijuana.
*An angry woman was
yelling at 3:53 p.m. because
her guy had the, ahem,
audacity to bring another
woman into her house in the
28000 block of Redwood
Hwy. He was breaking things
and trashing her house, then
asking for her forgiveness.
To make matters worse, as
the chump tried to leave, a
cat fell out of his Hyundai
Tiburon. No crime was
committed though.
Outside the Valley
* Twenty-six log items.
Illinois Valley Lions
44th Annual - LABOR DAY FESTIVAL
September 3, 4, 5, 2016
Jubilee Park, Cave Junction, Oregon
THEME: “On the Edge of the Wild”
$
2.79
Per POunD
BOOTH PARTICIPATION ENTRY FORM
There will be NO Raffles allowed
Check Those that Apply:
large
mangos
5 for $
5
Cantaloupe
2 for $
4
Hass
Avocados
2 for $
3
O
Business/Individuals
O
Non-Profit Organization
O
Food Provider
Josephine Co Health Dept. Permit Required
O
Electricity………………………………. $5.00 usage fee (see below)
Electricity is available on a limited basis for a fee of $5.00 per vendor. Vendors must furnish UL approved cord of appropriate size
and length. Pop-ups, tents, etc. must be fire retardant and approved fire extinguishers must be provided if preparing hot foods.
Name of Organization________________________________________________Phone:__________________________
Contact Person: ____________________________________________________Primary Phone: ____________________
Mailing Address: ____________________________________________________________________________________
City: _____________________________________________________________ State _____
red & Green
Grapes
$
1.79
Per POunD
Zip _________________
Booth Description and Items: (i.e. Pop Up, Trailer, Tent, Game, Food Booth, Jewelry, Clothing, what items you will be
displaying and or selling)
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
sweet Yellow &
White Corn
5 for $
3
WHILE SUPPLIES LAST
LIMITED TO STOCK ON HAND
NO RAINCHECKS
O Yes I will donate an item for the Lion’s Auction
__________________________________________________ Item________________________________________
Booth Total Size When Completely Set Up: _______x________ O Yes I will donate 1 hour of my time helping in the
Electricity requested: { Yes
{ No
Lions Hamburger booth (Day and time?)
___________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
To reserve booths: Please pay in advance: $75 for 3 days or $30 per day for 12’ x 12’ space.
Booth Chairman: David Anderson 541-597-4486
Leave name, phone & address on voicemail.
Make checks payable to IV Lions with booth entries to:
IV Lions • PO Box 796 • Selma, OR 97538
Waiver (must be signed)
The parties to this agreement jointly hold each other harmless and waive all rights of subrogation regarding any and all liability for
bodily injury and Property Damage that may occur during and connected to the Labor Day Festival event.
Participant Signature: ___________________________________________________Date:________________________
All entries are subject to the approval of the IV Lions Booth Chairman. All information must be completed in order for your entry to
be considered official.
Mail booth entries to: IV Lions • PO Box 796 • Selma, OR 97538