Indiana State Police Marijuana Eradication Team

HARBESON: Weed it and weep

JEFFERSONVILLE — The Indiana State Police has a very special team of people performing very special work this time of year. Dressed in camouflage, these government employees get paid to traipse around Southern Indiana counties and pull weeds out of the ground.

The ISP’s Marijuana Eradication Team wants you to believe this is important work. Somehow every pot plant they manage to successfully creep up on and wrestle to the ground makes your community safer. See, it’s these green leafy stalks that put communities in danger of violence, not the black market created by the government’s prohibition on voluntary trade of this particular agricultural product.

The weeds these guys get paid to hunt down are usually hidden inside corn fields, which is so ironic considering how important corn was as an ingredient in illegal products distilled during alcohol prohibition. Yet now it’s perfectly fine if these fellows, thirsty from a hard day’s work among the vegetation, decide to go out after work, probably around 4:20 or so, and throw down a few shots of corn-based whiskey, toasting themselves for eradicating a couple of marijuana plants.

There is a double irony to the prohibited pot plant being hidden inside corn fields. Corn has grown tall in the market due in part to lots of government favor over the years and the subsidized plant has been used to make a product known as high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). HFCS is used in loads of processed foods, which has enabled sugar addicts to obtain a cheap high, which has helped cause an increase in obesity, which can lead to many assorted health problems and even early death.

But hey, marijuana, that’s the bad stuff.

Oh and meanwhile, as this group of government employees is running around ripping roots, we find out that inmates inside several of Indiana’s prisons have been successfully operating a flourishing drug business while sitting in the government cages.

So while you are constantly being fed the baloney by one group of government agents that the government’s drug war is actually a positive action, other government agents are failing to control the drug trade even when they catch people, lock them up and force you to pay to house, clothe and feed them.

The only validity to pulling weeds that even comes close to actually looking like it could involve defending against aggression is the illegitimate use of a farmer’s land without his permission, which means the land owner’s property rights are being violated.

That thought doesn’t really take one very far though because the main reason the marijuana plant growers invade the farmers’ property in the first place is because of the government prohibition. So we’re back where we started — just like the Marijuana Eradication Team is back where it started when a new growing season rolls around.

Growing plants on other people’s property without their permission is not a big problem otherwise as far as I know. I don’t really hear stories about people clearing out parts of someone else’s corn field to grow a stash of tomatoes. We might if the government suddenly decided to prohibit tomatoes though wouldn’t we?

I don’t know what’s worse, paying these guys to weed someone’s garden or hearing them pontificate about their work in terms of the supposed street value (a distorted price created by prohibition) of the plants they confiscate and pretending that slicing a few stalks is doing much of anything to stop the marijuana drug trade.

There is good news though. Despite the fact that the people who make money off of prohibition keep trying, fewer and fewer people are willing to inhale the government propaganda that groups like the Marijuana Eradication Team use to justify their jobs.

— Clark County resident Debbie Harbeson is thinking about forming a Government Eradication Team.

The Latest Mail

HARBESON: It’s time to open up the mailbox

SELLERSBURG — Last month, I received an oversized envelope from this newspaper’s office. I just stared at it for a bit, wondering what was inside. Could it be a computer chip and dossier explaining my part in an important escapade?

I tore open the paper and inside was another envelope. It definitely had something interesting inside — I could feel a variation in the thickness as I slid my fingers across the paper and, written above my name and address was the phrase, “Hang in There.” Could that be a secret code? Should I have been practicing my rappelling skills?

When I ripped open this envelope, however, I stopped fantasizing that I might have an adventure with Tom Cruise because what I found inside was a clipping of one of my columns, sent by a reader named John.

The column he clipped, “Labor Intensive,” was about Indiana’s right-to-work law and John filled every available open space in the margins and around the neighboring cartoons with his handwritten comments and opinions.

John was fired up about many issues, but in general his ire seemed to be directed at the special treatment politicians give themselves. He also said, “Great article, give them xxx.” Now, xxx could mean a variety of things in this situation, but I’m pretty sure he does not want me to give them any hugs or kisses.

Let me share a few more samples of interactions I’ve had with readers lately.

Robert wrote, “I have decided to contact you because of your writings in News and Tribune. I like the fact that you put a face with a story. While I do not have an elongated or in-depth opinion of your history, I have been somewhat inspired by your to-the-point, what-the-hell-are-they-thinking, media contributions that I have read.”

He thought that perhaps I could help him with an issue he was having in communicating with the mayor of Jeffersonville, which at the time was still Tom Galligan.

Although I was tempted to respond to Robert by asking what-the-hell-he-is-thinking-by-contacting-me-for-help-with-the-Jeffersonville-mayor, in the end I suggested he wait until the election was over and perhaps try again.

Since I last shared feedback I also had the opportunity to meet with U.S. Southern District Attorney Joseph Hogsett, in response to “Who are the real offenders here?” He wanted to “further explore some of your thoughts and ideas, particularly as they relate to the efforts that law enforcement [and the United States Attorney’s Office] make in the area of drug interdiction and prosecution.”

So, one rainy day last fall, as I ingested sugar and he ingested caffeine, we discussed the problems of government’s prohibition on drugs. We had quite an enjoyable, invigorating discussion and may do it again. Thank you, Mr. Hogsett.

Another reader, F., wrote this about New Albany-Floyd County Parks Superintendent Roger Jeffers’ confusion that his job involved politics: “Ms. Harbeson: I thank you for your recent article about the politics of government run recreational programs. I might have gone a bit further than you did, by pointing out the gun in the room that goes along with any program that has the force of statutory law.”

Finally, I thought I’d share comments from two readers who have chosen to stick around and continue to read even though they sometimes disagree.

“The Honor in War” led to this response: “I know you infuriated a lot of people with last week’s column, including me. But maybe that’s because, like so many others, I need someone to poke me from time to time, and expose me to other viewpoints.”

And finally, “Debbie, it’s been awhile but I just wanted to tell you I think your approach in your opinions has a way of, in my case anyway, of seeing the issue in a different view. All in all pretty cool.”

Yeah, pretty cool indeed.

— Clark County resident Debbie Harbeson would like to have an exciting adventure cavorting around the world but she’ll settle for an invigorating discussion.
(Image courtesy of wikimedia)

Government-Created Black Markets and Violence

HARBESON: Who are the real offenders here?

SELLERSBURG — District Attorney Joseph Hogsett has completed his second publicity tour of our local area promoting his Violent Crime Initiative. The catalyst for this initiativecomes from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who became alarmed after noticing a spike in violent gun deaths of law enforcement officers.

Hogsett’s initiative intends to get the “worst of the worst” off the streets by charging and prosecuting suspects through the federal court system, which enables tougher sentencing. I’m trying to build a case that this initiative makes sense, but I’m seeing clues and evidence that just don’t line up with that conclusion.

With Clark County Sheriff Danny Rodden and New Albany Police Chief Todd Bailey by his side, Hogsett reported on the initiative’s progress in his district. It has resulted in higher numbers of felony gun possession charges and drug indictments, in addition to seizing five times more assets from drug traffickers compared to 2010.

Hogsett places great emphasis on drugs. This is why I’m skeptical. It’s not clear to me that increased federal spending and involvement through this initiative is truly centered on the problem.

Hogsett points out that more federal involvement helps because the tougher sentencing gets the worst offenders off the streets for a longer period of time and the location of federal prisons makes it difficult for the prisoner to stay connected to local contacts.

However, the government-created black market for drugs still exists. The demand for drugs and the incentive for desperate and/or vile people to make money buying and selling drugs do not change at all when one person sits in jail longer. This merely gives competitors a chance to come in and gain control. So how much can this initiative help?

We’ve been through this already. Government employees just like Hogsett expressed the same concerns about gun violence and made the same points about the need for tougher enforcement as the solution for removing violent traffickers from the streets. It didn’t work.

But we no longer have those violent alcohol traffickers killing law enforcement. Now if someone would like to drink a gin and tonic, they are free to go buy it from someone in the business of serving the people who would like to drink a gin and tonic.

Why do they refuse to acknowledge drug prohibition as a large part of the problem? These people are trained to gather evidence so why does it seem like they don’t have a clue?

It’s not hard to see how twisted this is — the government prohibits the sale of a product people want, the people ignore this prohibition and some profit from it, the government prosecutes as many of the lawbreakers — and sometimes even innocent people — they can catch, seizing the assets of those who profit when the government prohibits the sale of a product people want ...

Maybe they’re just dizzy — I had to put one hand on the wall to stay balanced just to write that sentence.

These folks either see the evidence, which means they are choosing to ignore it for reasons I don’t even want to imagine, or they don’t see the evidence, which means we should question whether they are even competent to hold the jobs in the first place.

Yes, there may be an immediate need to get the violent criminals the government helped to create off the streets. It’s certainly valid to say that people working inside such a crazy system have to deal with the reality of the system as it is and need to focus on the violent acts that are happening right now.

But when are more people, inside the system and out, going to face the fact that the government plays a significant part in the very problem they are spending money, and human lives, trying to solve?

— Clark County resident Debbie Harbeson is looking for evidence of people who have a clue.