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Hard-Up Calif. Town Out of Joint Over Pot Influx

Green gold rattles community

By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff

Posted Nov 3, 2009 1:50 AM CST
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(Newser) – A hard-scrabble northern California town has been turned topsy-turvy since the folks with tokes moved in. Thousands of pungent marijuana plants pack fields and yards in tiny Hayfork, population 1,900, where a quarter of the residents are poor. The local Timberjacks football team recently moved its halftime huddle to avoid pot smoke from nearby houses, and high school grads talk of going into marijuana farming because not much else is happening in town.

Some welcome the new green gold, but others are angry about the change. "It's torn the fabric of our society," a 50-year resident tells the Los Angeles Times. "It's pitted people against one another." Hayfork is deep in the heart of prime pot growing land in Trinity County, where farmers raise marijuana for "medical use." But many locals laugh at the justification for loose pot laws. All smokers need "is a recommendation from a doctor on a matchbook," says a local politician. "Dr. Seuss could be writing these prescriptions."

A box is filled with marijuana plants at the San Francisco Medical Cannabis Clinic in San Francisco, Monday, Oct. 19, 2009.
A box is filled with marijuana plants at the San Francisco Medical Cannabis Clinic in San Francisco, Monday, Oct. 19, 2009.   (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
Don't bogart that joint.
Don't bogart that joint.   (?Torben Bj?rn Hansen)
A bud-a-ful pot plant.
A bud-a-ful pot plant.   (?Dr. Brainfish)
Young marijuana plants are shown Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2009.
Young marijuana plants are shown Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2009.   (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 14 comments
Netstorm2k10
Nov 4, 2009 12:50 PM CST
I wish I was living there.
Netstorm2k10
Nov 4, 2009 7:11 AM CST
We're on the crux point. When California goes, Nevada will follow, because Vegas will want the revenue that California, as the new Amsterdam of the West, gains in tourist money. Once that happens, all the other states will follow like dominos. The most conservative will hold out for about five years, assuming the feds don't cave as soon as California does. Obama can't afford to ignite a war- even a media war- between the federal government and the states. The irony of the last time it happened would be too surreal, and would tarnish his legacy. My guess is that they'll end up folding after a couple of years - or let the Supreme Court set precedent and let them take the heat from conservatives.
Spydiggity
Nov 4, 2009 6:16 AM CST
if the US federal gov't would legalize it (which i still think they won't), you can be sure other nations would follow suit.
US • Health • Money

 
California • medical marijuana • marijuana • marijuana legalization • marijuana distribution • pot • Hayfork

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