Lots of crusading...no solutions. Kill the poor?
LOL !
I have been pontificating a lot lately, haven't I?
The poor lose. This is the USA. The system wants its piece of the pie. You need to be able to pay all the appropriate fees and know who's palms to grease. The USDA is becoming very strict in its regulation of agriculture. They are using a lot of satellite imagery in this endeavor.
I think we're seeing the start of a game changer here. Small agricultural endeavors don't have the political clout to transfer their operating costs onto society like big business does. If the widespread environmental consequences of people growing in rural areas become pronounced, the government is going to get into everyone's business over this. From federal to local they'll get into your business.
If you're messing with threatened vertebrate species then it starts to involve different branches of government. Now it's not just law enforcement. You've got federal Fish and Wildlife people pissed off at what's happening. This is a whole different pot of funding from LEO. A whole bunch of biologists who could care less if people smoke pot are now really concerned.
In the Pacific Northwest the growers have found support because of the poor economy. It used to be logging and fishing kept people afloat. Then the lumber ran out, and the environmental damage from logging and agriculture devastated the salmon runs too. Growing pot has allowed communities to hang on. If pot growing becomes associated with the destruction of the last of the salmon runs then it could become ugly. From San Francisco to Alaska, salmon is sacrosanct. This is going to divide communities in a big way.