In The Lives of Others, an acclaimed German film about the last years of the Stasi, we see where the same kind of confidential informants used in America's war on drugs were, in fact, individuals who had something to gain from making legal problems for other people. We also see some within the government who picked up on this, and since they dared not openly challenge the power elites, found ways to sabotage operations, have documents misplaced, or evidence seem lacking.

In both cases, East Germany and America, the accused was not permitted to know who his accuser was, or what he'd done to raise doubts about his patriotism. In East Germany, the mere posession of documents that were critical were sufficient cause for imprisonment. In America, the mere apparent possession of a controlled substance is. My son bought a Camero to restore. When he took the door panels off to do the body work, he found a bag of pot inside the door. Had a drug dog found it, he would've been sent to jail. Ergo, dont by vehicles hoping to profit from resale popular among those whose patriotism is in doubt.

And now, it turns out, dont by land that mite be seen as profitable to marijuana growers. There are new dwarf lines, developed for hydroponic growers, that are too small to stick up over the weeds along a fence line. The seeds are now so well adapted that some will sprout and grow among the other weeds if merely tossed out the window of a passing car in spring, with the intent to return later to harvest. But if a drug dog picks up the scent, or anyone going by notices, then Law Enforcement will arrest the owner and seize the property, the assumption being he planted it, or should've known it was there.

And of course, anyone wanting to make trouble for a landowner, or wanting to see the property come up for auction cheaply, has merely to purchase the seed (available online if not readily available locally), then when it is up a couple months later, call the drug hotline. Moreover, there are new Ruderalis varieties available now that will not wait for the shorter daylight hours in late summer or fall to start blooming. Some lines are not nearly as stinky either, so are less likely to be noticed by the landowner. And if that aint enuf- some of the hydroponic lines, developed for artificial light, do fine under the canopy in the woods. All of which requires more diligence than landowners have any reason to expect, and posing the risk of arrest and property seizure.

Lastly, and perhaps even more frightening, is that with the tighter Mexican border now, druglords have begun sending illegal crews north to plant pot. These operations pose serious risks to both the public and law enforcement because of the willingness by druglords to use firearms to protect their illegal investments. Moreover, the new dwarf lines are so small that aircraft must fly lower to spot the pot patches, which puts them in range of groundfire.

This is no way to run a drug war, much less win it.

What is required is the complete legalization of growing controlled substances. What you grow on your own property is your business. It only becomes a public health issue if it leaves your property, or you provide it to someone else, and even if so, as the law now is, the families of drug addicts have standing in civil court to sue the dealers. Which means that they, and not the defense attorney, gets the money. And whereas a smart lawyer may find a technicality to get a drug dealer off in criminal court, the rules in civil court can ignore these technicalities and find for the plaintiff- who then gets the money to pay for drug rehab, tutoring, psychotherapy, income to cover wages lost rather than having the family go on welfare, and/or counseling by the family clergy.

Drug dealers would no longer be flaunting their wealth and tempting teens to join their organizations. Moreover, families with serious health problems could grow their own medicinal marijuana and not have to deal with dangerous and unscrupulous drug dealers- who may also be contaminating what they sell with whatever appears to increase profits regardless of the health effects.

Nor is there any reason to limit this to marijuana; anthropology reports now from obscure primitive cultures have found scores of herbs and potions that are not now legally controlled; many are sold openly on the Internet. But if there are problems caused by an obscure substance, the families have no recourse against foreign suppliers. But if the propagation and processing is in the USA, then the dealers could be required to have licenses and bonding the same as tobacco and alcohol outlets, and civil lawsuits would soon make everyone aware if marijuana or some other substance caused problems.

Basically, all this begs the ancient question about Plato's Republic. Who watches the watchers? Understandably, they wanted to protect the identity of undercover agents trying to break up drug rings; but the same system has been used to hide the identity of whoever asked a judge to issue a search warrant, without any indication whatever of there being a drug ring. As in The Lives of Others informers may have private reasons to make trouble for other people. Honorable officers in the system dont like it, but dare not say anything either.

Some have picked up on how asset seizure is being used now to replace some of the federal subsidy formerly given to local & state governments. And when someone is charged, they are pressured to hire a lawyer and cop a plea, which even if it does result in them keeping their land, still entails the cost of legal representation. Exposing this game will annoy some of the members of the legal system, and makes it difficult to find a lawyer who will help to recover other seized property such as firearms and vehicles. It all adds up to a cash cow for lawyers, bondsmen, and the courts issuing fines.

Everyone should consider entering court pro se and using the Internet to educate the local voters of how this game works so that juries will acquit. This will motivate legislatures to quit stalling and enact more effective means of dealing with recreational drugs. We've seen how regulation and civil suits have destroyed many American businesses; if recreational drugs are legal, regulated, and taxed, they wont be so available to minors and the taxes can be used to main control of the supply chain as well as break up drug rings- whose level of violence has become alarming.