Editor:

Yeah, good title. Your article on "Growing the Machine" (April 30) was interesting and nicely informative — but flawed. "The local marijuana industry has united." Not! That claim is just another of their stuffed audiences.

I strongly liked what Scott Greacen said about why he was excluded ("steaming heap of bullshit"). Well, he's not alone — many responsible growers are strongly opposed to CCVH, but Jodrey has never wanted to hear from them. Let's get past the lies. From long before Jodrey and Bruner set foot here others were warning against the horror of big grows. Jodrey and Bruner have adamantly refused to listen, because they have a preset agenda. Jodrey said it, "the fucking loot."

Look at the horror around us! Multiply the few the sheriff shows you by hundreds. Total trash to our streams. Fire danger. Violence — there's more than you know. They refuse to oppose big grows and they put out lies about environmental care because they have always represented those people who have been peeling off Franklins. How do you suppose they are funding their huge campaign? That's not "small growers", small growers do not support sleaze. "Small growers" are not in it for the loot and can't pay off. Wake up enough to ask sharper questions next time. Will anyone really help our future by buying out politicians? I will say it to your face: Corruption has come to Humboldt County.

Robert Sutherland, Ettersburg

Editor:

Back in the mid-'80s, LIFE magazine had a cover story about our area. "Where the Law Winks at Pot" was the headline on the front cover. Little has changed. Your industry article posted an outdated photo from the sheriff, stating that he viewed 4,000 major grows from aerial reconnaissance. That was in 2014. He went on to state that he only had manpower to bust 40 or 50 of them. I called that his Bob Barker speech (Bob Barker famous for the phrase "come on down"). The number of major grows in the area increased from 4,100 in 2014, to 5,100 in 2015.

In spite of all the quacking about how special Humboldt is for weed, Napa quality, etc., it is actually the fact that the political forces in our area have obviously sold out to Greed Weed, and have put a low priority to enforcement of any kind, which led to the massive influx of growers. The sheriff has stated recently that he is amazed at the number of nationalities represented in the major grows. This is because our political system, unlike the political systems of most of the world, has no enhanced penalties for being a foreign person engaged in illegal drugs in our country.

Another point not often mentioned is that fact that well over half of all the growers are out-of-towners here simply to cash in on the lax enforcement efforts. The only reason they are tapping into the corrupt political system for help, is to get to grow more weed, in the likelihood that legalization passes. (Gov. Jerry Brown, putting the prison guards and police officers ahead of the public good, has already come out against legalization.)

Weed has outlived its usefulness. Humboldt used to be a place where folks could escape the materialism of down south, and live simply, close to the land. The Weed Greed crowd changed all that. Time to face the facts and be glad it is going away.

Joshua Kinch, Eureka