What if I told you the government was spending millions of dollars to burn any trace of weed grown in this country? Well, that’s exactly what’s been happening for years now…shocker. The government funds the DEA with 18 million dollars a year to continue pushing an endless attack issued through the war on drugs.
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Even though we have seem some progress in the criminalization of marijuana and the ever-growing problem of mass incarceration in this country, that doesn’t mean there still aren’t programs meant to hunt down marijuana in every facet. The Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program’s (DCE/SP) sole purpose is to send heavily armed, K9 units, flying in helicopters in search of the “dangerous” plant.
What’s even more interesting is that the asset forfeiture program, ran in police departments, also funds the the DCE/SP. The asset forfeiture aspect of the war on drugs has gone under some controversy these past few years because of how they target people and who they are targeting *cough* people of color *cough* . Not only that, but in some cases the police departments are allowed to keep the drugs/weapons that they confiscated for themselves. And do what with them, you may ask? One could only imagine.
4.1 million plants were taken last year by this program. If you take a look in the photo gallery above, you would find (as provided by the DEA) the state-by-state breakdown in 2014. As you can see, less plants were “eradicated” last year but it wasn’t by much. Will we ever see a drastic decrease years to come? Who knows. But maybe they’ll slow down after a couple of flops, involving local police confusing marijuana for okra…Smh.
