Oops: Police bust marijuana farmer using Google Earth
Times they are a-changin'
It used to be so easy to be a pot farmer. You'd quit your job and liquidate your assets. Maybe buy a plot of land on the forest's edge. Perhaps you'd even get yourself a big, shaggy dog to hang out with you on the porch.
But times they are a-changin' — and a not-insignificant cause is the increasingly sophisticated eyes of technology.
Very recently, local authorities in Grants Pass, Ore., were tipped off that an ambitious medical marijuana farmer, 50-year-old Curtis W. Croft, "was bragging about all the pot he was growing" on his property, reports the Associated Press. He was registered, per Oregon's medical marijuana laws, as a pot farmer, but is allowed to grow only a limited amount.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Rather than expend precious manpower to check up on him in person, police investigators first decided to fire up Google Earth to get a rough idea of what Croft was up to.
Croft was arraigned on drug charges last week and has since been released.
Google Earth, it should be noted, has been used to expose all sorts of law breaking over the years, everything from large-scale fishing operations cheating local fishermen to illegally installed backyard swimming pools in Long Island, which landed some home owners with hefty fines.
Digital drug stings, however, have only risen in visibility over the past few years, and they aren't going anywhere. This latest bust wasn't even the first nor the largest: In 2009, for example, Swiss law enforcement used satellite photos to find a massive pot-growing operation hidden in a cornfield.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
But hey! Look on the bright side. At least America's view on weed is evolving; for the first time ever, a majority are now calling for the substance to be legalized.
-
'The disconnect between actual health care and the insurance model is widening'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, The Week US Published
-
Cautious optimism surrounds plans for the world's first nuclear fusion power plant
Talking Point Some in the industry feel that the plant will face many challenges
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Explore new worlds this winter at these 6 enlightening museum exhibitions
The Week Recommends Discover the estrados of Spain and the connection between art and chess in various African countries
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published