Its been a while since something got my dander up enough to write this column, but the last couple of weeks have pushed me to the edge—and I am Mad as Hell!

The most egregious case that pushed me over the edge involves the abuse of power by Calaveras County, California public servants. Led by Sheriff Rick DiBasilio, irresponsible and reprehensible actions were carried out when he and a cadre of gestapo storm troopers raided, arrested, and destroyed a licensed cannabis cultivation facility owned by G FarmaLabs. The legally grown outdoor crop and, for that matter, maliciously destroyed state’s evidence was seized by law enforcement before due process was served. The Sheriff’s Department estimated that they seized more than 2 1/2 tons of legal cannabis, which Sheriff DiBasilio estimated to be worth in excess of $10 million, and carted it off to the local dump.

For transparency sake, G FarmaLabs, which was ranked 27 on the CBE 100 Producers, Processors and Retailers (PPRs) last year, is owned by my friends Ata and Nicole Gonzalez, and run by CEO Dr. Christine Gonzalez. Since the first time that I met Ata and Nicole, they have been forthright and transparent operators.

During an interview with local TV station KCRA News, Sheriff DiBasilio acknowledged that the owners possessed a cultivation permit, but said the enforcement action was taken because the business was involved in other activities aside from simply growing cannabis.

“They paid their $5,000 fee, but again [the owners] are not reading the ordinance,” DiBasilio told KCRA. “The ordinance is very specific: You are allowed to grow—that’s it. It has nothing to do with processing, manufacturing, testing, anything.” So I guess he used his education to decide that growers grow for the purpose of providing oxygen to mother earth.

During the interview, the Sheriff indicated that there were around 800 registered grows like G FarmaLabs and more than 1,000 unregistered grows that the news reported were taxing the law enforcement system. Am I missing something or did he say that he would rather use his thin resources on registered and not illegal grows?

Ata was more careful and politically correct when he called the case a misunderstanding of the ordinance by Sheriff DiBasilio. It remains to be seen how much the Sheriff’s error in judgement will ultimately cost the county to settle a pending civil suit, which CBE hopes the executive team at GFarmaLabs will file to stop cowboys like this, and others who are grasping at straw as the end of prohibition continues its inevitable march to the final end game.

I had a chance to watch 60 minutes last night and the segment they did on presidential politics focus groups pointed out that almost all socio-economic groups were as pissed off as I am about the half-truths, miss-truths or just flat-out lies and attacks on each other’s character that permeated the 2016 presidential race. It has been no different in legalization efforts in several states.

The gall and lack of character shown by individuals like former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb and former Colorado Governor Bill Owens, as well as Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey, to spread misinformation and fear among the electorate in Arizona and California considering to legalize adult-use marijuana is atrocious. Ranging from false claims about where the tax revenues are going in Colorado to blaming legalization for crime and teen use increases, in addition to misrepresenting data to indicate that driving under the influence of marijuana is on the increase; pro-prohibitionists are showing their desperation by resorting to dishonesty.

I guess all advocates should take heart that what we are seeing is the actions of desperate individuals, similar to what occurred when the 21st amendment was added to the U.S. Constitution a century ago. Some things never change.

Speaking of 60 minutes, if you missed the report about the attempts to outlaw recreational marijuana grows in Pueblo, CO, you saw a one-sided biased segment (that the public has gotten all too familiar with) by the media. In this case, it was specifically against the use of cannabis. The segment focused on the negatives that law enforcement and the medical community wanted to focus on instead of a balanced report that looked at what was happening statewide with real data. Instead, anecdotal stories were being told by those interviewed.

The same media approach occurred in the KCRA News piece (see above G FarmaLabs raid), where the reporter covered the raid from the sheriff’s perspective instead of telling both sides of the story. It’s no wonder public perception of the media is at an all time low.

That really makes me, a member of the media, Mad as Hell!