So most everyday for two decades I drive down a road call Los Osos Valley road. It is the transit corridor from Los Osos, a bedroom community and beach town tacked on to the back bay of Morro Bay. I work in San Luis Obispo one of the 21 California Spanish mission towns (1772).
Here is a little part of how the Los Osos Valley was named from Father Crespi who came along with Portola in 1769. At the time there were a fair amount of Grizzly Bears lazing about the valley.
“Some of the soldiers were fearless enough to chase one of these animals mounted on mules. They fired seven or eight shots, and I have no doubt he would die from the balls; but the bear upset two of the mules, and it was only by good fortune that the two mounted on them escaped with their lives. This valley they named Los Osos (the bears).”
Now of course there are only the occasional brown bear comes down from the hills for a drink. All the Grizzlys been done kilt.
Mostly the valley is planted with a chick peas, broccoli, lettuce, snap and snow peas and other winter and spring vegetable crops in endless progression taking advantage of the fair and mild California coastal weather. I have watched the crops change over the years and take an interest in their progress.
About a month ago I noticed several fields were being prepped rather meticulously with tan tarp wind fencing and carefully aligned rows being laid out and covered with white plastic. Ah, strawberries I thought since in South County this is quite a common scene.
Within a day or two the plants were put in. They had a slim bare seven inch stem with a little green tuft at the top...certainly not strawberries and clearly someone was spending relatively big money and attention to put them in. Some new variety of tomato? I held that view for a day or two, then I thought no..what? Raspberries vines, that too was quickly dismissed, the rows weren't spaced right.
It took me a week or two to finally decide that this was the first commercial marijauna grow in the valley... a couple dozen acres.
Now I’m no rube I know they have been growing dope for years all over California. I’ve even grew some rather lame plants back in my college days. But here it was right out on the open and obvious a very intense and expensive prep for this crop. Something I have been hoping to see for fifty years because so I spent much of my youth and college days wondering why the powers that be were so pissed off at a plant.
By the way I really don’t use although I bought some CBD oil not long ago since I get banged up training in Aikido. I was in the pet shop buying cat food the other day and I saw a sign that advertised CBD oil for pets. Heh!
So my question to the group is what's happening in your area with the demon weed. What reefer madness have you noticed. I’d like to hear what you have noticed as a kind of cultural exercise in the mainstreaming of Marijuana. It’s a kind of rescripting the PTSD of my callow youth when smoking dope had a real stigma and serious consequences.