Commentary by Guy W. Farmer: The medical marijuana business

Billionaire financier George Soros and his army of drug legalizers will be back in action in Nevada next year in their continuing campaign to legalize "personal doses" of marijuana. Although we've already defeated them twice on 60-40 votes, they keep trying.

Soros and his allies aren't satisfied with the legalization of so-called "medical marijuana" in Nevada and several other states. They want to go much further. So let's take a closer look at the murky world of medical marijuana, where weed is "medicine" and potheads are "patients."

In March federal anti-drug agents raided pot farms and medical marijuana clinics in California and Montana and charged their operators with drug trafficking and tax evasion. The tax charges were filed under an IRS ruling stating that no deductions "shall be allowed for any amount paid or incurred ... in carrying on any trade or business ... (that) consists of trafficking in controlled substances." Under federal law, marijuana is a controlled substance and if you don't like it, change the law.

Clandestine pot farms constitute a serious problem for law enforcement in Nevada and other medical marijuana states. Last October a hunter hiking in a secluded area near Boomtown east of Reno stumbled upon a marijuana farm worth nearly $8 million. The discovery was one of several on public lands in 2010 that led to the destruction of more than $40 million worth of marijuana plants in Northern Nevada, according to the State Public Safety Department.

Last year, police found several clandestine marijuana fields in Carson City and the Carson Valley, including 343 plants worth $110,000 in a Carson City home and 86 plants worth $86,000 on private land in Douglas County. And federal agents are even finding illicit marijuana fields in national parks.

"In 2008 the Mexican cartels started moving onto public lands in Nevada as a result of increased law enforcement pressure in California and Oregon," said a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) spokesperson, adding that illicit pot farms represent a "hidden danger" to residents and tourists alike. Law enforcement officials are concerned about the connection between drug trafficking and illegal immigration because increasing numbers of illegals serve as drug "mules" for the cartels. Meanwhile, Nevada parole and probation officers report that a rising number of parolees are getting around drug prohibitions by obtaining prescriptions for medical marijuana.

If cigarette smoking is bad for your health, marijuana smoking is much worse. A recent study by Canadian researchers found that "people who smoke cigarettes and marijuana increase their risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease" by nearly 300 percent. In other words, those who smoke tobacco and marijuana are three-times more likely to contract COPD than tobacco-only smokers.

If marijuana has any medicinal value (a big "if"), it is due to an active ingredient, THC, which is readily available in the prescription drug, Marinol, a much safer option than dangerous marijuana smoke. Anyway, let's just say no (again) to the drug legalizers next year.

• Guy W. Farmer, of Carson City, participated in the War on Drugs in seven countries.