Possible extinction of natural plants?

Will natural plants go extinct due to the war on drugs that try to burn and eliminate any growth of natural plants or otherwise precursory naturally grown resources?

Regular mode of science doesn't seem to have made any claims that the natural plants are created by a man-made process known to the same science. Modern day science will tend to eliminate most hints of origin of the plants as a form of speculation due not enough peer-reviewed published documents in society. Therefore, we can't deny the possibility that given the current laws there is nothing to stop law enforcement to render the natural plants and precursory resources extinct.

It seems to go "above the law" to allow law enforcement to go that far.

It would be unwise to deem that the natural resources will never be beneficial to future science. The destroy such resource now would kill off any chance future science would ever have to study the natural resources with more advanced tools as society and civilization evolves.

Can we say this motive of the War on Drug is a conspiracy against Nature itself as it continues genocide of natural resources?

Or do we have to make silly argument that the plants are from illegal aliens as a conspiracy to incriminate our society?

If a law enforcement official finds natural growth in a forest that is not by a cause of a man-made crop attempt, does the law enforcement arrest Nature itself?

reply to post by dzonatas

Can we say this motive of the War on Drug is a conspiracy against Nature itself as it continues genocide of natural resources?

No, not really. The US does have a war on dugs here. The united states says you can't grow these plants here, unless you have a licence and you can't import them.
The united states is a small part of the world and not having it here does not effect what they do everywhere else.

[edit on 15-4-2010 by zaiger]

reply to post by zaiger


I think that is a wise assumption to make, yet it would also be wise to make sure that a growth found in the isn't the last growth in the entire Earth. I just don't think they would take the time to search the entire earth to make sure of that fact, as it could easily be jotted down as a conflict of interest when one realizes the cost of resources needed to validate extinction rates.

reply to post by dzonatas


I highly doubt that the last "growth" on earth will be found in the USA and be destroyed by DEA agents. We are quite a ways from that happening and when we come close to a drug shortage im sure someone will make a thread about it.

reply to post by zaiger


Not sure how far away, the concern is surely not unheard of:

Against this backdrop, almost half the world's plant species may be threatened with extinction; cures as yet undiscovered may exist in plants as yet undescribed - and which may never be described.

Suorce: Extinction of medicinal plants threatens drug discovery, Botanical Gardens Conservation International, 2008

On the flip side, maybe it is unwise to just blame the War on Drugs. There seems to be even movement against non-regulated harvests of nartural resources done by Big Pharma:

While China looks to expand the global market for its traditional medicines, conservationists are trying to ensure that won't mean a greater threat to tigers, rare plants and other endangered wildlife often used in the remedies. At a conference organized by the Chinese government, World Wildlife Fund officials are urging Beijing to meet strict standards barring use of endangered species as it develops its market.

Source: Chinese Medicine and the Use of Endangered Species

There are more recent articles that could be googled.

[edit on 15-4-2010 by dzonatas]

reply to post by dzonatas


Wow what a colorful poster.
It seems like the DEA kind of sits on discoveries of these plants when found and sees if someone is trekking out to tend them. But always in the end they pile 'em up and burn 'em. Oddly enough the DEA would then seemingly get a massive high while carrying out laws to prevent others doing same

reply to post by Chamberf=6


The DEA is only in the USA and fringes into Mexico. It's a major force, yet worldwide it would be hard to pinpoint the DEA.

Your pointed noted. Let me say that not all natural plants or precursory natural resources can just be easily burnt and sat downwind from for an easy high. Consider that the common case of drugs is to extract the oils from the plant. Otherwise, there would be too much burnt biomass that only sustains the cellular structure of the plants. Something like Hemp, for example, contains more biomass than active drug that would get someone high. Other strands may contain more active drugs.

Some pharma corps think the answer is to make synthetics, yet science is really unable to confirm that a synthetic drug is really the same as a naturally found drug beyond the molecular structure. There is still the possibility that each carbon atom in the benzene/organic ring could be quite different forms of carbon atoms. These difference may be key to why natural resource are more effective or work different than synthetic attempts to make the same structure. There is obviously something at a much finer level that current science can't see. To remove such resources now is quite ignorant.

reply to post by dzonatas


I completely agree that, for example, the deforestation in the Amazon is horrendous. There is such a huge potential there for possible drugs and cures for ailments and diseases. Big pharma only cares about that (if they do at all) because they can get ideas for their more costly synthetic versions in aims of making cash.

I saw the thread on Monasato and it reminded of the Seed Vault. I almost forgot about this:

The Seed Vault is an answer to a call from the international community to provide the best possible assurance of safety for the world’s crop diversity, and in fact the idea for such a facility dates back to the 1980s. However, it was only with the coming into force of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, and with it an agreed international legal framework for conserving and accessing crop diversity, that the Vault became a practical possibility.

Svalbard: Global Seed Vault

The concern about this vault is those who have invested money in it.