Part of the 2007 cash cropLikely more informative than today’s P-I’s story on the latest federal pot bust here are the comments of P-I readers on the bust itself: Almost universally, readers made fun of the feds’ crackdown on this particular form of “narco-terrorism,” the Seattle area home grows “run primarily by motorcycle gangs or Vietnamese immigrant-organized crime groups,” we’re told. As one commentator put it:Marijuana investigations like this are only easy, safe feathers in the caps of the authorities, a chance to bust down some doors and pretend they are fighting “crime”. And the cash and resources to be confiscated are always a nice perk.

“Legalize it” was the most constant reader refrain, followed by assorted economic arguments. But let us correct the reader who said marijuana is the state’s No. 6 cash crop. As we reported last October, after authorities had captured a record-setting 242,000 plants statewide in the first nine months of 2007, pot moved up to No. 4 on the cash-crop list — beating out wheat, but trailing potatoes. Though more difficult to smoke, apples remain No. 1.