cannabisnews.com: Going To Pot: Weed Making Comeback!





Going To Pot: Weed Making Comeback!
Posted by FoM on July 26, 1999 at 05:06:49 PT
Marijuana growing on rise in Va. 
Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch
ROANOKE -- Some speak about the moonshining that goes on in the western hills of Virginia as if the illicit trade defines the state's lawless spirit; but bootleg whiskey is only half the story. The other half is marijuana. 
In Virginia's cornfields, in roadside ditches, greenhouses and national forests, on back porches and mountain slopes, alongside railroad tracks, beneath power lines and around the muddy banks of swimming holes, marijuana plants are growing tall and in abundance. More than ever, law enforcement officials say, pot growers are staking their claim to the commonwealth's fertile soil. But they're becoming as wily as the secretive moonshiners: Police say the trend over the past few years is for professional pot growers to spread their lucrative crop out over many plots, reducing the chances that agents will find and seize all their plants. Consequently, while arrests are up, seizures are down. "You used to have large plots with 2,000, with 3,000, or with 6,000 plants, and commercial airliners could look down and see them from 20,000 feet," said state police 1st Sgt. J.C. Lewis, statewide coordinator for marijuana eradication. "Now, instead of putting all their eggs in one basket, they may have five or six plots with 100 or 200 plants each." Agents are also turning up more small operations where growers lavish their attention on no more than 20 plants, said state police Lt. Mark Petska, deputy assistant director of the Drug Enforcement Division. Baby boomers who learned to roll joints and toke on bongs in the tie-dyed '60s are beginning to grow their own, keeping some for themselves and selling the rest to an intimate circle of friends, Petska theorized. Marijuana use among teen-agers, meanwhile, is up from a decade ago, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. It all adds up to one thing, say proponents of legalizing marijuana: Time for the law to cry uncle. Despite the millions of dollars spent to stamp out Virginia's massive marijuana crop, they say, the legions of pot smokers and growers have been undeterred, and as things now stand, the "war" against this particular drug is a quagmire of wasted resources. "You can only fail so much before people start questioning the public policy, and the policy is a failure," said Lennice Werth, a Crewe resident and head of Virginians Against Drug Violence. "And it's not even a policy, it's a crusade. We're against prohibition because the prohibition of drugs is what causes drug-related violence." A House of Representatives subcommittee recently turned back various drug-legalization proposals. Werth conceded that Virginia's General Assembly will likely be as unreceptive to any legalization plans. "Legislators are followers, not leaders," she said, "so it's up to the public to lead on this." Though Virginia law enforcement officials claim to arrest more pot growers per capita than most other states, it's tough to make a dent in the unlawful trade because the Old Dominion is such a large producer. The state agriculture department keeps no statistics on marijuana, but the Washington-based National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws estimates that marijuana is the commonwealth's largest cash crop, surpassing even tobacco. Saying that its numbers are conservative and based on DEA's eradication data, NORML estimates that Virginia pot growers in 1997 harvested more than 121,600 plants worth $197 million. Nationwide, pot wholesale revenues ranged between $15.1 billion and $26.3 billion. Lewis, the state police marijuana eradication coordinator, said he couldn't begin to estimate the value of Virginia's crop. "It's grown throughout the whole state, in back yards, in gardens, on mountain tops," Lewis said. "It's everywhere." No more so than in western Virginia, which has two contraband capitals, according to Petska. If Rocky Mount is the center of the state's moonshining trade, he said, then Roanoke is the heart of pot country. The Allegheny highlands north of the city feature vast forests and hidden hollows that make it difficult for agents to spot marijuana fields. The rugged terrain south and west of Roanoke is largely rural and ideal for pot growers looking to stay out of sight. And where once the area around Wytheville was the site of some of the most high-intensity pot farming, Petska said, the illicit agriculture in recent years has spread east, to Pulaski, Floyd, Franklin and Henry counties, where rural landscapes and woodlands abound. "Unlike Norfolk, for instance, you don't have houses on top of each other and large subdivisions," Lewis said. "In Roanoke and Salem, or around there, you can throw marijuana out on your front lawn and there's a good chance nobody would see it." Using up to $200,000 a year in federal money since 1983, state police every summer embark on missions to destroy pot plants. They use state helicopters and small spotter planes to find pot fields, visible from the air because of their unique blue-green tint. They also assist local sheriff's departments in staking out fields, waiting for growers to show up to tend their plants. Last year state police seized 15,051 plants from 409 outdoor plots and 34 indoor groves. They made 165 arrests on manufacturing marijuana charges. Reflecting growers' increasing use of smaller plots, the number of plants seized is down from earlier in the decade. In 1994, for instance, police destroyed 39,338 plants, and the year before that they destroyed 25,672. NORML estimates that state police are finding only 15 percent of the pot being grown throughout Virginia. But the true measure of the eradication effort's success, Petska said, is the number of arrests, which has escalated dramatically in the past half decade. "There used to be about 40 to 50 arrests per year," he said. "We've more than tripled that. Arresting growers is more important than seizing plants. My theory is, if you grow 1,000 pot plants year after year after year, and I go out and arrest you, you're not going to grow 1,000 plants anymore." Growing marijuana is a felony in Virginia, punishable by up to 30 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Last year, according to state police statistics, marijuana accounted for 16,391, or 54 percent, of the 30,348 drug arrests statewide. Of the marijuana arrests, 14,284 were for alleged possession, 2,107 were for the alleged manufacture or sale. To groups like NORML and Virginians Against Drug Violence, such statistics are evidence that the state needs to rethink its fight against marijuana. Its use is widespread throughout the state and, indeed, a part of the culture, they argue. People of all walks of life and ages smoke it, and many country stores acknowledge its popularity by selling rolling papers, along with belt buckles and bandannas with pot-leaf motifs. Sending peaceful pot growers into prisons with violent criminals is part of the dark undertow of the state's drug policy, said Mike Krawitz, president of Virginia Tech's NORML chapter. Like many pot proponents, Krawitz said alcohol, while legal, is a far worse societal problem than legalized marijuana could ever be. "We don't take and vilify someone who comes home from work and has a martini," Krawitz said. "We've all heard of what can happen at parties where there's alcohol. If you go to a party where there's pot around, the worst thing you're going to find is loud music." The case of Stephen Merrill illustrates how the campaign against marijuana can damage an otherwise exemplary life. Merrill, a lawyer in Norfolk and head of the local Libertarian Party, was arrested July 7 on his farm in Isle of Wight County, where authorities say they found 180 pot plants. "I'm the most humiliated lawyer in Virginia," said Merrill, 44, and a lawyer for 17 years. Authorities have charged Merrill with growing marijuana not intended for his own personal use, an allegation he denies. Yes, he said, he was growing marijuana, but not for others. Though he wouldn't discuss his views on the state's marijuana laws while his case is pending, he did reiterate that he is a member of the Libertarian Party, which favors the legalization of pot. "I'm no hypocrite, I'm no right-winger who goes to church and preaches against drugs and then gets caught growing marijuana," he said. "It's been a tremendous humiliation, but I'm determined to retain my integrity even though I've been caught in this embarrassing situation, doing something privately, on my own land. "The government over-reaches into every aspect of our lives." According to DEA literature, marijuana "may play a role" in some forms of cancer and respiratory and reproductive problems. The DEA also cites studies linking the use of large amounts of marijuana to problems with memory, attention span and learning ability. Proponents of legalizing pot, however, point to studies that suggest even long-term use of the drug creates no ill health effects. Stan Kennedy, the DEA special agent based in Roanoke, disagreed with those who hold pot harmless. "Ask yourself, do you want to be driving down the road while the guy in the oncoming lane is high on marijuana? Those who tend to use marijuana are poorly educated about it. There's a lot of education that needs to be done." For his part, Lewis said he is content to fight to eradicate marijuana because the law is the law, and the law makes the drug illegal. Still, he said, it's an uphill battle and the hill is getting steeper. "Marijuana is coming back -- the use of it, the sale of it, the manufacture of it," he said. "We're seeing an increase in everything." Monday, July 26, 1999BY REX BOWMANTimes-Dispatch Staff Writer © 1999, Richmond Newspapers Inc.
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #1 posted by Madness on September 28, 2000 at 08:19:21 PT
This is......
god Damn,, cannabis is seriously good shit.Smoke a joint through a glass of methelated spirit,,Trippie effect if done well
[ Post Comment ]

Post Comment


Name: Optional Password: 
E-Mail: 
Subject: 
Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message]
Link URL: 
Link Title: