cannabisnews.com: Growing Drug Problem Cited in Mark Twain N. Forest Growing Drug Problem Cited in Mark Twain N. Forest Posted by FoM on March 14, 2000 at 15:05:23 PT By The Associated Press Source: Postnet.com The Mark Twain National Forest in southern Missouri offers some of the most beautiful land in the state. But law enforcement officers worry that the thousands of acres of heavily wooded land are increasingly becoming a location for drug activity.``Growing marijuana on national forest ground is fairly common, because there's a lot of open space,'' said Al Stevens, a Forest Service law enforcement officer in Doniphan. Officials also believe the manufacture of methamphetamine is on the rise, based on remnants of meth production found in the forest.``It's definitely increasing,'' Stevens said, noting that anyone can set up a camper in one of the more remote campgrounds, and sometimes be there for a week before being noticed.In 1999, the Forest Service uprooted nearly 3,700 marijuana plants from Mark Twain National Forest and 206 from nearby private property. The plants were found on 65 sites throughout the forest, which covers 1.5 million acres in Missouri.Making matters more difficult is the relatively small number of officers -- eight -- who patrol the forest.``We cover a lot of area, and deal with about anything that happens on Forest Service (land),'' Stevens said.Last year, six people were arrested for growing marijuana in the Mark Twain National Forest; 130 were arrested for using marijuana on Forest Service land. Most of the arrests were made in campgrounds and along rivers, especially Eleven Point River in Oregon County.Stevens worried that the drug activity is scaring people away from the forest, and damaging the ecosystem there.``The normal everyday (park) users, hikers or berry pickers, are afraid to be there. It's a resource that's free to use, but a lot of people are afraid to use it,'' Stevens said.Producing methamphetamine also leads to pollution, as people dump residue into streams. Last year, 24 sites were found throughout the Mark Twain National Forest where residue had been dumped.Doniphan, Mo. (AP) AP-CS-03-14-00 1401ESTŠ 2000 St. Louis Post-DispatchLocally, Pot Growers Flourish -- in Secret http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread4977.shtmlCannabisNews Articles On National Forests:http://www.google.com/search?q=cannabisnews+National+Forest Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #2 posted by dddd on December 23, 2000 at 01:07:51 PT Scaring people away "Stevens worried that the drug activity is scaring people away from the forest, and damaging the ecosystem there." No Stevens,it's not drug users that are scaring people away,it's people like you that scare people.Who wants to go and camp someplace,where you cant even sit around the campfire,and pass around a reefer,without worrying about some obsessed a#&hole like you,sniffin' around looking to bust somebody. When will the brainwashed anti crowd realize,that they are way outnumbered by normal people?..................................................dddd [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by danny kennon on December 22, 2000 at 21:41:06 PT stevens stevens is a damn nut [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: