cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Growers Ravage U.S. Forests Marijuana Growers Ravage U.S. Forests Posted by FoM on March 26, 2000 at 10:08:47 PT By Pauline Arrillaga, Associated Press Source: Los Angeles Times San Bernardino National Forest--They were spotted from the air, as conspicuous as sharks in a school of guppies: Three plots of land, seemingly stripped of the towering oaks and manzanita that shroud this patch of Southern California forest. These were not natural formations. They were entirely man-made--and entirely illegal. A week after the August sighting, a helicopter returned with two dozen Forest Service agents and sheriff's detectives. They cleared a landing pad and cut a trail to the site, coming first to a makeshift reservoir. Six hoses, filtering water from a creek, ran in one end; several more snaked out the other. Moving on, the agents reached the first clearing. In place of the trees that the forest designation is meant to protect stood a grove of emerald stalks, 6 to 15 feet tall. They were in full bloom, ready for harvest. On two acres of prime forest land, about a half-hour from the city of San Bernardino and 1 1/2 hours from Los Angeles, these agents had discovered the latest battleground in the war on drugs: a 23,000-plant marijuana plantation. As money and manpower continue to flow to the Southwest border to stop illegal drugs coming into this country, traffickers--many employed by Mexican drug gangs--are producing vast quantities of marijuana right here in the United States, on land owned by the federal government. The reasons are obvious: The land is fertile, remote and free. There's no risk of forfeiture, plantations are difficult to trace, and growers have land agents outmanned, outspent and outgunned. "We spend a lot of time and energy stopping stuff from coming into this country, but we don't really pay much attention to our own backyard," said Dan Bauer, the Forest Service's drug program coordinator. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy estimates that more than half of the marijuana consumed in the United States is produced domestically. Much of that--no one knows how much for sure--is grown on public lands, primarily the country's 155 national forests. Pesticides used by the illegal growers poison wildlife and waterways, though the crop's danger is not just environmental. Park visitors run the risk of tripping booby traps or encountering armed gangs. After stumbling upon marijuana farms, some visitors have been run off at gunpoint, Bauer said, adding that Forest Service agents have exchanged gunfire with growers. The public's perception of the drug war is a border agent pulling bundles of narcotics from the bed of a truck, Bauer said. "They very rarely think of the poor forest agent crawling through the bush." In 1999, 452,330 marijuana plants were removed from national forest land, mostly in California and Kentucky. With each plant estimated to produce at least 2.2 pounds of pot, that's 995,126 pounds of marijuana, with an estimated street value of about $700 million. By comparison, the U.S. Customs Service seized 989,369 pounds of marijuana along the Southwest border in fiscal year 1999, while the Border Patrol confiscated just under 1.2 million pounds. The difference: Customs has 2,900 inspectors and agents manning Southwest ports of entry; the Border Patrol has 7,761 agents patrolling between those ports. There are just 588 Forest Service agents and officers assigned to 192 million acres of national forest, a decline from 625 officers in 1996. That's nearly 330,000 acres per officer, and only one officer works full time at drug enforcement. "We don't know how much is growing out there," Bauer said. "There are places where we're probably getting less than 10%. I doubt we're getting much over 50% in most of our areas." Marijuana is the most popular illegal drug in the United States, with about 11 million users, including 8.3% of teenagers, according to government statistics. One nationwide program is dedicated to the problem of U.S.-produced marijuana--the Drug Enforcement Administration's Domestic Cannabis Eradication and Suppression Program. It receives 1% of the agency's $1.4-billion budget. In 1998 the DEA reported seizing 2.5 million U.S.-produced marijuana plants, including 232,000 indoor plants. However, those seizures were done in coordination with state and local agencies; the DEA doesn't track seizures by public land agencies. Public lands have long been targeted by marijuana producers, but investigators trace a rise in production to the 1980s, when the government enacted more stringent asset-forfeiture laws. Before that, "if you were caught growing pot on your own property, you wouldn't lose your property," Bauer said. In the late '80s and early '90s, the profile of a typical grower was a "white hippie-type" running 100- to 1,000-plant farms, agents said. These days the mom-and-pop operations are far outnumbered by major pot plantations, ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 plants or more. In the Southeast, old moonshine families now run marijuana farms. But that's only part of the problem in places like Kentucky's Daniel Boone National Forest, which consistently ranks first among national forests in marijuana seizures. In the Southwest, Bauer said, most pot operations are run by Mexican drug gangs. Published: Sunday, March 26, 2000 Copyright 2000 Los Angeles Times Related Articles:Growing Drug Problem Cited in Mark Twain N. Foresthttp://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread5073.shtmlLocally, Pot Growers Flourish -- in Secret http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread4977.shtml END SNIP --> Snipped Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #8 posted by g-slyce on March 28, 2000 at 12:28:08 PT: forrest All I can say is thank god for california and kentucky [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by FoM on March 27, 2000 at 09:45:46 PT: My Thoughts Hi everyone! Thanks for all the good comments. This is my first post since surgery. I resent our governments high and mighty attitude. What all the petro chemicals are doing to the world is a real problem but never addressed with any seriousness by our leaders. I found this article to say, how dare them complain about the forests and growing marijuana with what we are doing to these poor people and their land.U.S. Targets Poppy Fields That Flow From Colombiahttp://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread597.shtmlSince November four propeller-driven airplanes supplied by the United States have been reassigned from spraying coca farms to spraying poppy fields. Flown by Americans working for a State Department contractor, the planes are based in the city of Neiva about 140 miles southwest of the Colombian capital, Bogota.The United States also has assigned five Bell 212 helicopters to the heroin program, in part because the choppers are capable of flying at the high altitudes -- between 7,000 and 9,000 feet -- where poppies grow best. In addition, six new Blackhawk helicopters -- to be purchased by the United States for Colombia's National Police this year at a cost of $96 million -- will be used primarily in the poppy eradication effort.The stepped-up spraying campaign has been felt most keenly by the estimated 35,000 peasants who make their living growing the opium or processing it into opium "latex" -- the gum that is milked from the poppy bulb -- for the Colombian organizations, which are run largely by small cartels based in the northern Cauca Valley. My Drug Policy Talk Message Boards [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by dddd on March 27, 2000 at 09:30:31 PT forests Right on Kanabys [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by Kanabys on March 27, 2000 at 08:25:22 PT My point and then some I was going to make the point that dddd made, about thousands of acres ravaged by timber companies, I ought to know, I unfortunatly live in a heavy logged area, (I'll be moving ASAP) and see the destruction caused. A few small plots of land to grow weed is sooooo negligable!! And the part of poisoning wildlife with Pesticides? Give me a Break. How many tons of pesticides does the govt use on weed crops? No only here but in other countries. This newpaper reporter and all involved are full of crap! [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by Freedom on March 26, 2000 at 19:14:29 PT Observer beats me to the analysis. That was the point I was going to make, until I read your entry.... and, even more pathetically, this negative consequence of prohibition will be used, as always, to fund and promote more prohibitionist policies. We all know things like heroin use by the poor, the excessive jailing and harassment of minorities, and damage to our forests and national institutions are not what drive the prohibitionist zealots: it is an obsession with convincing rich white teenagers that marijuana is intolerable, for puritans just cannot stand the thought their kids might just take a puff of the devil's weed while growing up:"Our office was created not because of the hard-core user problem, but because of concern about exploding drug use in the suburbs and among young people," Massing quotes Bruce Carnes, one of Bennett's top aides, as saying. "It was not directed at hard-core addicts. They consumed the vast bulk of the drugs, and contributed a significant part of the crime, but they weren't the main threat to your kids becoming drug users." The drug war was all about "our kids" now. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by dddd on March 26, 2000 at 14:47:10 PT forests I'll bet the Associated Press is also on the ONDCP payroll for releasing this type of unsubstantiated crap. The percentage of harm done by these "grove of emerald stalks, 6to 15 feet tall. They were in full bloom, ready for harvest. ",,is miniscule,when compared to the federal governments shady dealing that has allowed timber companies to rape thousands of acres of national forest lands. I'll bet the L.A. Times,and other papers who ran this story,also get credited,or paid by the ONDCP. It would be interesting to see if websites such as this,could get cash for each time they reprint anti-drug rhetoric....dddd [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Harvey Pendrake on March 26, 2000 at 12:39:10 PT Ravaged? "Pesticides used by the illegal growers poison wildlife and waterways, though the crop's danger is not just environmental."Yeah, sure. Listen carefully children: marijuana causes cancer, heart attacks, leads straight to heroin AND KILLS YOGIE BEAR AND HIS PAL BOO BOO! It's astounding how environmentally conscious the government gets when a few pot plants are involved.End prohibition and activities like this will cease. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by observer on March 26, 2000 at 12:06:39 PT The Reasons is Obvious: PROHIBITION > The reasons are obvious: The land is fertile, remote and free. There's no risk of forfeiture ... In the Southeast, old moonshine families now run marijuana farms ...Yes, the reason is obvious, it is the twisted and corrupting incentives caused by drug prohibition itself. As alcohol prohibition caused governmental corruption, so does marijuana prohibition. Nowhere does this article make this most salient connection.http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n381/a11.html [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: