cannabisnews.com: Raid Yields Plants





Raid Yields Plants
Posted by FoM on September 12, 2000 at 11:21:29 PT
By Jacob Lehman, The Times-Standard
Source: Times-Standard
The medical marijuana issue resurfaced at the annual Campaign Against Marijuana Planting media tour on Thursday. The tour also provided public information on the 17-year-old C. A. M. P. program, a multi-agency seasonal task force that operates throughout California. Statewide C.A.M.P. Operations Cmdr. Sonya Barna said the task force has probably broken its annual record for marijuana plants eradicated as of Thursday. The statewide total for this year has probably exceeded the record of approximately 241,000 plants, she said.
On the tour, officers led reporters to a homestead a few miles southeast of Petrolia, where they cut down dozens of marijuana plants that they said they had seen from a helicopter days before.Residents of the property arrived, and said that the plants was being grown for sick people under California's medical marijuana law. There was no visible indication that the marijuana plants were being grown for medical marijuana users. There was an exchange of words while television cameras rolled and helicopters hovered overhead.Officers seized several dozen plants, which were hauled away for destruction. No arrests were made, but the Humboldt County Sheriff's Department assigned the incident a case number, and deputies said that the Humboldt County District Attorney's Office would be notified.Sheriff's department Sgt. Wayne Hanson, the man in charge of C.A.M.P. in Humboldt County, said that he did not know the marijuana was being grown by medical marijuana advocates Robert Goforth and Steven Tuck, or that Goforth's sister owned the property. On Thursday morning, word of C.A.M.P.'s presence apparently spread quickly through the area as a caravan of law enforcement and media vehicles drove to a helicopter landing zone neat the Mattole River's mouth.In a briefing, C.A.M.P. officers said they would locate a "good garden," without people near it, where the media could watch them eradicate marijuana plants.C.A.M.P. officers took off in one of two helicopters at the landing zone to find some of the gardens that they had already mapped out.The caravan of vehicles passed back over Petrolia-area roads, where residents stood in their yards and sat in lawn chairs, waving and making gestures.The law enforcement and media vehicles arrived at a gate closed with a padlock and chain, so officers cut the chain. They had previously explained that they did not need a search warrant for "open-field" marijuana spotted from the air.Two men who said they were working on a construction project on the homestead drove to the gate and told reporters not to enter the property. After a short time, officers said that reporters could enter the property, and they did.Sheriff's deputies and officers from one of three statewide C.A.M.P. teams -- consisting of California Highway Patrol officers, metropolitan police officers, U.S. Army National Guard troops and state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement agents -- walked along small twisting trails through heavy brush toward the marijuana.The plants were growing in small clumps in heavy brush, and were almost all connected to a network of black irrigation hoses. Officers pointed out what they said were the typical debris of a growing operation, including empty fertilizer bags and rat and mouse traps. Sometimes, paint, chemicals and even traps intended for humans are found, they said, pointing out that marijuana cultivation can be harmful to the environment.The plants were between about 6 and 12 feet tall, and officers said they were a few weeks from maturity. A deputy said that some of the larger plants would have yielded about 2 pounds of dried buds, worth about $10,000.A deputy photographed himself taking a sample from one of the plants for evidence.A pungent smell filled the afternoon air as officers began to saw and hack the plants to the ground and drag them back to their vehicles. Their gloves became coated with black resin as they loaded a pickup with the marijuana. A Guardsman jumped up and down on the plants in the truck to pack them down.A helicopter overhead hovered over more patches to show officers on the ground where the marijuana was.The pickup was fully loaded by the time Goforth, who owns the Petrolia Store with his wife, arrived. A woman from a Eureka legal agency and people who had apparently been in a house on the property when officers arrived also gathered on a road in the homestead.Goforth said that he and others had been growing the marijuana for seriously ill people who have medical marijuana recommendations from physicians, and that he was giving it to them in exchange for the cost of cultivation. About 200 plants were growing on the homestead, he said.On Aug. 22, Hanson and other officers seized more than 50 plants from a property that Goforth owns, also near Petrolia. Those plants were in an open field and marked with a large red cross, and marijuana recommendations for five people, according to Goforth. Goforth was asked why the plants seized on Thursday were not marked as medical marijuana."It's true, there were no signs," he said. "I don't really know what to say about that."Goforth said that he had "at least 16 caregiver scripts" at the homestead. There may have been more marijuana there than 16 people need, but more patients join the cooperative that he is a part of all the time, he said."They can't wait six or eight months for the medicine to grow," he said. "When you count loss to thievery, deer, rats and mice, I don't think this was too much."Tuck, another medical marijuana advocate who is associated with Goforth, arrived on the property. On July 24, officers seized 839 plants that Tuck was growing on a Wilder Ridge property. The district attorney's office said later that it would not file criminal cultivation charges against him. Tuck said that he has since moved to the homestead that C.A.M.P. was at on Thursday.Hanson joined the conversation, and there was a heated exchange of words.Hanson asked Goforth who owned the recently seized plants, and Goforth said they belonged to patients.Goforth told Hanson that he could show him the caregiver certificates, but Tuck asked Goforth why he should bother, since the marijuana was already cut down.Hanson said, "This (marijuana) was not marked, and co-ops are illegal in Humboldt County."Medical marijuana guidelines released recently by the district attorney say that a person can only legally grow marijuana for themselves or for a person for whom they are "a primary caregiver." The caregiver "must consistently assume responsibility for the housing, health or safety of that that person," the guidelines state.Hanson said that he had no comment regarding the medical marijuana issue "at this time." Sheriff Dennis Lewis, who was out of town on Thursday, has said that he interprets the medical marijuana law to mean that a person cannot legally grow for another person who does not live with the grower.Medical marijuana advocates have said that they will bring the issue of whether a person can grow for others, in a cooperative arrangement, to civil court.People on both sides of the issue have said that they would welcome clear medical marijuana guidelines from the state Legislature.One man at the homestead showed Hanson his marijuana recommendation, and Hanson left him two plants.Later, C.A.M.P. officers lowered from a helicopter on a cable cut and then took two plants that residents said were the same two that Hanson had spared. Residents passed a joint to each other as they watched the helicopter leave.At the Petrolia Store, reaction to C.A.M.P. activity in the area was mixed. Most people said they resented the attention, and that animals were frightened by the helicopters. A horse recently ran through a fence because it was scared by the noise, a woman said.One family of ranchers, however, said that they were glad C.A.M.P. was in the area.Published: September 8, 2000Source: Times-Standard (CA)Copyright: 2000 The Times-StandardContact: letters times-standard.comAddress: 930 Sixth St. Eureka, CA 95501Fax: 707-441-0501Website: http://www.times-standard.com/Related Articles:Weeding Out Pot Farms From Aloft http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6950.shtml200 Million in Pot Seized in Huge Kern Bust http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6888.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archives:http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on September 14, 2000 at 17:33:04 PT
US CA: Pot Bust In Sequoia Nets 5,000 Plants
Newshawk: Jo-D and Tom-EPubdate: Wed, 13 Sep 2000Source: Bakersfield Californian (CA)Copyright: 2000, The Bakersfield Californian.Contact: opinion bakersfield.comAddress: PO Box 440, Bakersfield, CA 93302-0440Website: http://www.bakersfield.com/Author: Davin McHenry, Californian staff writer, davinmchenry bakersfield.comLaw enforcement officials descended on a remote marijuana garden in the Sequoia National Forest Wednesday, seizing an estimated $17.5 million in pot and arresting an alleged grower. The Kern County Sheriff's Department SWAT Team and federal Forest Service officials arrested an unidentified man Wednesday at the gardens, which were located deep in the Greenhorn Mountains roughly 10 miles west of Lake Isabella, said Kern County Sheriff's Cmdr. Hal Chealander. Law enforcement officers seized roughly 5,000 plants that were valued at $3,000 to $3,500 each. The plants were found in the same area where law enforcement officials found 13,345 marijuana plants Aug. 2, Chealander said. Click to read the complete article.http://mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1372/a09.html
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on September 13, 2000 at 11:25:15 PT
Related Article
Marijuana Plants Found in San Bernardino National ForestFontana, Calif. (AP) Published: September 13, 2000Sacramento Beehttp://www.sacbee.com/Copyright © The Sacramento Bee More than 10,000 marijuana plants were uprooted Tuesday in a remote area of the San Bernardino National Forest where growers used a nearby stream to draw water for their elaborate irrigation system.The pot farm was discovered near Lytle Creek during a routine flyover by authorities hunting for backcountry marijuana cultivation sites, said Chip Patterson, spokesman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.There were 10,000 to 15,000 plants discovered, ranging from 6 to 12 feet tall, he said. No one was arrested.Patterson said authorities believe the farm is connected to three others found in nearby Los Angeles, Ventura and Riverside counties."We believe that the same Mexican national cartel is behind this operation," he said. "That is, they are apparently setting up, financing and possibly hiring workers for all four operations."Authorities believe as many as eight people camped in the area to maintain the farm, although no one was in the area when they arrived. They are continuing to investigate.
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on September 13, 2000 at 07:51:14 PT
Juicy Fruit sounds yummy!
I know this is a serious topic but I had to say you made me laugh with the pickin' boogers thing! Thanks Dr. Ganj!Peace, FoM!
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Comment #5 posted by trose215 on September 13, 2000 at 00:14:49 PT:
Gestapo
Those 2 plants that were left were later taken by the helicopter to the gravel bar of the river & loaded into trucks. So the patient was really left nothing. Lies, Lies, & more lies! After they left Mr. Goforth's home they proceeded to another nearby patient's home & stold 8 out of his 10 plants with his recommendation hanging in his small garden. Eight plants that were maybe 4 ft. tall. Guess they were too small to mention after Mr. Goforths.
news/thread7015.shtml
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Comment #4 posted by Dr. Ganj on September 12, 2000 at 22:34:15 PT
17 Years of CAMP With The Same Results-Nothing
I've had those jarheads right over my patch and me, and the morons were so busy picking their boogers, and looking for a place to save them to eat later, that they missed all my Juicy Fruit afghani plants! Ha! What a bunch of losers. They'll never stop people from growing ganj. They only pretend to be eradicating marijuana worth "millions" in a desperate attempt to receive more government blood money to perpetuate their crimes against humanity and plants. There's a place for people like that, and it's not gonna be pleasant, but that's the choice they've made. (see link below)Dr. Ganj
http://www.hell.com/2001/index.html
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Comment #3 posted by legalizeit on September 12, 2000 at 22:15:19 PT
Run 'em out of town!
>Officers pointed out what they said were the typical debris of a growing operation, including empty fertilizer bags and rat and mouse traps. Sometimes, paint, chemicals and even traps intended for humans are found, they said, pointing out that marijuana cultivation can be harmful to the environment.Only when cultivated under the threat of "law enforcement." The cops aren't concerned about the environment, only themselves and their wretched jobs. When did you ever see a cop at any kind of environmental gathering, in any function other than to stifle participants if they do anything "illegal"? If legally cultivated, pot would be no more harmful to the environment than soybeans.>One man at the homestead showed Hanson his marijuana recommendation, and Hanson left him two plants.Big whoop. Two out of how many plants the idiots seized?>One family of ranchers, however, said that they were glad C.A.M.P. was in the area.Probably friends of the cops.
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Comment #2 posted by i_rule_ on September 12, 2000 at 19:18:11 PT
And Plants yield Medicine.
These heartless, sadistic, nazi, government b*****ds. I guess they get the same kind of joy out of taking marijuana away from sick, dieing, painriddled patients as Hitlers assassins got from working in the death camps. They willfully deprive people of relief, and healing, because their government says it is right to do so. Then, after leaving two plants as a token of some humanity in them, they go back and take them, too. Unbelievable cruelty to humans. Unbelievable stupidity of our government. God give us courage. Hitler has reincarnated as McCaffrey.Blindly, he kills and destroys with no conscience. All in the name of creating a superior race of drug-free Amerikans. And the ranchers who are glad they are there, are like the people who welcomed Hitler with open arms. It's time for another Normandy, people. Only instead of weapons of war, we can do it with something much more powerful. The vote. Vote to end this madness against the people of this country. Vote to end marijuana prohibition.   
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Comment #1 posted by Kanabys on September 12, 2000 at 14:17:15 PT
What freakin' cowardly idiots!!
>>One family of ranchers, however, said that they were glad C.A.M.P. was in the area.What, are they afraid of a few little plants? OOOOO, big bad MJ plants. This whole thing disgusts me.......
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