cannabisnews.com: Drug Danger in U.S. Forests





Drug Danger in U.S. Forests
Posted by FoM on December 21, 2000 at 20:45:33 PT
By Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY
Source: USA Today 
Drug seizures on federal forestlands from California to Appalachia are reaching near-record levels this year, and U.S. authorities increasingly are worried about the dangers posed to tourists by renegade marijuana growers protecting their turf. Through October, marijuana seizures on forestlands already were up by nearly 30% from last year, according to new U.S. Forest Service reports, a haul representing more than 1.3 million pounds of the plant. Authorities believe street value of the pot could run as high as $3,000 per pound. 
Forestry officials say they fear that those growing marijuana in public forests are increasingly establishing links with international drug traffickers. The officials say they have seen signs that the renegade operations are using violence, or the threat of it, to protect their crops. In California, where more than 500,000 pounds have been seized this year, agents have discovered large "farms" protected around the clock by armed guards. Earlier this year, a man and his 8-year-old son were critically wounded in northern California while tracking deer across a large marijuana garden in the El Dorado National Forest."The risks to the public and our employees in California alone are frightening," says Kim Thorsen, the Forest Service's deputy director of enforcement.In the Daniel Boone National Forest in Kentucky, supervisory law enforcement officer Harold Sizemore said marijuana seizures and arrests are at their highest levels in 10 years.Authorities have seized more than 200,000 plants in the Boone forest so far this year, up nearly 5% from 1999."We busted one family — a father and five kids in April — who were doing more business than a Wendy's hamburger stand."Marijuana isn't the only crop being grown illegally in the USA's forests.Seizures of methamphetamine operations are up 150% this year, Forest Service reports show. Those seizures have included working laboratories and related chemical dumpsites that threaten forestlands' water sources.Methamphetamine seizures have been concentrated in the Mark Twain National Forest in Missouri, where drug producers have found a perfect combination of deep cover and proximity to interstate highways.Remote areas of the national forests always have been attractive to illegal drug operations. But authorities say they have not seen drug activity like this in perhaps 20 years.Bill Wasley, the Forest Service's director of law enforcement , says traffickers are seeking increased cover as law enforcement efforts have intensified in U.S. cities and suburbs.The Forest Service has asked Congress for an additional $10 million in its 2002 budget for more drug agents and equipment. Source: USA Today (US)Author: Kevin Johnson, USA TODAYPublished: December 21, 2000Copyright: 2000 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.Address: 1000 Wilson Blvd., Arlington VA 22229Fax: (703) 247-3108Contact: editor usatoday.comWebsite: http://www.usatoday.com/CannabisNews - Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #2 posted by freedom fighter on December 23, 2000 at 13:23:15 PT
Well, JR
Heard a tall taleDon't know if its truethat when drug agents make a bust,they would dump the chemical outside and loudly proclaim that the producer did that to add more charges against the producer. These people know that legalization will take their 10 millions. It is amazing that the congresspeople are that dense enough to cough up the money. I really do not understand how those people got into the congress. "Taxman is   the door, and I am not there!"An average drug agent looks like a guy in your high school who played guard for your football team, he never so much was even able to understand what his teacher has to say. He generally are not able to read beyond 6th grade level. He generally grunts around acting like a playground bully in your high school. An average drug team is like a feetball team. We have one quarterback who gives out orders. We have a coach who coachs his quarterback. Then, you have 4-8 grunts who will shoot anything that moves without a question. You know, shoot first then talk! An average drug team is the most dangerous feetball team.And we have some amerikans asking for more guns while we   the same time trying to control the guns.\/
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Comment #1 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on December 22, 2000 at 10:14:09 PT
Don't they get it yet?
>>U.S. authorities increasingly are worried about the dangers posed to tourists by renegade marijuana growers protecting their turf.  And methamphetamine manufacturers are poisoning our environs.   But what about the liquor industry? They produce, distribute, and sell a powerful intoxicant. How can the government regulate these "renegades"? Oh, that's right - they DO. Why? Because they're not trying to stamp it out. When's the last time you heard of someone getting a bad bottle of gin?
http://www.pot-tv.net/
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