Roach

updated 7/30/2011 3:28:54 AM ET 2011-07-30T07:28:54
Share Print Font: +-UKIAH, California — Law enforcement officials said Friday they struck a major blow against illegal marijuana cultivation on public lands in the heart of Northern California pot country.
The two-week operation to purge the Mendocino National Forest of illicit pot gardens uprooted 460,000 pot plants and led to more than 100 arrests, U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag said.

About 1,500 pounds of processed marijuana, 27 guns and 11 vehicles were also seized.

The 900,000-acre forest — larger than Rhode Island — spans six counties in a region of mountains and forests known as the Emerald Triangle for its high concentration of pot farms. Agents raided more than 50 gardens teeming with trash, irrigation pipes and chemicals that damage forestland and waterways, authorities said.

"The Mendocino National Forest is under attack by drug traffickers," Haag said.

The operation was part of an annual summer effort to eradicate marijuana from public lands across the state. Six sheriff's departments, the state anti-narcotics bureau and at least a half-dozen federal agencies took part in the effort in the forest.

Spearheading the raids was Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman, who in his years on the job has had to balance county medical marijuana ordinances with state law and the complete federal ban on the drug. Allman said none of the gardens busted showed any sign of being used to grow medical marijuana.
Each summer for the past several years, authorities report seizing millions of pot plants from local, state and national parks, forests and other wilderness areas. Public lands are often favored by clandestine growers for their remote locations and rugged terrain.

In previous years, officials have blamed Mexican drug cartels for some of the state's largest growing operations. Haag declined Friday to comment on where those arrested in the current operation were from but said 25 are already facing federal charges.
The decision to focus on Mendocino National Forest this year stemmed from citizen complaints a year ago about an increasing number of confrontations with armed guards protecting pot grows, Allman said.

Forest Service officials and county leaders have also long complained about the environmental consequences of illegal marijuana farms on forest ecology.

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Waves

lol @ 1,500 lbs being a "major blow" to norcals weed economy

they probably go through that in a day

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Roach

now if there was just one dollar an ounce tax on it (and it were legal)....that'd be $$$ profit, rather than trying, sentencing, and then feeding and housing another 50 to 100 "weed criminals"

If each plant could have produced an oz, then the plants alone would have represented a bit over
28,700 pounds. Or $460,000 in tax revenue if legal, and taxed @ only $1 an oz.

and $24,000 tax for the "processed" stuff

and that's just one batch of growers.


also why not sell the confiscated "processed" weed to legit compassion clubs @ say $50 an oz.
$120,000 in new state revenues.

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stoneric

What chemicals were these gardens "teeming with trash" using? And how dare them say any pot garden is bad for the ecology. Quite the opposite. And how many tax dollars were used to eradicate something that could be bring in tax dollars? Kind of a double whammy. Fuck it. There is no hope.

Waves

its disgusting how they distort shit to make themselves out as the good guys

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On this life that we call home
The years go fast and the days go so slow

Roach

write in...votes

Bill Maher for President
Ron Paul......VP
Elliot Spitzer... Chief Economic Advisor
Willie Nelson.....Drug Czar
In 2012

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DdC

300 acres
Ever wondered what a well-tended 300-acre cannabis plantation looks like?
Time has photos.

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