Pubdate: Thu, 20 Dec 2001
Source: Times-Standard (CA)
Copyright: 2001 The Times-Standard
Contact:  http://www.times-standard.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1051
Author: James Faulk, The Times-Standard Eureka
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)

DESPITE CAMP NUMBERS, HUMBOLDT STILL THE GREENEST

EUREKA -- Humboldt County may still be the tops in marijuana growing, with 
area growers simply moving their gardens indoors to avoid the watchful eyes 
of helicopters.

An account in Wednesday's Times-Standard may have given the impression the 
county was not among the leaders. It, in fact, still is.

A press release from the State Attorney General's Office said Campaign 
Against Marijuana Planting teams seized just 12,224 plants in Humboldt 
County during the 2001 growing season. That number represents a big decline 
from previous years, and put the county in eighth place among 23 counties 
for outdoor marijuana seizures.

Sgt. Wayne Hanson of the Sheriff's Drug Enforcement Unit said Campaign 
Against Marijuana Planting teams may have pulled less out of the ground in 
Humboldt County, but the plants are still here.

"Marijuana is an epidemic in Humboldt County," he said, adding that the 
county leads the state in indoor marijuana busts.

Since the beginning of the year, authorities have seized 50,000 indoor 
marijuana plants in Humboldt County, Hanson said. The second highest total 
is in Mendocino County with 33,000. After that, the numbers fall off 
dramatically. Los Angeles County, for example, seized only 143 indoor plants.

"These 50,000 are just the tip of an iceberg," Hanson said.

Authorities have also seized $350,000 in cash this year.

Those numbers mean the "Emerald Triangle" is still on or near the top of 
the heap for marijuana production, Hanson said.

Hanson said fewer plants were found outdoors because CAMP took some of its 
resources out of the county to fight a burgeoning cultivation problem in 
the Central Valley. Normally, Humboldt County would have CAMP helicopters 
in the skies for eight weeks, but this year CAMP was in the air for only 16 
days.

Since the teams were here less, they found less.

Marijuana growers have also evolved, Hanson said, and brought their 
operations indoors. They can reap several crops a year that way, as opposed 
to one crop that can be grown outside, Hanson said.

Moving gardens inside presents a greater risk to the public, Hanson said. 
Indoor operations are an environmental danger because growers are seldom 
careful with how they dispose of generator fuel and other hazardous materials.

In addition, the heavy use of generators can result in fires that threaten 
the homes of growers, as well as neighboring structures.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager