Pubdate: Mon, 11 Jun 2007 Source: Press Democrat, The (Santa Rosa, CA) Copyright: 2007 The Press Democrat Contact: http://www.pressdemo.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/348 Author: Glenda Anderson, The Press Democrat Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Marijuana - California) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?208 (Environmental Issues) MARIJUANA INDUSTRY BLAMED FOR JUMP IN KILLINGS, ROBBERIES The illegal marijuana industry brings with it an increase in crime, including homicides, home invasion robberies and theft. "If we average five homicides, four will be marijuana-related," said Sgt. Wayne Hanson, who oversees Humboldt County's anti-marijuana program. "People are killing people because it's the same price as gold." The high price has attracted both Mexican drug cartels and Asian gangs to the North Coast, said CAMP Commander Michael Johnson. People aren't the only ones harmed by the illegal pot industry. In public and private forests, pot growers destroy habitat, shoot wildlife, contaminate water and soil with rat poison and pesticides and leave behind piles of garbage when they leave, said Phebe Brown, spokeswoman for the Mendocino National Forest. Statewide, 5,731 acres of national forest were directly affected by marijuana production last year, with the Mendocino National Forest suffering about a third of that damage. Marijuana cultivation also prevents hikers and hunters from enjoying public lands because of the risk of stumbling onto a garden and its armed caretakers, she said. The gardens also attract thieves. Last year, two men suspected of being marijuana thieves were shot and killed near several pot gardens on public and tribal lands in Covelo. Marijuana also is blamed for a host of social problems, according to law enforcement. Statistics back up those observations. In Lake County, about a third of the people in the county's alcohol and other drug services program cite marijuana as a problem drug for them, administrator Laura Solis said. Alcohol is the most often cited problem, she said. Bob Nishiyama, head of the Mendocino Major Crimes Task Force, said he's seen families torn apart because the parents get stoned, lose their jobs and neglect their children. High prices and greed would continue to fuel illegal pot gardens and the violence surrounding them unless pot was legalized worldwide, he said. Mendocino County already attracts marijuana trafficking because it has a reputation for being tolerant, he noted. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake