Pubdate: Wed, 10 Aug 2011 Source: Mount Shasta Herald (CA) Copyright: 2011 GateHouse Media, Inc. Contact: http://www.mtshastanews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3515 Author: Paul Roeger, Mount Shasta Area Newspapers THE DRUG CARTEL ISSUE IN SISKIYOU COUNTY Siskiyou County Sheriff Jon Lopey announced that the 72,000 marijuana plants recently discovered and destroyed in Siskiyou County were the work of members of Mexican drug cartels. It's estimated that in the last five years, nearly 40,000 people have been killed in Mexico as a result of the drug wars. "It is safe to say that at least some of these offenders are members or associates of dangerous drug cartels, which primarily originate in Mexico," Lopey said in a press release at the time of the bust. The Sheriff's Department also said that three men of Hispanic origin, dressed in woodland camouflage, were spotted in the marijuana garden and eluded law enforcement in heavily wooded terrain. Sheriff Lopey, however, said that no physical evidence, such as documentation, foreign currency or firearms, were found at the scene that would connect the growers to the Mexican mafia. "We get intelligence from the Department of Homeland Security. We also get information from the California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration," Lopey said in a recent interview. "I think it's naive to think that just because the cartels are below the border, they aren't here." California Department of Justice Press Information Officer Michelle Gregory says the agency "cannot be 100 percent sure," but that there is evidence. "We find papers written in Spanish and candles to religious figures that indicate Mexican origins," Gregory said. "We don't see passports or that kind of documentation because they are most likely here illegally. It's little things that add up over time. Seventy-two thousand plants, however, is not Joe Smith growing for fun." Gregory noted that large illegal plantations in California have become more dangerous. "We have had shootings between law enforcement and growers," Gregory said. "We have had citizens confronted and followed." US Department of Homeland Security Assistant Special Agent in Charge Ray Greenlee, based in San Francisco, says there is "no smoking gun" to connect a marijuana plantation to a specific Mexican cartel in California, but that there are indications the cartels are involved. Greenlee noted that some intelligence on the issue is "restricted." "It takes time to work up evidence. We have made connections between human smuggling from Mexico and cultivation. We cannot make the leap to one particular cartel, but these are large criminal enterprises," Greenlee said. "We have found numerous weapons, including AK47, and those arrested are primarily illegals of Mexican origin." Greenlee also says the illegal marijuana plantations have become more dangerous. "There has been an escalation of the amount of violence. We have had numerous shootings related to marijuana fields," Greenlee said. "This is a very dangerous situation with huge money at stake." Both Sheriff Lopey and Greenlee say that if the public stumbles on a marijuana field they should not get curious and investigate, but leave the area immediately and alert law enforcement. The DEA did not respond to requests for information. The legalization question The question has arisen as to whether legalization or decriminalization of marijuana would reduce the influx of cartels and the potential for violence they represent. Former Mexican president Vincente Fox has urged the United States to legalize the plant. "As a country, we are going through problems due to the fact that the United States consumes too many drugs. The question is not what is going on in Mexico, but what is going on in the United States," Fox said. "We should consider legalizing the production, sale and distribution of drugs as a way to weaken and break the economic system that allows cartels to earn huge profits. Radical prohibition strategies have never worked." According to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Mexican drug cartels make approximately 60 percent of their income from selling marijuana in the United States. Mexico has already decriminalized possession of small amounts of most drugs for personal use to reduce the profit motive and violence. Former Republican governor of New Mexico Gary Johnson agrees with Fox. "U.S. officials need to welcome the debate on marijuana regulation. It's probably the only practical way to weaken the drug cartels -- something both the U.S. and Mexico would benefit from immeasurably," Johnson wrote in a 2010 op-ed. "We need a new solution to stop this violence. And the same cartels that are selling marijuana in the United States are destroying treasured environmental resources by growing marijuana illegally in protected park lands. By regulating marijuana, such illegal grows would cease to exist." On opposite side of the issue are those who feel legalization would not accomplish the goal of reducing crime and could possibly make it worse. Democratic California Senator Diane Feinstein opposes legalization. Feinstein called the failed 2010 California proposition to legalize marijuana a "a jumbled legal nightmare that will make our highways, our workplaces and our communities less safe." A similar bill to legalize marijuana in the Illinois legislature was opposed by members of law enforcement. "The passing of this bill is going to lead to more crime and drug use. Street gangs will open marijuana dispensaries and they'll use the profits for selling that marijuana to buy guns and drugs and bail out fellow gang members," said former Chicago police superintendent Phil Cline. Law Enforcement Against Prohibition disagrees. "During my 36 years as a Denver cop I arrested more people for marijuana than I care to remember, but it didn't amount to one bit of good for our citizens," said Tony Ryan, a former officer with the Denver Police Department and a board member for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. "Keeping marijuana illegal doesn't do anything to reduce marijuana use, but it does benefit the gangs and cartels who control the currently illegal marijuana trade." Lopey opposes legalization Sheriff Lopey does not believe that legalization is the answer as he feels marijuana is a dangerous gateway drug that leads users to harder substances. "It's an addictive psychotropic drug. We are seeing a lot more adolescents use it and the potency has risen significantly over the years," Lopey said. "Using at an early age can cause tremendous adverse effects. Twenty percent of the young people who use it have a psychotic reaction. Marijuana has more than 30 carcinogens in the smoke. It's much more harmful than cigarettes." Lopey feels that securing the borders is the answer. "My main concern is our borders are not secure," Lopey said. "The failure of the federal government to secure the borders is causing problems for us." The harm that marijuana may or may not cause is hotly debated; scientific studies have come down on both sides of the issue. Although acknowledging the positive medical uses of marijuana, the National Institute On Drug Abuse says marijuana may cause the following problems: - -Long-term marijuana abuse can lead to addiction; - -A number of studies have shown an association between chronic marijuana use and increased rates of anxiety, depression, and schizophrenia; - -In one study, heavy marijuana abusers reported that the drug impaired several important measures of life achievement, including physical and mental health, cognitive abilities, social life, and career status; - -Chronic marijuana use, especially in a very young person, may also be a marker of risk for mental illnesses and High doses of marijuana can produce an acute psychotic reaction; and - -Numerous studies have shown marijuana smoke to contain carcinogens and to be an irritant to the lungs. Marijuana smoke contains 50-70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than tobacco smoke. Other studies, however, have come to different conclusions. A study published in Scientific American, for example, found no link between lung cancer and smoking marijuana. The Lindesmith Center published a review of the scientific evidence by Lynn Zimmer Associate Professor of Sociology, Queens College and John P. Morgan Professor of Pharmacology, City University of New York Medical School that found the following; - -Studies generally supported the idea that marijuana was a relatively safe drug, not totally free from potential harm, but unlikely to create serious harm for most individual users or society; - -The claim of damage to brain cells has been effectively disproved; - -There is only scant evidence that marijuana produces physical dependence and withdrawal in humans; - -There is no inevitable relationship between the use of marijuana and other drugs. Studies have shown that where marijuana is easier to obtain, use of harder drugs declines; and - -The higher potency of marijuana makes it less dangerous to health because smaller amounts of the drug need to be inhaled. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.