SANTA ROSA EARNS PRAISE FOR ERADICATING POT PLANTS

The Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office deserves high marks for its
concerted effort to crack down on pot growers.

Despite being one of the smallest counties in the state in terms of
population, Santa Rosa ranked second only to Miami-Dade County in the
number of marijuana plants eradicated last year, according to a report
released last month by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

That should be good news for Sheriff Wendell Hall, who made the marijuana
eradication program a top priority when he took office last year. He
assigned a licensed pilot to fly a single-engine Cessna throughout the
county to spot marijuana plots.

The result: a 251 percent increase from the previous year in the number of
plants destroyed.

For too long Santa Rosa has been considered a haven for marijuana
cultivators. With thousands of acres of undeveloped land, Northwest Florida
has earned the dubious distinction for having prime real estate for growing
illegal crops.

In Escambia County, deputies seized only 63 plants, ranking the county 48th
in the state. But with two new helicopters and a recommitment to the
marijuana eradication program, the Sheriff's Office expects to see those
numbers increase this year.

The combined efforts of the two-county area could very well result in a
record year for marijuana busts, which is good news for law enforcement and
bad news for area pot growers and users.

Even though some believe that marijuana is a harmless drug that should be
legalized, the fact is that it is against the law to grow it or possess it.

Given the increased surveillance by both sheriffs' offices, the two- county
area may well lose the unwanted title as a paradise for pot growers.