MARIJUANA CRACKDOWN

Drug Traffickers Find County Fertile Ground

Arrests for marijuana offenses in the U.S. are way up. Plant seizures
in San Diego County are on the rise. What's behind the nation's war on pot?

Drug traffickers have found another way to get marijuana into the
county: They grow it locally.

Law enforcement officials said yesterday that San Diego County is
ranked fourth in the state for the amount of pot plants seized on
public lands, surpassing longtime pot-growing leaders Mendocino,
Trinity and Humboldt counties.

Beefed-up security at the U.S.-Mexico border since 9/11 is one of the
reasons so much more of the drug is being grown here, said Jack Hook,
assistant special agent in charge of the San Diego Drug Enforcement
Administration.

He said it is easier for Mexican nationals to grow marijuana locally
than to try to smuggle it across the border.

County Supervisor Bill Horn said being fourth in the state, behind
Shasta, Lake and Tulare counties, was a dubious distinction.

"This is one area we don't want to lead the state in. Commerce is
fine, but not in the production of marijuana," he said.

Much of the pot seized on public lands is in less-populated areas of
North County and East County, such as Palomar Mountain, the Cleveland
National Forest, Campo and Julian, Hook said.

Although this year's haul of confiscated plants is less than in
previous years, officials said it is still significant.

"This has proven to be an effective (eradication) program over time,"
DEA spokesman Misha Piastro said. "The numbers of seizures of plants,
assets, as well as arrests, are going to fluctuate. It's the nature
of the narcotics enforcement business. It all depends on where
investigations lead us."

More than 275,000 plants and nearly $3 million in assets were seized
in 2004, and more than 270,000 plants and $525,000 in assets were
seized in 2003, Piastro said.

Finding and removing marijuana plantations involves several agencies,
including law enforcement, the National Guard, the U.S. Forest
Service and the Bureau of Land Management.

Because the plantations are on public land, they may be found by
people who are out enjoying nature. Officials said those who come
across illegal crops should immediately notify park rangers or
authorities and stay away from the plants, which are often protected
by booby traps and people with guns.

There are also economic and environmental impacts. Growers steal
water and electricity, use dangerous pesticides and clear land of
native plants to conduct their illegal activity.

The DEA has found that many plantations are guarded by Mexican
nationals and drug trafficking organizations.

"These gardens are worth staggering amounts of money," Piastro said.

Today's marijuana is highly addictive and "isn't the drug of the
'60s," said Scott Burns of the Office of National Drug Control and
Policy. He oversees the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Program at
the White House.

The amount of the drug in marijuana - tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC -
has increased from 1 percent to 2 percent in the 1960s to 10 percent
to 12 percent today, Burns said. Marijuana from British Columbia, or
"BC bud," can have a THC content of 30 percent.

Of the 19.1 million drug users in the U.S., 75 percent use marijuana
alone or in addition to other drugs, he said.