Headline: Marijuana helicopters anger Santa Cruz residents

SANTA CRUZ To hear the folks in the Santa Cruz Mountains tell it,
it's like a scene out of "Apocalypse Now."

Military helicopters swoop in low, their blades whirling above treetops.
Loud thumping shatters the silence. They come at all hours, without the
slightest warning.

But this war isn't in the jungles of Vietnam but in the sleepy coastal
range. And it's not a battle against communism, but another campaign in
the war on drugs.

The helicopter patrols are part of a summer crackdown on marijuana
growers, launched by Santa Cruz County and funded by state and federal
governments.

But residents of these mountains say the patrols invade their privacy,
disturb the peace and frighten the innocent.

"It's noisy. It's scary. There's dust flying. It's ridiculous and very
frustrating," said Valerie Corral, who grows medical marijuana on her
100acre farm hidden in the mountains. She said a green National Guard
helicopter twice skimmed over her redwood treetops last week.

Under an agreement reached with the Santa Cruz County Sheriffs
Department, residents like Corral may grow pot for personal medical use.
Last month, concerned locals also convinced the department to scale back
the number of flights.

But law enforcement officials say they still have to go after
unsanctioned pot growers.

"The use of helicopters is essential to the marijuana enforcement
program," said Tim Allen, a sheriff's deputy. "It is almost useless to
patrol here by foot. It is too rural, too mountainous. There is no way we
can do it."

In response, residents have formed an antihelicopter coalition which
includes groups like the San Lorenzo Women's Club, the Rural Bonnie Doon
Homeowners Association and the Santa Cruz Hemp Council.

One group leader calls the patrols "terrorism in the sky."

But if it's terrorism, it's well funded. The state is giving $2.7
million to 12 counties this year to eradicate marijuana crops. Santa Cruz
County has received $218,000 as part of a threeyear grant that
originates with the federal government's Campaign Against Marijuana
Production, otherwise known as CAMP. The money pays for two sheriffs
deputies and one parttime deputy district attorney.

The California Department of Justice reports that marijuana is the
county's primary cash crop.

But with recent law enforcement efforts, that source of income may soon
be drying up. Last year, a county record 17,746 cannabis plants were
destroyed and 202 people arrested Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity
counties otherwise known as the "emerald triangle" also rank high on
law enforcement's list of targets.