Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
Marijuana prohibition is over in California, so we can all breathe easy, right? Don't tell that to Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman.
The law still prohibits various activities often associated with cannabis cultivation, not to mention the violent crimes the black-market industry sometimes attracts, and fighting back against invasive and environmentally destructive cannabis grows will be no less a priority this year than in prior years, Allman said.
That could be a challenge if recent trends hold steady. Allman expects more illegal cultivation in the near future, done either out of ignorance of the law or in conscious disregard for it, and funding for his department might not keep up, he said.
Sheriff's deputies have seen a recent uptick in cultivation on public land, a persistent nuisance that can drive away tourists — and, hence, their dollars —from the county's national and state forests, Allman said.
The Sheriff's Office saw no new grows in Mendocino National Forest for two years after Operation Full-Court Press in 2011, a six-county raid involving local, state and federal law-enforcement agencies in which deputies seized 632,058 plants from public lands in six California counties.
After finding a few scattered grows in 2014 and 2015, deputies encountered 10 cultivation sites in the forest in 2016, Allman said. He said he expects to find more such grows this coming year, explaining that he sees no reason for the recent surge in public-land cultivation to slow down.
As if that weren't enough, the recent statewide legalization of marijuana could contribute to the department's enforcement burden this year. One might expect law-enforcement agencies to shoulder a lighter load as erstwhile crimes become legal activities, but Proposition 64 could encourage unconscious law-breaking by sowing confusion about what is legal and illegal, Allman said. Sheriff's deputies have seized cannabis planted by people unaware that cultivation for recreational use begins next year, he said.
The Sheriff's Office receives calls from people "every day," asking for guidance on how to legally cultivate recreational marijuana according to Prop. 64, said Allman, who wishes people would read the law and consult an attorney rather than his staff.
A need for greater enforcement could financially strain his department, which will likely report a deficit at the end of this fiscal year, Allman said.
The Sheriff's Office was not funded for this fiscal year at the level Allman had requested, and the combination of torrential downpours and the Laytonville murder case — in which law-enforcement agencies have so far arrested six out of seven people suspected of killing and robbing a grower — has pushed his department into the red, he said.
County supervisors have staked the popularity of their medical-marijuana regulations, which they are still drafting, on a number of concessions to people averse to the presence of the cannabis industry, among them a promise of "vigorous enforcement" against stubbornly noncompliant growers. Allman, who has recently clashed with supervisors over expenditures, said that adequate funding is not a given.
"The Sheriff's Office budget was not funded adequately this year, and it's expected that we're going to come in over budget," Allman said. "So if the supervisors are promising enforcement, I hope they are looking at vigorous funding."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Eradication Of Illegal Cannabis Grows Still A Priority, Sheriff Says
Author: Erick O'Donnell
Contact: (707) 468-3500
Photo Credit: Patrick Tehan
Website: The Ukiah Daily Journal
The law still prohibits various activities often associated with cannabis cultivation, not to mention the violent crimes the black-market industry sometimes attracts, and fighting back against invasive and environmentally destructive cannabis grows will be no less a priority this year than in prior years, Allman said.
That could be a challenge if recent trends hold steady. Allman expects more illegal cultivation in the near future, done either out of ignorance of the law or in conscious disregard for it, and funding for his department might not keep up, he said.
Sheriff's deputies have seen a recent uptick in cultivation on public land, a persistent nuisance that can drive away tourists — and, hence, their dollars —from the county's national and state forests, Allman said.
The Sheriff's Office saw no new grows in Mendocino National Forest for two years after Operation Full-Court Press in 2011, a six-county raid involving local, state and federal law-enforcement agencies in which deputies seized 632,058 plants from public lands in six California counties.
After finding a few scattered grows in 2014 and 2015, deputies encountered 10 cultivation sites in the forest in 2016, Allman said. He said he expects to find more such grows this coming year, explaining that he sees no reason for the recent surge in public-land cultivation to slow down.
As if that weren't enough, the recent statewide legalization of marijuana could contribute to the department's enforcement burden this year. One might expect law-enforcement agencies to shoulder a lighter load as erstwhile crimes become legal activities, but Proposition 64 could encourage unconscious law-breaking by sowing confusion about what is legal and illegal, Allman said. Sheriff's deputies have seized cannabis planted by people unaware that cultivation for recreational use begins next year, he said.
The Sheriff's Office receives calls from people "every day," asking for guidance on how to legally cultivate recreational marijuana according to Prop. 64, said Allman, who wishes people would read the law and consult an attorney rather than his staff.
A need for greater enforcement could financially strain his department, which will likely report a deficit at the end of this fiscal year, Allman said.
The Sheriff's Office was not funded for this fiscal year at the level Allman had requested, and the combination of torrential downpours and the Laytonville murder case — in which law-enforcement agencies have so far arrested six out of seven people suspected of killing and robbing a grower — has pushed his department into the red, he said.
County supervisors have staked the popularity of their medical-marijuana regulations, which they are still drafting, on a number of concessions to people averse to the presence of the cannabis industry, among them a promise of "vigorous enforcement" against stubbornly noncompliant growers. Allman, who has recently clashed with supervisors over expenditures, said that adequate funding is not a given.
"The Sheriff's Office budget was not funded adequately this year, and it's expected that we're going to come in over budget," Allman said. "So if the supervisors are promising enforcement, I hope they are looking at vigorous funding."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Eradication Of Illegal Cannabis Grows Still A Priority, Sheriff Says
Author: Erick O'Donnell
Contact: (707) 468-3500
Photo Credit: Patrick Tehan
Website: The Ukiah Daily Journal
