U.S. OUT OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY?

On the one hand it was nice to see federal authorities pay attention
to crime here on the North Coast, so much so that they sent a team of
hundreds to Humboldt County in order to put the hammer down on what
they describe as commercial, for-profit, marijuana growing.

It's no secret that Humboldt County's economy -- as the late
Supervisor Roger Rodoni often pointed out -- is to some degree
dependent on the marijuana culture for its economic viability.

But such criminal activity, when conducted on a large, commercial
scale, can and often does lead to more violent crimes that even the
heartiest libertarians among us would rather do without.

So, in that regard, it was nice to see federal authorities pay
attention to the county's public safety.

But repeatedly we've been told that the real marijuana crisis in
Humboldt County has little to do with in-home, or even domestic
outdoor marijuana growing operations. Instead, the real problem, the
real crime and the real danger comes from drug cartels, who have
staked out huge acreage in the woods of Humboldt County and keep
those massive plots guarded at all times by armed thugs.

It's no joke that one should tread lightly in the local wilderness.
You never know when a single misstep could put you in harm's way with
just such a guard, one of whom -- Eloy Infante-Toscano, 40 -- was
shot late last year when he reportedly raised his weapon at deputies
who stumbled upon his growing operation 12 miles east of Holmes Flat.

So while it was nice to see that the feds are concerned with the
public safety of Humboldt County residents, we'd have preferred to
see them direct those resources toward what we're told is the real
problem in marijuana cultivation, the problem that puts the lives of
area hikers' and residents' at risk.