POT CULTIVATION CALLED 'BIG BUSINESS'

Agents Say Raids Are Response to Abuse, Trafficking

Continuing abuse of marijuana and the criminal organizations
contributing to that abuse justify military-style operations like the
pot raid last week that sent at least 40 heavily armed police officers
swarming over steep, brushy hillsides east of Salmon Falls Road in El
Dorado County, coordinators of the raid said.

The raiders hit two marijuana gardens flourishing not far from
multimillion-dollar homes above Folsom Lake, about three miles from El
Dorado Hills.

Coordinators of such raids say their critics should understand that
marijuana cultivation is "big business" run by ruthless players who do
not really care who buys their product as long as it sells.

They also might not have much concern about whom or what they have to
shoot to protect their crop, the coordinators said. A 14-year-old
mountain biker could end up in the cross hairs just as easily as a
browsing deer, they said.

"This is organized crime," said Gordon Taylor, assistant special agent
in charge of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration's Eastern
Division of California.

California voters have legalized marijuana use for medical purposes,
but law enforcement officials still view the drug as a damaging and
pervasive problem.

Illegal "recreational" use in the Sacramento region pretty much
mirrors what is being seen nationwide, where marijuana "is rated as
the No. 1 abused drug," Taylor said.

Officials see much of the local damage occurring at the most
vulnerable age.

"More teenagers are entering drug treatment programs for marijuana
abuse than for all other drugs combined," Taylor said.

His office was one of about a half-dozen agencies contributing to the
sweep. Other participants included special weapons and tactics units
and K-9 teams from sheriff's departments in Sacramento, El Dorado and
Amador counties. Federal agents with the Bureau of Land Management and
California National Guard soldiers also were part of the strike force.

SWAT and K-9 teams went in first about dawn Aug. 14. They found a
campsite, an intricate drip irrigation system, an improvised drying
room and lots of garbage but none of the gardeners tending almost
2,000 plants, many at least 6 feet tall.

The value of the crop was estimated at $5 million to $8
million.

The location was a bit surprising, "so close to civilization," Taylor
said.

Not so surprising was evidence indicating that the gardens were
cultivated by the Sure?os, a Southern California gang linked to the
Mexican Mafia, Taylor said.

If not eradicated, the potent marijuana would probably have been sold
throughout the country with little concern about the customers who
eventually use it, Taylor said.

El Dorado County Sheriff's Lt. Kevin House views the problem at the
local level. Despite education and enforcement efforts, lighting up a
joint still may be as commonplace for many local teenagers as popping
open a can of beer.

"It is every bit as common as that," House said. "There is a lot of
marijuana still out there, and it is having a tremendous influence on
society. It is a gigantic problem."

At least one local health official agreed.

Leona McLean works with the Mercy Perinatal Recovery Network, an
outpatient recovery program for women ages 18 to 40 who have problems
with alcohol and other drugs. Most of the network's clients have seen
their children taken away by the county's Child Protective Services.

"Probably half of the clients that come in started with some kind of
marijuana," McLean said.

If that use began when the client was a teenager, she also was more
prone to use other substances. Some users also view marijuana as a
"natural" substance and have a hard time quitting or realizing that it
can lead to major health problems, McLean said.

"It remains a problem for a lot of women and men, and I still believe
it acts as a gateway," McLean said.