MARIJUANA IS COUNTY'S NO. 2 'CROP'

Officials -- County Leads State In Pot Production

If marijuana were legal, it would replace oranges as the second most
valuable crop in Tulare County.

And if marijuana were legal, Tulare County also would lead the state in the
plant's cultivation.

Figures released Wednesday from the state Attorney General's Office
revealed more than a quarter of all marijuana plants seized in California
this year have been found in Tulare County.

"For law enforcement, this was a successful year be-cause we kept that
marijuana off the streets," said Tulare County sheriff's Lt. Donna Perry.
"Did we get all of it? No. But we have aggressively gone after the
marijuana growers in this county."

State figures

According to state figures, 141,239 plants were seized in Tulare County.

Shasta County was second with 53,556 plant seizures - less than half Tulare
County's tally.

Mendocino County came in third with 45,263 seized plants.

Kern County was fourth with 31,212 marijuana seizures.

Perry said Tulare, Shasta, Mendocino and Kern counties have terrain that
allows illegal gardens to grow unseen.

"Most of them lend themselves to having some foothill settings," Perry
said. "Unfortunately, we have a setting that lends itself for the growing
of marijuana gardens."

Perry said most of the county's marijuana seizures were in the Tule River
Indian Reservation. The value of the seizures is estimated at $575.8 million.

Milk, Tulare County's top agricultural commodity, brought in $961.8 million
in gross revenue in 2002. The county's No. 2 crop, oranges, brought in
$451.2 million in gross revenue in 2002.

However, if marijuana were a legal crop, its value would likely drop
because the black market demand would change.

The Attorney General's Office reported that 466,054 plants were seized
statewide and 75 percent were grown on public lands, such as Sequoia
National Park. The plants' value is estimated at $1.9 billion.

Last year, 354,164 plants were seized in California..

Pot busts

Tulare County has seen two of the state's largest pot busts this year.

On Oct. 1, more than 35,000 marijuana plants were discovered in the Bear
Creek area of the Tule River Indian Reservation. The street value of the
plants was estimated at $146.5 million.

More than 73,000 plants were seized Oct. 16 from a garden in the foothills
east of Porterville.

The seizure is the largest in Tulare County history and the largest in
California this year. The estimated street value of the mature plants: $229
million.

Perry said the number of illegal gardens in Tulare County has grown in the
past 10 years.

So, too, has the money generated from the illegal gardens.