Regarding Wayne Laugesen's article about the black helicopters over
Ward, I'm not really surprised that the National Guard would issue two
military "huey" helicopters and two detectives from the Boulder County
Drug Task Force so they can look for marijuana plants growing on
people's front porches.

Detective Burness thought the helicopter rides were "fun," and was
excited he "saw a black bear on the backside of one of the Flatirons."
I'm impressed, especially when it comes at the tax payer's expense.

In 1989, I was visiting a relative in the U.S. Virgin Islands. I saw a
military helicopter hovering over his property, and he casually told
me it was a "marijuana helicopter." St. Croix is a small island which
is only about 25 miles long and 5 miles wide, and frequently visited
by hurricanes. It is a speck compared to Puerto Rico, and a molecule
compared to Jamaica. It is not exactly the stuff marijuana export
islands are made of. True, some people do grow it there, but mostly
for themselves, not for export.

During that visit, I walked through "the bush" with some friends of
mine. We came across a quarter acre field that was bulldozed to the
dirt. Some locals explained that the authorities found marijuana
there, and took it upon themselves to not only remove the plants, but
to plow it (including a small building that was on the premises) to
set an example.

I was wondering how much money is spent on these joyrides just so
officials can hold up a couple of marijuana plants for a newspaper
photographer and say "We're winning the war on drugs"?

Rob Graffis,
Boulder