BY MATT CARTER

As he surveyed the nine marijuana plants Lompoc Police discovered in the
closet of a local residence Monday, narcotics Detective Joe Stetz was angry.

It wasn't the biggest bust in recent memory - Lompoc police seized 2 pounds
of marijuana and more than four ounces of cocaine in a February raid on
North F Street - it was where the plants were discovered that bothered Stetz.

The plants, and a small amount of methamphetamine, were confiscated during a
raid at 335 South A St. - directly across the street from Hapgood Elementary
School.

"I was just shocked that somebody was arrogant enough to do it right across
the street from the school," Stetz said.

Arrested at the residence on suspicion of felony possession of a controlled
substance (about a gram of methamphetamine) was Lloyd Guerrero Olvera, 44.
Olvera, who was released on $5,000 bail, and another resident of the house,
Theresa Ray, 45, could also face felony marijuana cultivation charges,
police said.

To add insult to injury, Hapgood fifth-graders are scheduled to attend
graduation ceremonies Wednesday night for DARE, an anti-drug program
designed to teach them that illegal drugs are addicting and dangerous.

Hapgood Principal Jesse Bass said that while he was surprised that drugs
were allegedly discovered across the street from his school, the campus is
secure and there have been no drug problems there.

Bass said he and teachers at the school will explain what happened across
the street to any students who ask.

"I think you handle it head on, you don't mince words," he said. "We'll let
the kids know those people are in trouble and it's not going to go away."

All 104 of the school's fifth-graders are participating in DARE drug
education activities, he said.

"It's a real critical time period to get that message ingrained, and hope it
sticks. If the message isn't firm here it won't be remembered."

Residents of the South A Street residence raided by police wouldn't talk to
the Record.

But police said they were told the marijuana was grown for personal use
only. Stetz said there is no hard evidence to suggest otherwise, so stiffer
penalties for selling drugs near schools will probably not apply.

Dale Gieringer, coordinator for the California chapter of the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said laws criminalizing home
cultivation of pot are unjust.

"I think it's absurd they would rather have people buy it from Mexican
narco-traffickers," Gieringer said, pointing out that buying small
quantities of marijuana on the street is only a misdemeanor. "I think it's
crazy they would arrest somebody at their home for growing pot."

According to Gieringer, there are "20 times as many people in prison for pot
than at the beginning of the 1980s, when this pot war started, yet use
remains unchanged."

Stetz said the "grow room" in the house's closet - complete with heater,
humidifier and a high intensity grow lamp - was the first step in a larger
marijuana cultivation effort. Police found seeds and fluorescent lights that
they said were to be used to convert the residence's garage into an indoor
marijuana patch.

"They were going to make a bigger grow in the garage, but we found them
before they set it up," Stetz said. He said full-grown marijuana plants are
worth about $400 each.

The raid was carried out under the authority of a search warrant police
obtained after gathering evidence that methamphetamine was being sold at the
house, Stetz said. The plants and any equipment police believed was being
used to grow them - including four fluorescent light fixtures and a 430-watt
grow lamp - was confiscated.

The grow lamp, made by Petaluma-based Hydrofarm Gardening Products, still
had a $295 price tag on its box.

The company's vice president, Peter Wardenburg, said Hydrofarm does not sell
directly to consumers, and that most retailers will not sell equipment to
people who indicate they are doing something illegal. He said the lamps are
used by greenhouses, universities and even NASA.

"There's one plant that people can grow that's illegal. There are 10 million
plants people can grow that are legal," Wardenburg said.

Stetz said that the surprise find of the alleged marijuana patch
demonstrates the importance of targeting low-level drug activities - a job
that Lompoc Police did especially well for the 69 days they had a four-man
narcotics team. During that period, the team executed 26 search warrants and
made 149 arrests. Now, because money for the team is no longer available,
Stetz is the sole full-time narcotics officer.

"We cleaned house when we did that," Stetz said of the narcotics team. "We
had the drug dealers running from us instead of each other."