LONE MARIJUANA PLANT FIRES UP DEBATE OVER DOWNTOWN VISALIA

VISALIA - Officer Donna Skaggs didn't have to look far to find drugs in
Visalia. They were growing right in front of her in a planter on Main
Street.

Skaggs, whose beat includes downtown Visalia, saw the three-or four-inch
tall plant late Thursday afternoon in front of 114 W. Main St. and took
action, said Visalia police Lt. Buddy Hale.

"She pulled it up and destroyed it," Hale said.

Only one plant was growing in the planter, which also holds marigolds and
daisies, and the incident did not appear to be a case of marijuana
cultivation, Hale said.

The plant wasn't sent to a crime lab because "there aren't any suspects,"
Skaggs said.

Skaggs asked people if they knew anything about the plant, but no one
admitted knowing anything.

The department has received complaints of marijuana smoking along Main
Street, Skaggs said, but investigations have produced no arrests. There have
been arrests for underage drinking.

The Downtown Visalians Merchants Association brought the existence of the
plant to Skaggs' attention, police said.

Merchants on the block of West Main where the plant took root said they were
not surprised by the find because it occurred in an area where teens hang
out.

"It was probably done as a practical joke," said Duane Evans, owner of
Turtle Mountain Sports, whose store is near the planter. "I'm not appalled
or anything like that. A lot of worse things have happened."

"A bird could have dropped it," said Ray Ransberger, owner of the Picnic
Sandwich Shop. "It's a non-issue with me."

Actually, "it's a sign of downtown," Evans said, explaining that a lot of
young people hang out at that particular location on Main Street, especially
on Fridays and Saturdays.

Evans said that young people don't have enough to do, so they hang out
downtown. He said the solution is to create alternatives, such as a
skateboard park, that will attract young people. A committee has been
working on establishing a skate park near downtown.

To help patrol downtown, Visalia merchants have pitched in to hire security
guards. The security guards are to be on the streets by mid-October.

Growing marijuana even as a prank means "we have to make an atmosphere where
people don't want to do something like that," Evans said.

Checked-by: Don Beck