WHY THE MARIJUANA RAIDS?

To the Editor:

Mendocino County law enforcement is reportedly conducting a major
sweep of marijuana growers, big and small. I've heard reports that
there are so many marijuana arrestees in jail that people are
sleeping on the floor. Some have been arrested for a single plant!

Meanwhile, the epidemic of heroin overdoses in the county among young
people continues. I know of two in Fort Bragg in the past couple of
months, and one probation officer tells me she's lost 9 probationers
to drug overdoses in the past year. Methamphetamine continues to
plague our young families, leading to domestic violence and removal
of children from their parents due to neglect by meth-using parents.

Why is law enforcement concentrating on marijuana, a medicine for
many people, rather than on pernicious drugs like heroin and
methamphetamine? I know of no deaths from marijuana overdoses, no
DUI's from unsafe driving due to marijuana, no families broken up
because of marijuana use.

My answer to this riddle is speculative -- I believe it's a
combination of money and politics. When a marijuana raid is made, the
arresting officers confiscate whatever cash is lying around,
sometimes thousands of dollars. Sometimes the money is not returned,
but goes into the coffers of the sheriff's department. The same is
sometimes true of property where marijuana is being grown. I've heard
that the sheriff's department depends on this sort of confiscation to
supplement the money given it by the county.

Politics also plays a big role. The Prop B campaign, aimed at
marijuana growers, was funded by developers who want the culture of
Mendocino County to turn from hippie to yuppie.

The federal government's war on marijuana is part of the picture;
it's rumored that in Humboldt County, several hundred DEA agents
showed up specifically for the purpose of rooting out marijuana
cultivation. This may be part of the plan to integrate local law
enforcement into the federal government, to ensure cooperation if the
Constitution is suspended and martial law declared. This may seem
exaggerated, but in fact the Dept. of Homeland Security has been
training local police forces for years toward this end. There have
been several exercises called Project Falcon, documented by Peter
Phillips, in which nationwide sweeps of petty criminals take place,
conducted by local law enforcement, but coordinated by the Feds.

In any case, the concentration on marijuana rather than killer drugs
like heroin and methamphetamine is hurting our community in many ways.

I call on the voters of Mendocino County to let the Sheriff and
District Attorney know our displeasure, and direct their efforts
toward the drugs that are breaking up families and killing our youth.

Carol S. Wolman

Mendocino