THE DRUG CARTEL ISSUE IN SISKIYOU COUNTY

Siskiyou County Sheriff Jon Lopey announced that the 72,000 marijuana
plants recently discovered and destroyed in Siskiyou County were the
work of members of Mexican drug cartels. It's estimated that in the
last five years, nearly 40,000 people have been killed in Mexico as a
result of the drug wars.

"It is safe to say that at least some of these offenders are members
or associates of dangerous drug cartels, which primarily originate in
Mexico," Lopey said in a press release at the time of the bust.

The Sheriff's Department also said that three men of Hispanic origin,
dressed in woodland camouflage, were spotted in the marijuana garden
and eluded law enforcement in heavily wooded terrain.

Sheriff Lopey, however, said that no physical evidence, such as
documentation, foreign currency or firearms, were found at the scene
that would connect the growers to the Mexican mafia.

"We get intelligence from the Department of Homeland Security. We also
get information from the California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement
and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration," Lopey said in a
recent interview. "I think it's naive to think that just because the
cartels are below the border, they aren't here."

California Department of Justice Press Information Officer Michelle
Gregory says the agency "cannot be 100 percent sure," but that there
is evidence.

"We find papers written in Spanish and candles to religious figures
that indicate Mexican origins," Gregory said. "We don't see passports
or that kind of documentation because they are most likely here
illegally. It's little things that add up over time. Seventy-two
thousand plants, however, is not Joe Smith growing for fun."

Gregory noted that large illegal plantations in California have become
more dangerous.

"We have had shootings between law enforcement and growers," Gregory
said. "We have had citizens confronted and followed."

US Department of Homeland Security Assistant Special Agent in Charge
Ray Greenlee, based in San Francisco, says there is "no smoking gun"
to connect a marijuana plantation to a specific Mexican cartel in
California, but that there are indications the cartels are involved.
Greenlee noted that some intelligence on the issue is
"restricted."

"It takes time to work up evidence. We have made connections between
human smuggling from Mexico and cultivation. We cannot make the leap
to one particular cartel, but these are large criminal enterprises,"
Greenlee said. "We have found numerous weapons, including AK47, and
those arrested are primarily illegals of Mexican origin."

Greenlee also says the illegal marijuana plantations have become more
dangerous.

"There has been an escalation of the amount of violence. We have had
numerous shootings related to marijuana fields," Greenlee said. "This
is a very dangerous situation with huge money at stake."

Both Sheriff Lopey and Greenlee say that if the public stumbles on a
marijuana field they should not get curious and investigate, but leave
the area immediately and alert law enforcement.

The DEA did not respond to requests for information.

The legalization question The question has arisen as to whether
legalization or decriminalization of marijuana would reduce the influx
of cartels and the potential for violence they represent.

Former Mexican president Vincente Fox has urged the United States to
legalize the plant.

"As a country, we are going through problems due to the fact that the
United States consumes too many drugs. The question is not what is
going on in Mexico, but what is going on in the United States," Fox
said. "We should consider legalizing the production, sale and
distribution of drugs as a way to weaken and break the economic system
that allows cartels to earn huge profits. Radical prohibition
strategies have never worked."

According to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy,
Mexican drug cartels make approximately 60 percent of their income
from selling marijuana in the United States. Mexico has already
decriminalized possession of small amounts of most drugs for personal
use to reduce the profit motive and violence.

Former Republican governor of New Mexico Gary Johnson agrees with
Fox.

"U.S. officials need to welcome the debate on marijuana regulation.
It's probably the only practical way to weaken the drug cartels --
something both the U.S. and Mexico would benefit from immeasurably,"
Johnson wrote in a 2010 op-ed. "We need a new solution to stop this
violence. And the same cartels that are selling marijuana in the
United States are destroying treasured environmental resources by
growing marijuana illegally in protected park lands. By regulating
marijuana, such illegal grows would cease to exist."

On opposite side of the issue are those who feel legalization would
not accomplish the goal of reducing crime and could possibly make it
worse.

Democratic California Senator Diane Feinstein opposes legalization.
Feinstein called the failed 2010 California proposition to legalize
marijuana a "a jumbled legal nightmare that will make our highways,
our workplaces and our communities less safe." A similar bill to
legalize marijuana in the Illinois legislature was opposed by members
of law enforcement.

"The passing of this bill is going to lead to more crime and drug use.
Street gangs will open marijuana dispensaries and they'll use the
profits for selling that marijuana to buy guns and drugs and bail out
fellow gang members," said former Chicago police superintendent Phil
Cline.

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition disagrees.

"During my 36 years as a Denver cop I arrested more people for
marijuana than I care to remember, but it didn't amount to one bit of
good for our citizens," said Tony Ryan, a former officer with the
Denver Police Department and a board member for Law Enforcement
Against Prohibition. "Keeping marijuana illegal doesn't do anything to
reduce marijuana use, but it does benefit the gangs and cartels who
control the currently illegal marijuana trade."

Lopey opposes legalization Sheriff Lopey does not believe that
legalization is the answer as he feels marijuana is a dangerous
gateway drug that leads users to harder substances.

"It's an addictive psychotropic drug. We are seeing a lot more
adolescents use it and the potency has risen significantly over the
years," Lopey said. "Using at an early age can cause tremendous
adverse effects. Twenty percent of the young people who use it have a
psychotic reaction. Marijuana has more than 30 carcinogens in the
smoke. It's much more harmful than cigarettes."

Lopey feels that securing the borders is the answer.

"My main concern is our borders are not secure," Lopey said. "The
failure of the federal government to secure the borders is causing
problems for us."

The harm that marijuana may or may not cause is hotly debated;
scientific studies have come down on both sides of the issue.

Although acknowledging the positive medical uses of marijuana, the
National Institute On Drug Abuse says marijuana may cause the
following problems:

- -Long-term marijuana abuse can lead to addiction;
- -A number of studies have shown an association between chronic
marijuana use and increased rates of anxiety, depression, and schizophrenia;
- -In one study, heavy marijuana abusers reported that the drug impaired
several important measures of life achievement, including physical and
mental health, cognitive abilities, social life, and career status;
- -Chronic marijuana use, especially in a very young person, may also be
a marker of risk for mental illnesses and High doses of marijuana can
produce an acute psychotic reaction; and
- -Numerous studies have shown marijuana smoke to contain carcinogens and
to be an irritant to the lungs. Marijuana smoke contains 50-70 percent
more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than tobacco smoke.

Other studies, however, have come to different conclusions. A study
published in Scientific American, for example, found no link between
lung cancer and smoking marijuana.

The Lindesmith Center published a review of the scientific evidence by
Lynn Zimmer Associate Professor of Sociology, Queens College and John
P. Morgan Professor of Pharmacology, City University of New York
Medical School that found the following;

- -Studies generally supported the idea that marijuana was a relatively
safe drug, not totally free from potential harm, but unlikely to
create serious harm for most individual users or society;
- -The claim of damage to brain cells has been effectively disproved;
- -There is only scant evidence that marijuana produces physical
dependence and withdrawal in humans;
- -There is no inevitable relationship between the use of marijuana and
other drugs. Studies have shown that where marijuana is easier to
obtain, use of harder drugs declines; and
- -The higher potency of marijuana makes it less dangerous to health
because smaller amounts of the drug need to be inhaled.