TARGET 'MARIJUANA MCMANSIONS'

McCollum - Crack Down on Sophisticated Growing Operations

Apparently California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was only joking when
he recently said marijuana "is not a drug. It's a leaf." I certainly
hope so. Statistics show marijuana is the most popular illegal drug in
America, with more than half of our young adults between the ages of
19 to 28 saying they have used it. But today's marijuana is no
Woodstock rerun; it's potent and dangerous.

The most alarming aspect of marijuana's resurgence is the much greater
potency of today's plant, particularly the hydroponic variety. In the
1960s and '70s, the average THC content (THC produces the high and
causes physiological problems) in marijuana was approximately 4
percent. The THC level in the hydroponic marijuana grown today in
Florida has tested up to 30 percent, and the level continues to rise
through plant cloning by growers. This increase in potency has not
only increased the dangerous physical effects of the drug, but also
the addictive nature of marijuana use. Experts believe that the rate
of addiction among daily marijuana users is now higher than that among
daily alcohol drinkers.

The increase in the drug's potency has also caused marijuana's market
value to skyrocket. Hydroponic marijuana in some areas actually trades
ounce for ounce with cocaine. The drug is so lucrative that grow
houses are popping up in some of the most affluent neighborhoods in
the state. These "Marijuana McMansions" are home to
multimillion-dollar growing operations. Grow houses primarily
specializing in hydroponic marijuana have been detected in 41 of
Florida's 67 counties, and Florida had the second-highest number of
grow-house seizures in the country in 2006.

One such operation was recently discovered and shut down in North
Florida, where an organized ring of individuals had been using seven
houses to grow and distribute large quantities of marijuana. These
grow houses produced 100 pounds of marijuana per month, and
traffickers were netting profits of nearly a half-million dollars a
year. The Attorney General's Office of Statewide Prosecution is
prosecuting this case and aggressively working with law enforcement to
pursue other operations throughout the state.

As the profit incentives increase for trafficking hydroponic
marijuana, the risks to our children and fellow citizens also
increase. Grow houses are often the targets of other violent crimes,
including home invasions and robberies carried out by rival criminal
groups, as the plants alone are worth tens of thousands of dollars.
Marijuana is no longer grown and traded by amateurs -- it is being
trafficked by organized and dangerous rings of criminals who are
intent upon bringing this poison into our communities and
neighborhoods.

Taking this threat seriously, our state must pass tougher laws to
crack down on these sophisticated growing operations. I am supporting
legislation sponsored by Sen. Steve Oelrich of Gainesville and Rep.
Nick Thompson of Fort Myers that would lower from 300 plants to 25
plants the standard for creating a presumption that a person is
intending to distribute for profit. The bill also would create a new
penalty for growers who own a house for the purpose of cultivating
marijuana, as well as a new penalty for people who live in or are the
caretakers of marijuana grow houses.

It is our responsibility not only to educate our citizens, especially
those who are younger and may be more susceptible to drug use, about
highly potent marijuana, but also to implement new strategies for
curbing the spread of this new and dangerous threat.

Bill McCollum is Florida's attorney general. He wrote this commentary
for the Orlando Sentinel.