$30M TO $80M IN MARIJUANA?

Some enterprising marijuana grower in St. Lawrence County must have
been pretty upset Thursday morning when he found the St. Lawrence
County sheriff' s Department's Drug Task Force had dug up and burned
more than 75,000 marijuana plants, valued between $30 million and $80
million.

Imagine the time it must have taken to plant 75,000 pot plants. Think
about what it must be like to have watched over those plants all
summer, knowing they were worth millions, only to have them torn up
and burned just days before you were ready to harvest them.

What's amazing is that we hear the St. Lawrence County legislature in
now thinking of cutting the Drug Task Force as part of the board's
efforts to find $7.5 million in cuts.

Legislatures announced on Monday they were backing off from the idea
of eliminating the Sheriff's road patrol. But now I hear they are
focusing on the Drug Task Force for cuts. I understand County
Administrator Donald Brining even looked at ways the county might be
able to raid the money and assets from drug dealers.

County legislatures need to realize that the drug trade is big
business. We don't need meth labs and crack houses sprouting up in our
midst. That's what will happen if we drop our efforts to curb the trade.