SHERIFF BOSENKO TO ATTEND D.C. DRUG-CONTROL BANQUET

For the second time in just more than a month, Shasta County Sheriff
Tom Bosenko will travel to Washington, D.C. to discuss his fight
against illegal marijuana growing.

But instead of rubbing elbows with President Bush like he did in
December, this time Bosenko will be the keynote speaker at a meeting
of drug control officials from all across the country.

He leaves Wednesday morning to speak Thursday at an awards ceremony
sponsored by the Office of Drug Control Policy and National Marijuana
Initiative.

"I'm very honored," Bosenko said.

Bosenko said he'll present the details of last summer's Operation
Alesia campaign.

The three-week, 60-garden marijuana bust was billed as the largest
marijuana garden eradication operation in the nation at that time.
Agents seized about 283,000 plants.

Because local law enforcement officials teamed up with state and
national agencies, the campaign also drew the attention of national
drug policy makers, including John P. Walters, President Bush's drug
czar.

Walters traveled to Redding during the campaign and elicited outrage
from pro-marijuana advocates when he said the country needed to get
over its "reefer blindness" and when he compared pot growers to
terrorists. Walters wasn't the only high ranking federal official to
take notice of Shasta County's marijuana efforts.

Last month, Bosenko was flown to Washington to share in a roundtable
presentation with President Bush to discuss how youngsters were
educated about drug use through the Alesia campaign.

Although the federal government is paying for his flights and his
room, Bosenko said, he's not going to have much time for fun -- he's
flying back on Friday after only one full day in the capitol.

"It's a working trip, not a vacation," he said.