MARIJUANA OVERFLIGHT TRAINING SCHOOL CONDUCTED ON COAST

Marijuana-seeking helicopters, planes and personnel this week were flying
over coastal county areas as part of the annual overflight school hosted by
the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office and Drug Enforcement Agency.

Six helicopters and six planes from various agencies around the state
participated in the school, which teaches officers how to spot marijuana
from the air, according to Sgt. Rusty Noe, of the County of Mendocino
Marijuana Eradication Team.

Later in the season, local and state officers will return to the gardens
and eradicate the plants.

"We've probably identified 80 garden sites in the week," Noe said. "That's
kind of average," he added.

People annoyed by the aircraft will be pleased to know Thursday was the
last day of the training.

Noe confirmed there had been complaints about the operations.

"Whenever you have helicopters, you're going to get complaints," he said.

Noe said the aircraft adhered to regulations for flying over highly
populated areas a minimum 300-feet high for helicopters, 1,000 feet for
planes even though they were flying where there are few homes primarily
corporate timberland.

"It's not effective to fly any lower. We may go down lower to ensure it's
marijuana, but we're not going to do that around somebody's residence," Noe
said.

There are two main reasons not to fly low, he said.

One is that it's easier to spot the gardens from high up.

The other is safety, Noe said, noting they don't want the helicopters to
hit trees, which are fairly tall in the areas on which they focused.

"It tends to mess 'em up," he said.

Besides the DEA and local law enforcement, agencies participating in the
training included other county law enforcement departments and the Air
National Guard.

"The people who attend this course generally are involved in marijuana
eradication all over California," Noe said.

Noe said the training took place in the coastal regions because "that's
where the marijuana's being grown this year."

He said the officers can see, but aren't interested in, small gardens in
backyards, which may or may not be intended for medical marijuana.

"We're targeting the ones on other people's property," Noe said, noting
that's where the large commercial gardens tend to be. "Our concern is not
with somebody who has 25 plants in their backyard. I don't have time for that."

As it is, officers often can't get to all the big gardens before they're
harvested, Noe noted.