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url: hMPp://www.fresnobee.com/2012/08/12/2950160/country-dwellers-burn-up-over.html
By Lewis Griswold The Fresno Bee
Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012 | 09:54 PM Modified Mon, Aug 13, 2012 05:56 AM
Carl and Maggie Huddleston's country home near Strathmore boasts a horse corral, fig tree, grape arbor and a view of the foothills.
But their view also includes a marijuana farm across the street that has turned their country dream into a nightmare.
"One of the things we're really concerned about is gunfire," said Maggie Huddleston, a nursing instructor at a private college who moved to the country six years ago.
It's a valid concern. A man guarding another marijuana grow site half a mile away was shot and killed last fall, a murder that still is unsolved.
Pot producers taking advantage of the state's medical marijuana law by growing an estimated 5 million marijuana plants on the San Joaquin Valley floor are encroaching on bucolic neighborhoods.
Rural residents like the Huddlestons complain about funky smells, mysterious nighttime activities and loss of property values, and ask authorities why the grow sites are allowed to flourish.
Alfalfa grower Steve Petersen, whose farm southwest of Fresno is across from a former grow site that included menacing guard towers and people coming and going at all hours of the day and night, says authorities are too slow to act.
"I called the cops and I never saw any response," Petersen said. "They're up there in a $1,000-an-hour helicopter, why can't they come down and rip it out? It'll take 10 minutes."
State law allows medical marijuana for personal consumption, so investigators must find evidence that a cultivation is intended to be illegally sold before they can swoop in to rip out plants and make arrests, Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims said.
"We get to as many as we can," Mims said. "We can't do them all."
Until a few years ago, marijuana was grown almost exclusively in mountain hideaways. Not anymore.
About three years ago, grow sites began to sprout across the Valley floor; growers post medical marijuana recommendation letters from doctors and tell law enforcement they are caregivers growing for those too ill or unable to grow it themselves.
Those claims are met with deep suspicion. "Ninety-five percent are criminal operations," said Tulare County sheriff's Lt. Tom Sigley, who is in charge of that county's marijuana eradication efforts. "I have yet to see a legitimate caregiver."
Mims said law enforcement officials are stuck in the middle between Proposition 215 and criminals growing pot for the black market.
"It would be easy to pull plants, but the people of California voted the initiative in," Mims said. "It's morphed into something that's out of control."
State law allows people with a doctor's letter to grow marijuana; federal officials have said they won't investigate grows of fewer than 100 plants.
Drug traffickers compile dozens of medical marijuana recommendation letters and post them next to rows of marijuana plants, so even a suspiciously large grow requires a time-consuming investigation of a month or longer to get search warrants for a raid, said Fresno County sheriff's Lt. Rick Ko, who oversees marijuana eradication.
The enforcement process starts with letters sent to property owners, warning that their property could be seized under federal law unless the pot plants are destroyed.
In Fresno County, about half who get the letter comply; in Tulare County, it's about 70%, officials said.
Still, the rural grows continue and residents worry that their neighbors could be linked to drug cartels.
"Absolutely, people are afraid," Ko said. The department gets six or seven complaints a day, he said.
Country dwellers fume over neighboring marijuana sites
By Lewis Griswold The Fresno Bee
Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012 | 09:54 PM Modified Mon, Aug 13, 2012 05:56 AM
Carl and Maggie Huddleston's country home near Strathmore boasts a horse corral, fig tree, grape arbor and a view of the foothills.
But their view also includes a marijuana farm across the street that has turned their country dream into a nightmare.
"One of the things we're really concerned about is gunfire," said Maggie Huddleston, a nursing instructor at a private college who moved to the country six years ago.
It's a valid concern. A man guarding another marijuana grow site half a mile away was shot and killed last fall, a murder that still is unsolved.
Pot producers taking advantage of the state's medical marijuana law by growing an estimated 5 million marijuana plants on the San Joaquin Valley floor are encroaching on bucolic neighborhoods.
Rural residents like the Huddlestons complain about funky smells, mysterious nighttime activities and loss of property values, and ask authorities why the grow sites are allowed to flourish.
Alfalfa grower Steve Petersen, whose farm southwest of Fresno is across from a former grow site that included menacing guard towers and people coming and going at all hours of the day and night, says authorities are too slow to act.
"I called the cops and I never saw any response," Petersen said. "They're up there in a $1,000-an-hour helicopter, why can't they come down and rip it out? It'll take 10 minutes."
State law allows medical marijuana for personal consumption, so investigators must find evidence that a cultivation is intended to be illegally sold before they can swoop in to rip out plants and make arrests, Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims said.
"We get to as many as we can," Mims said. "We can't do them all."
Until a few years ago, marijuana was grown almost exclusively in mountain hideaways. Not anymore.
About three years ago, grow sites began to sprout across the Valley floor; growers post medical marijuana recommendation letters from doctors and tell law enforcement they are caregivers growing for those too ill or unable to grow it themselves.
Those claims are met with deep suspicion. "Ninety-five percent are criminal operations," said Tulare County sheriff's Lt. Tom Sigley, who is in charge of that county's marijuana eradication efforts. "I have yet to see a legitimate caregiver."
Mims said law enforcement officials are stuck in the middle between Proposition 215 and criminals growing pot for the black market.
"It would be easy to pull plants, but the people of California voted the initiative in," Mims said. "It's morphed into something that's out of control."
State law allows people with a doctor's letter to grow marijuana; federal officials have said they won't investigate grows of fewer than 100 plants.
Drug traffickers compile dozens of medical marijuana recommendation letters and post them next to rows of marijuana plants, so even a suspiciously large grow requires a time-consuming investigation of a month or longer to get search warrants for a raid, said Fresno County sheriff's Lt. Rick Ko, who oversees marijuana eradication.
The enforcement process starts with letters sent to property owners, warning that their property could be seized under federal law unless the pot plants are destroyed.
In Fresno County, about half who get the letter comply; in Tulare County, it's about 70%, officials said.
Still, the rural grows continue and residents worry that their neighbors could be linked to drug cartels.
"Absolutely, people are afraid," Ko said. The department gets six or seven complaints a day, he said.