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| A Bumper Year for Pot |
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Posted by FoM on June 09, 2001 at 07:44:07 PT By Larry D. Hatfield, Chronicle Staff Writer Source: San Francisco Chronicle 
Increasingly controlled by a handful of Mexican drug cartels, California's billion-dollar wilderness marijuana industry has shifted from the Emerald Triangle in the north to the southern Sierra Nevada, according to federal and state law enforcement officials. And after a record year last year, officials are gearing up for another bumper crop both in production and seizures this year. The highly valued California-grown pot is literally as valuable as gold, selling today for about the same price as the metal, at around $4,200 a pound. Snipped Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #3 posted by billygoatfunk on June 11, 2001 at 13:50:49 PT |
| Read between the lines... "The highly valued California-grown pot is literally as valuable as gold, selling today for about the same price as the metal, at around ******$4,20******0 a pound." [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by Imprint on June 09, 2001 at 16:18:08 PT |
| Marijuana grown in California is huge. Mendicino County is where I have gotten the majority of my weed in the past +20 years. My personal guess is that one forth of the population there is growing their own for personal use and sales. I toured a massive outdoor growing area that had previously been found and the pot plants were removed. This was very interesting set up. The property was in the 10 acre range. This is a well-wooded area (White Oak and Redwoods) with lots of ground cover. There was one main dwelling at the center of the property and spread out over the property was several sheds that were like outposts. These sheds had porches and TV antennas. Near the main dwelling was a manmade pond, lined with tulles, full of newts and bass. Buried and coming form the pond was a large tube that was connected to a pump in some nearby bushes. The pump was hooked up to an old Honda CVIC engine. It still had a portion of the dashboard mounted to it with an ignition switch, tachometer, fuel gage and such. There was a manifold connected to the pump, which feed several water lines that went in all directions of the property. These water lines were buried about 2-3 inches below the ground. The two growing areas I examined were very ingenious in design. A plant called Manzanita grows all over the hills in this area. This plant gets to be around 10 feet high and grows in large patches. The growers had removed all of the growth from the under side of these plants leaving an umbrella of Manzanita growing at the top of each plant. So, from above the patch of Manzanita would look normal. There was a surprising amount of headroom. All of the pots for the pot plants were still there, spaced about 3 feet apart. Each pot had the stem of the pot plant sticking out up to where the DEA had cut them off. Water lines were still present with feeder lines to each plant. These areas were well kept with pathways and no weeds. Entrance into the patch wasn’t obvious. Walking up to the patch it just looked like another patch of Manzanita; you had to find a opening that went through a small maze that lead into the growing area. A great amount of time and resource was used to create this. I had this opportunity because a relative of mine was doing some work for the fellow that bought the property in a seizure auction. An interesting side note, my relative used the CVIC engine as a replacement in an old CVIC. The car was used for a couple of years before being sold and driven across the country. This is typical for this area. People have found abandoned mines and grown underground, a common tactic is to grow several small patches of marijuana spread out over a 1-2 acre area in US forests. Indoor growing is big there; the nurseries have more grow lamp and hydroponics supplies than any store I have seen in the Bay Area. Folks use generators and have also tapped into the main electricity line to avoid meter detection and of course not having to pay for the service. The feds don’t have a clue of what they are up against. Cartels or not, thousands of ponds of marijuana are produced in this one area each year. This is clearly the main source of commerce for this area. In the local video store you can rent a tape on how to grow in the local forest. One last note I have meet several folks that are experts on wild mushroom picking. I guess you know what this is all about. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by Doug on June 09, 2001 at 11:03:02 PT |
| Whenever I read an article quoting law-enforcement agents of any stripe, I immediately discount it. They have lied so repeatedly and so blatantly that this is the only safe course. I realize that occasionally they may tell the truth, but they've blown their credibility. I would think that law officers would realize this problem, and try to improve their image for truth. This is another effect of prohibition. [ Post Comment ] |
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