WEEDS: Suburbia Turns To Marijuana Cultivation

DeSwiss

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Sun Aug-05-07 11:49 PM
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WEEDS: Suburbia Turns To Marijuana Cultivation

Illegal Crops Creep Into the Suburbs
Increased Border Security Forces Growers To Change Locations, Officials Say

By Kari Lydersen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, August 5, 2007; A14

BARRINGTON, Ill. -- This town of 10,000 in the northwest Chicago suburbs is home to upscale subdivisions, one of the wealthiest Zip codes in the country, and borders a leafy forest preserve popular with bird-watchers, hikers and runners. So, to many people, it was a shock when federal and state agents raided the preserve two weeks ago and eradicated 18 fields of about 60,000 marijuana plants, some of them 8 feet tall. Marijuana crops on public land are old news in Appalachia and the Pacific Northwest. But drug enforcement agents and drug policy analysts say tighter security along the U.S.-Mexico border since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has led to an increase in domestic marijuana cultivation closer to urban areas such as the one at the Crabtree Nature Center.

"Obviously, it saves the drug organizations money when they can grow it here in the U.S., instead of smuggling it across the border," said Joanna Zoltay, spokeswoman for the Chicago field division of the Drug Enforcement Administration. "Since 9/11, the border is definitely tighter. There have always been crops grown on public land, but since 9/11, there's been a steady increase."

Lloyd Easterling, acting assistant chief of the U.S. Border Patrol, said 145,438 pounds of marijuana were seized at the border during the fiscal year that ended June 30, up from 138,822 pounds in the previous year. The deployment of National Guard troops to the border in Operation Jump Start has put pressure on drug smugglers, he said. "We've added additional manpower, more tactical infrastructure, more technology in the field; we have more people and more things in more places than we've ever had before, so it's definitely a lot harder" to get drugs across, he said.

Zoltay said marijuana crops are discovered in suburban Chicago preserves every year, but the plant count is usually in the hundreds. In 2006, more than 4.8 million marijuana plants were found on public land, up from 3.9 million in 2005 and 2.9 million in 2004, Zoltay said, noting that plants seized from public land outnumber indoor seizures 10 to 1.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/04/AR2007080401388_pf.html

*** - I'm beginning to see marijuana plants growing everywhere. I was sitting in the drive-thru last year and noticed that beyond the decorative picket fence were three or four beautiful marijuana plants that had to be at least 5' or 6' tall. I've seen them growing along side creek beds and next to water sources around small bridges. They're just everywhere. The ubiquity of these plants is undeniable and if the feds think that they can stop people from throwing seeds out of a car window they're crazier than even I thought. So remember boys and girls, do your part to offset global warming -- plant a marijuana tree today!!!!