California County Sheriff has issued a state of emergency over illegal cannabis cultivation
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The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office in northernmost California is asking state and federal regulators to come and see firsthand the problems illicit cannabis cultivation is bringing to the county, KRCR reported to abc.
On Monday, Sheriff Jerimiah LaRue posted the following message along with video showing one of many illegal marijuana farms and the problems surrounding it on the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page.
Photo by Olena Ruban/Getty Images
“The purpose of this video is to make transparent what the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office regularly encounters when executing search warrants in illegal cannabis growing areas in the county,” the post reads.
LaRue declares a state of emergency and asks senior officials for help.
“The team is out here every week issuing search warrants,” LaRue said. “It’s my job as sheriff to keep my oath; to take care of the community. I carry this burden and I mean it. And I owe it to the community to do whatever I can. I just need help from people above me,” he wrote.
The video shows swimming pools being used as justification for water use but actually being routed straight to a greenhouse and many other disruptive things.
Congressman Doug LaMalfa said he visited Siskiyou County last year and witnessed the damage. According to him, the county needs more funding to deal with this enormous problem.
“What do you think is the solution to help Siskiyou County,” KRCR asked Mason Carroll.
RELATED: 73% of all marijuana bought and sold in California is made in the illicit market
“The bottom line is that they need more dollars to do this because, no matter how hard they try, they can’t do it with the staff that they have, and I don’t see much help from the state,” LaMalfa told KRCR Mason Caroll.
Photo by Mikhail Nilov from Pexels
LaRue has previously highlighted the negative environmental impact of illegal cannabis cultivation. He suggested that world leaders create bipartisan legislation to address the problem.
The Sheriff recommends protecting legal farming by enforcing laws that eliminate illegal farming. He is also seeking more financial support.
RELATED: Nearly 500,000 people work in the legal marijuana industry — how many work in the illicit market?
As for funding, LaMalfa responded that it may be dependent on the federal government.
“I’m going to do what I can in Congress to find ways to get money through the back door or other ways to make funds eligible to fight this issue because it’s not contributing to the quality of life,” LaMalfa said. “People have to live under it or see it being sold on the streets and somehow endangering their children.”
This article originally appeared on Benzinga and has been republished with permission.
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