Harvest time means more crime for area
Sheriff’s Office takes to the skies to weed out marijuana farms
It’s harvest time for marijuana plants and with that comes an increased potential for violent crimes. In the past month, the Journal has reported a handful of thefts involving pot plants and violence. There have also been several large drug raids at grow sites in the area. “This is harvesting time,” said Sgt. John Giovannini with Placer County Sheriff’s Office. “We’re finding more and more grows all over the state.” On Friday, Giovannini reported that Tahoe division deputies found two separate illegal marijuana grow sites in the same week. Three men were arrested in connection with the gardens that had an estimated street value of $750,000. Christopher Egger, 23, of Tahoe City, Steven Day, 48, of Olympic Valley and Mathew Steele, 28, of Tahoe City were arrested on charges of marijuana cultivation, possession of marijuana for sale and conspiracy. All three were no longer in custody as of Monday. Two of the related marijuana sites, one of which yielded about 200 mature plants, were found in the Deep Creek Drainage area just north of Olympic Valley while the third site, which had about 31 mature plants, was found in the Pole Creek drainage area just north of Olympic Valley. No arrests were made at the site of the third garden. Giovannini said the sheriff’s helicopter “Falcon 30” was “instrumental” in weeding out the gardens from natural forest in the area. “This time of year the helicopters are coming out a lot of the time looking for grows,” Giovannini said. “It’s getting close to harvest time and the plants are much more visible.” The Tahoe bust isn’t the only recent marijuana-related crime in the area: - In early September, Nevada County Sheriff’s officials arrested Charles Hilkey, 55, of North San Juan, for his alleged ties to 10 indoor and outdoor marijuana gardens in a 360-acre area in North San Juan. - One Colfax and one Auburn man were arrested Sept. 15 on charges related to a violent marijuana theft. Kenneth James Rutledge, 21 of Colfax, and Christopher Blake Hixson, 20, of Auburn, were charged with a felony count of robbery and misdemeanor charges of battery, petty theft and transportation of less than 28.5 grams of marijuana. The two men allegedly stole six of a Colfax man’s medical marijuana plants. When the man confronted Rutledge and Hixson, the two reportedly kneed and punched the victim. Rutledge and Hixson also reportedly stole the victim’s loaded shotgun. - El Dorado County Sheriff’s investigators are searching for three to seven suspects in a home burglary and assault case Sept. 25 in Garden Valley. Seven people allegedly broke into a Garden Valley man’s home and stole the medical marijuana plants in his backyard. They reportedly used guns and left some of their weaponry on scene. The homeowner was also left to bandage up several abrasions and bruises following a fight, Lt. Bryan Golmitz reported. Jenifer Gee can be reached at jeniferg@goldcountrymedia.com.
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Hey, AJ...what happened to Penny Usher? She was pretty. I was jury foreman on a murder trial in O5 or 06. Bring her back, OK?
It was all for medicinal purposes, no doubt.
If we are serious about reducing crime, let's legalize marijuana. Visit http://yes390.org
ABC390: Simple comment for ya.....'I don't think so Jim'
ABC390, if we are seroius about reducing crime why don't we just decriminalize everything but rape and murder. Bad logic.
Those of you who don't want it decriminalized, just be satisfied with the level & frequency of this particular "crime" 'cause it's never gonna be altered one iota regardless of any Law Enforcement action.
Why do the police waste their time chasing pot growers? How's about shutting down the real criminals in the county planning department and the board of supervisors?
All this time and money waisted when they could be making it legal and making a profit. This leaves me wondering how all the stupid people get left in charge????
i doubt making marijuana legal will stop these crimes, the lazy people who don't want to grow it will just steal it from the people growing it no matter what, nothing will stop that unless marijuana is given out for free at every corner in the USA because then criminals can't make a profit on it and its easy to get.
LoomisResident - Every time there is an article regarding this subject there are the usual remarks about the merits of decriminalization of marijuana, and every time I see a post from you essentially stating that if we decriminalize marijuana we should decriminalize everything else as well...(and yes, I understand your intention of irony).
I can think of many crimes aside from murder and rape that should be illegal - from child abuse to drinking and driving. These crimes are illegal because they do or can potentially harm someone, and I think we can all agree that if a person is harming someone they should be stopped. I believe this is why we have laws. To protect us all from harm. Can you tell me how growing and smoking marijuana harms anyone? Can you tell me how you can justify it to other crimes that do harm and victimize people? Growing marijuana is a victimless crime- no one is harmed but the act is still illegal.
Making something illegal does not make it go away - it simply forces it underground where it becomes more dangerous for people to grow and for people to obtain - hence the robberies. Regardless of how you might disapprove of the use of marijuana, it will never be eradicated. It is a useful natural medicine that people (including many notable historical figures) have used for thousands of years.
Our disapproval of an act is not enough justification for making the act illegal. Harm is the key. If it harms none, it should not be illegal.
legalize it. who cares who smokes pot. take away the "forbidden fruit" aspect of it, drop the value by selling it at walmart with the cigarettes and sha-zam. no police time wasted and some taxes brought in. and i don't even smoke it in fact, i dont care who smokes it. all they do is eat and laugh and play video games.
Pot is already the easiest drug for anyone to get. The fact that it's illegal does very little to deter it's use.
Pot is arguably the lessor of two evils when compared to alcohol. Yet, booze is regulated and taxed and made available to anyone with the cash to spend.
We already attempted to make alcohol illegal in this country and we had the same reaction from the populace. All the manufacturing went underground and made a lot of criminals rich as a result.
Pot should be made legal so the criminal element can be removed from the equation.
We've wasted enough taxpayer dollars chasing the marijuana tail!
Pot is for stupid morons. Legalizing it will only spread the stupidity.
"Pot is for stupid morons. Legalizing it will only spread the stupidity."
One could say the same about booze.......
Pot is a carcinogenic just like cigarettes, but it goes one step further it numbs a person's senses. How much tax will it take to keep people from using tobacco or pot (if legal)?
POT- No deaths ever. Does not have the same carcinogenics as Cigarrettes. And even with out state taxes being added to marijauna, our economy would still be stimulated by Hemp. You can make paper and clothes and rope. And Bio Deisel.
NiavJoyce, can you prove that marijuana is a victimless crime? I personally could care less whether it's legalized or not. I used it many years ago and it didn't do me any harm. My comment was towards those that want to decriminalize it by using the logic you didn't like me using. I know there are many more crimes besides rape and murder that should remain criminalized, I just don't have a horse in this race and don't plan to spend hours either typing posts for or against pot.
They should criminalize belonging to the GOP. Clearly, it makes you say things like "less government," "less government intrusion into personal lives," "free markets," but not really mean it. Even if you at one time were a member of the GOP, it has lasting effects and has permanent brain damage. Belonging to the GOP makes you stubborn and unwilling to adapt to the ever changing world. It also makes you ignore new found facts and studies.
We will all look back at the fact that a plant in its purest of forms was illegal with shock and horror. Just like we look back at things like slavery, or the belief that the sun orbits the earth, or that witches float.
Smith278, lol nice propaganda.
2049er, less government does not mean legalize everything and regulate nothing. Your extremist views are fallible and myopic.
DSalazar: what are you talking about? "legalize everything" ? How do you get THAT from my post??? You're on some kind of pharmaceutical mind drug right now aren't you?
I gotta agree with Salazar. 2049er, I think he is taking your views to their logical conclusion. You wrote an unintelligent statement in attempt to bash your political opponents and he called you on it. Nothing more.
wow, pot talk beats cat talk by one comment...anyone going to work today?
I am ambivalent about pot use.
Obviously, even after all these years of being illegal to possess or sell, people who want to use it largely ignore the law.
I also believe most people who want to smoke pot already are. It's hard for me to imagine a big increase in usage if it were legalized.
I feel the same way about alcohol, though.
Alcohol use is probably many times greater than pot use, yet, it's a legal product.
Does pot use physically harm the user more than alcohol?
Are there more broken families due to pot use than alcohol?
Are we spending more money dealing with pot crimes or alcohol related crimes?
In my opinion alcohol is just as dangerous and destructive as pot. Don't get me wrong. As far as I'm concerned, alcohol and pot are both bad, and I would advise everyone to stay away from both.
But, why do we separate these two drugs by making one legal and the other not?
it took a Constitutional Ammendment to make alcohol illegal in this country. where was the pot ammendment? what - exactly - was the logic behind alcohol prohibition being un-constitutional (pre-18th Ammendment)? is there something in the specific chemical composition of alcohol that made prohibiting it a violation of the Constitution? that doesn't make any sense. it was the prohibition part that didn't pass constitutional muster. that should remain the concern, both with marijuana and every other illegal substance. in fact, with any consensual crime.
right and/or left-wingers take note:
the arguments for the drug war are exactly the same arguments for gun control. ipso: the [sound] arguments AGAINST one are the same arguments against the other. Both stem from prophylactic (pre-emptive) prohibitions based on what you MIGHT do, not on anything you have actually done. something to consider, especially if you're for one and against the other. of course, if you're for both, you're at least consistent in your opposition to freedom.
loomis: it is not the place of anyone to "prove that marijuana is a victimless crime" or indeed that ANYTHING is a victimless crime. the burden of proof is on those making something illegal to prove the victimhood. the burden of proof should always be on those who infringe upon freedom of action to prove that the prevention of actual crime - the kind that involves an actual victim - outweighs the infringement. In other words - you do not have to "prove" that your fondness for ice cream is "victimless" -- it would be up to those who want to infringe upon your freedom to prove that your ice cream usage victimizes someone. The alternative is insane, actually, but something people take for granted in the area of socially frowned-upon activities.
In my opinion, pot and alcohol are not comparable substances, but if you look at them both like drugs there are some similarities. I believe that alcohol is legal because when prohibition began, they (Government + concerned citizens) believed that the banning of this substance would help our country, when in fact all it actually did was create more problems and crime than when it was legal. I do not agree with Wildfire 13, who thinks the crime rate will be the same. If it is anything like the ban on alcohol it should decrease. And who ever commented that pot is for stupid morons, I'd like to say that I believe that comment to be completely ingnorant. I'm not trying to attack your intelligence, I just question how many Stupid moron pot heads you know?
I do not dispute the fact that people will steal pot, there are theives in this world and thats what they do. I do not think pot really has anything to do with it. In conclusion, if we don't legalize it will we really ever get answers. It's like sex ed. If you are taught abstenance and thats it what do you really know about sex. You don't know how to keep your self safe or others. I also believe that all natural occurring drugs should be legalized, in order to better understand them and elimated gangs which only exist due to the illegality
The alcohol problem in this country is so great because it's legal and so many people use it. Some use it without getting drunk, some don't. if marijuana was legal the problems would skyrocket because it would be more commonly abused. Unlike alcohol, marijuana is used to get high. There is no responsible use. Furthermore, taxing it won;t pay for the problems it causes. That strategy didn't work with alcohol and it won't work with pot.
Realist,
What is the "responsible use" for alcohol. You're kidding yourself if you think people drink the stuff for any reason other than to get that buzz.
No offense, but it sounds like you've demonized pot in your mind, and alcohol simply gets a pass because more people use it. Is that what you believe?
Your speculation sounds reasonable but I don't believe pot use would increase all that much if it were legalized. Seems to me just about anyone who wants to use it right now already is.
The problems caused by both pot and alcohol are not going away regardless of how much tax is collected, but hat shouldn't be the only goal. If we quit putting money into catching the bad guys, and we collect tax on the sale, then it seems to me like a terrific net saving for the taxpayer.
Realist-
Alcohol is also an chemically addictive substance, while pot can be habit forming it is not. I believe alcoholism is a partially learned behavior. Most of today's young alcoholics are the children of alcoholics. I also disagree that pot is only used to get high. Medicinal marijuana users I think would also disagree. Many of them use marijuana to treat chronic pain, nausea, anxiety, depression, and PTSD. I don't think marijuana should be legalized so we can be ill educated about the substance and it's effects. I think America's drinking problems are because of the lack of education about the substances. It is automatically considered less harmful or less dangerous because it is legal. If all drug or for the sake of this argument just pot were legalized, I would hope that are nation would become more educated. I also believe that alcohol has more effect on the human body than marijuana. Alcohol is also one of the hardest drugs to detox from. No taxing probably won't make all our problems go away but the money being saved from not incarcerating people for victimless crimes might.
Realist- you also never answered my previous question. How many stupid moron marijuana users do you know?