Pot Busts Hit Shopkeepers Hardest

LEAD: Not long ago, when hundreds defied the law and grew marijuana openly in this region's remote valleys, cash flowed easily along the town's Main Street, spurring one of the biggest bonanzas in the history of a rawboned town whose economic story has been one long chronicle of boom and bust.
Not long ago, when hundreds defied the law and grew marijuana openly in this region's remote valleys, cash flowed easily along the town's Main Street, spurring one of the biggest bonanzas in the history of a rawboned town whose economic story has been one long chronicle of boom and bust.
But these days shopkeepers fret about a five-year-old police crackdown and the business recession it has produced in this town of 1,400 residents some 200 miles north of San Francisco. Many have complained that the police raids also yielded many civil rights violations. A Federal judge agreed and last month the police consented to changing their procedures.
What was once a blustery rural town has become a conservative and suspicious community down on its luck and afraid of the next police assault in August.
Motels are half empty. Garden supply stores that sold irrigation equipment, organic fertilizer and other supplies - to marijuana growers, among others - have laid off workers. Real estate values have plummeted.''We figure business in town is off 40 percent or more,'' said John T. Dimmick, owner of The Feed Store, who is president of the Chamber of Commerce.''The marijuana boom was a phenomenon that won't happen again because the police won't let it happen again. People who didn't think they played a role in the marijuana economy are finding out that it affected all of us.''
No one was ever certain how much marijuana was grown in the sunny valleys and on the south slopes of the hills surrounding Garberville. But everybody agreed that it was rampant.
The area's mild climate, ample rainfalls and well-drained soils supported marijuana plants that grew thick and heavy with potent buds that growers could sell for $2,000 a pound or more. A quarter-acre of pot plants could earn $100,000 for its owner.
The marijuana-selling business was started in the early 1970's by a few hippies who produced their own and traded with friends. Gradually, it became a major agricultural product, bigger even than the Humboldt County timber harvest.

Garberville was recognized as the center of the Emerald Triangle, a region of northern California, including Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity counties, thought to produce 30 to 40 percent of the state's $1 billion annual marijuana crop.
This drw a criminal element, who brought deadly weapons and a penchant for using them. Murders and other violent crimes soared.
In late 1983, the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration, the state Attorney General's Office and local sheriff departments began the Campaign Against Marijuana Planting, or CAMP, in rural California counties to eradicate the illegal harvest. Of particular concern was the Garberville region, which became a staging area each fall for 600 men, and a small air force of helicopters and light planes.
By 1987, the largest growers had either fled or faced indictments. Many who grew one or two plants to supplement incomes quit the practice. City leaders agree the annual harvest is a shadow of what it was.
''CAMP has been very effective,'' said Mr. Dimmick.''People are glad that the large grower has been pushed out. But people also feel that there is an overkill. You have to question why CAMP keeps hitting the area again and again.''
CAMP officials promised to continue to raid marijuana gardens in the Garberville region.''They say enough is enough and we don't believe that,'' said Jack Beecham, the program's commander.''There is a feeling among a subculture up there that they have a right to grow an illegal product. The goal of the program is to bring it under control and by no means do we feel the problem is under control.''
When they return next August, the officers will be required to abide by a new set of court-ordered rules of conduct. The rules stem from a lawsuit brought by 22 people who said the officers had engaged in a persistent pattern of civil rights violations, including invading rural homes without authorization and buzzing remote farms in helicopters.

The officers denied the charges, but many allegations were confirmed in court. In 1985, a Federal District judge, Robert P. Aguilar, named a retired state superior court jurist to monitor CAMP's activities. Last year, the police and the defendants reached agreement on how raids should be conducted. Judge Aguilar approved it in December.

A certain shop by the courthouse was gardening instead of tending to business. Gardening may be more profitable.

"Pot Busts Hit Shopkeepers Hardest"

Most of the pot that’s grown ends up being sold to kids ergo; most of the money that comes from selling pot comes from kids. Having businesses that rely upon the poisoning of kids and destruction of their educations to stay in businesses is a bad thing.

The entire argument that illegal drug money is helping our business community is bogus. Another way that pot money hurts businesses is that it's impossible to find employees because growers pay from $20.00 to $30.00 an hour for clipping. Most businesses cant even come close to paying anywhere near this amount.

Huge sums of illegal drug money in this area also cause local inflation to skyrocket. Many local stores are charging prices that are twice as much as you would pay in Santa Rosa because there are so many growers and they know the growers will pay it. This puts a serious squeeze on all the locals who choose not to make millions by poisoning kids with illegal drugs.

Pot growers will pay way more for a piece of property than it's worth because they think they’re going to make millions by growing pot on it.

There are only a hand full of businesses that make money from the pot industry. If your a Nursery, Hydroponics shop or one of the few favorite hangouts of the growers, Then your raking in the cash, but most others can't afford to stay in business because of this local inflation.

Yes. Real Estate people and hydroponic shops. It isn't fun money anymore. It's money to exist so they don't appear to lavish it around anymore. They also don't want it to be a red flag.

Shopkeeper wrote:

Garberville was recognized as the center of the Emerald Triangle, a region of northern California, including Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity counties, thought to produce 30 to 40 percent of the state's $1 billion annual marijuana crop.

Mendocino County alone produces well over $15 Billion worth of marijuana annually. These numbers source from a collection of State and Federal law enforcement estimators. Four years ago a Ukiah Daily Journal Staff Writer estimated over ten Billion in annual pot profits for Mendocino County.

Great response, Watcher! I think the county is perfectly capable of surviving without commercial growers.

Btw, which stores are closing??

Isn't it possible that the stores closed for other reasons..i.e. a change of hands, bad management, poor service, lack of diversity in products, poor advertisement, high cost of rent, etc?*insert sarcasm*

Or, maybe the owners are growers themselves (and have been arrested for breaking the law?)

Less than 20 locations busted for cultivation this year so far.(nothing)Its a shame the money is now leaving the county.Growers are still here but spending their money eleswhere... Is it a boycott?

So what shops are these?

As long as u can pay off the feds, the state, and the local police DTO`s will still be here and measure B will not have done anything to eradicate the fields in the national forest. Last time I checked we can still call the INS on Immigal immigrants and get your precious wine industry destroyed. CALL THE DEA WELL CALL ICE. So contact the INS or ICE today and help rid the country of terrorists.Whats worse, Bush senior sold cocaine to the youth, helped the Bin Laden family escape, stole an election twice for his son who is literally killing the youth. Pot may be "dangerous" but what isn`t in a world of greed and fear. lady get a life

john handcock wrote:

As long as u can pay off the feds, the state, and the local police DTO`s will still be here and measure B will not have done anything to eradicate the fields in the national forest. Last time I checked we can still call the INS on Immigal immigrants and get your precious wine industry destroyed. CALL THE DEA WELL CALL ICE. So contact the INS or ICE today and help rid the country of terrorists.Whats worse, Bush senior sold cocaine to the youth, helped the Bin Laden family escape, stole an election twice for his son who is literally killing the youth. Pot may be "dangerous" but what isn`t in a world of greed and fear. lady get a life

REPORT SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY

1-866-DHS-2-ICE
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Dont let the illegals fool you...Call Today!!!

Watcher wrote:

<quoted text>
Mendocino County alone produces well over $15 Billion worth of marijuana annually. These numbers source from a collection of State and Federal law enforcement estimators. Four years ago a Ukiah Daily Journal Staff Writer estimated over ten Billion in annual pot profits for Mendocino County.

Actually, it was more in the 1-6 billion dollar range. No estimates form either State or Federal law enforcement have every come anywhere close to 15 billion - that's just you making up statistics again.

Here's one of the more recent estimates, from a document that came from John Wattenburger himself:

"Estimates of plant product range from ½ to over one pound per plant. The wholesale value can be estimated at between $2000 to $3500 per pound. Mendocino plant production has been estimated at between 1 to 1.8 million plants."

So at a half pound per plant, with 1 million plants and a price of $2,000 per pound that would be a little over 1 billion at the low end, and with 1 pound a plant, 1.8 million total plants, and a price of $3500 per pound that would be a little over 6 billion at the high end.

COMMET estimates that the marijuana that it does NOT seize accounts for 1.5 billion annually.

Pretty much any source for this information puts the actual value of marijuana being produced here between 10%-30% of what you claim.

I hope all of the growers get busted. Even the little ones. It's illegal. Stop growing it or get busted. The choice is yours!

I AM LADY wrote:

A certain shop by the courthouse was gardening instead of tending to business. Gardening may be more profitable.

which one was that?

Blah wrote:

So what shops are these?

Definitely not the ones who sell hygiene products, soaps, or haircuts. Those shops, I guess, will fare well no matter what happens to the MJ trade..... ;-)

JoseSmith wrote:

I hope all of the growers get busted. Even the little ones. It's illegal. Stop growing it or get busted. The choice is yours!

Medical Marijuana is not illegal; strange how a so many people cannot seem to comprehend this.

Think wrote:

<quoted text>
Medical Marijuana is not illegal; strange how a so many people cannot seem to comprehend this.

Medical Marijuana is a lie used by growers to make huge sums of money selling drugs mostly to kids.

There is nothing medical about the hundreds of poisons in pot smoke. I know this is true because as a carpenter I have been there when some of the biggest growers were all together laughing at how easy it is to get rich with just a couple of lies. Half of these growers don’t even smoke pot because it they say it f**ks then up to much.

I'll say it again. "Medical Marijuana" is a lie used by crooks to poison kids for cash.

IT'S THAT SIMPLE!

Linnea wrote:

Great response, Watcher! I think the county is perfectly capable of surviving without commercial growers.
Btw, which stores are closing??
Isn't it possible that the stores closed for other reasons..i.e. a change of hands, bad management, poor service, lack of diversity in products, poor advertisement, high cost of rent, etc?*insert sarcasm*
Or, maybe the owners are growers themselves (and have been arrested for breaking the law?)

I don't work for growers any more but as a carpenter I have been involved with helping many large and small growers start their businesses. Growers are the worst money managers I have ever met. Every grower I knew that had a business operated the whole time in the red. These so called businesses were really just hobbies cause the growers were bored.

I think it's really sad when that 1% of growers who own a successful business also decides to make extra money by poisoning kids with pot.

OVER GROW THE GOV wrote:

Mongo your probably a Hispanic that voted for GWB Yah like he give a f*&K about you hes a member of the KKK lynch en your ****. You need to smoke medicine and chill out you misinformed. Hey didn't missionaries enslave the natives and brain wash them, treating the children like prisoners the christians are the real child poisoners, enslaving people with their lies to dominate chistopher columbus was nothing more than a ****!!
<quoted text>

"OVER GROW THE GOV" you are definitely an immature idiot that needs to have your mother put you over her knee and spank some maturity and respect into you.