Pubdate: Thu, 14 Sep 2000
Source: Boulder Weekly (CO)
Contact:  690 South Lashley Lane Boulder, CO, 80303
Fax: (303) 494-2585
Website: http://www.boulderweekly.com/
Authors: Rob Graffis, Laura Kriho
Referenced:  http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00.n1425.a08.html

BLACK HELICOPTERS

Wayne Laugesen's article "Black helicopter invasion" was a good report on 
how the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, local law enforcement and 
the National Guard team up to fight the war on cannabis in Boulder County 
(Wayne's Word, Sept. 7-13). Laugesen reports on one recent day in Ward when 
the Boulder County Drug Task Force, hovering in unmarked helicopters, spied 
and confiscated 27 cannabis plants from one house. I can't imagine how much 
it costs to run a helicopter and personnel eight hours a day for a two to 
three month harvest season, but you can be assured your tax dollars are 
working hard. Surely, it must be worth your money to confiscate 27 plants 
from someone's personal stash?

The DEA's cannabis eradication program is in full swing in Colorado.
I've heard complaints from all over the state about low-flying,
unmarked helicopters terrorizing people, children and animals. But
what is it that they are really eradicating?

A 1998 Vermont State Auditor's report evaluated the DEA's Cannabis
Eradication/Suppression Program. The Vermont report revealed that over
99 percent of the 422,716,526 total marijuana plants eradicated
nationwide by the DEA in 1996 were "ditchweed." The DEA defines
ditchweed as "Wild, scattered marijuana plants (with) no evidence of
planting, fertilizing or tending" what we call "industrial hemp."
While marijuana contains from 4 to 20 percent THC (the psychoactive
chemical), industrial hemp or ditchweed contains less than 1 percent
THC. In fact, industrial hemp that was recently confiscated illegally
by the DEA from Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota
contained less than 0.01 percent THC. The Vermont Auditor's report
found that the DEA spent over $9 million on marijuana eradication
efforts in all 50 states in 1996. (This figure does not include the
cost of state and local participation.) So most of the money spent on
the war on cannabis really goes to eradicate ditchweed, not commercial
marijuana.

I would like to ask the Boulder County Commissioners how much local
taxpayer money is spent on eradication programs, and do they think the
programs are worth the cost? County Commissioner Paul Danish has been
an outspoken critic of the war on drugs, and many people would like to
hear his assessment of the issue.

For more information on this issue, see www.norml.org,
www.mapinc.org/drugnews and www.levellers.org/cohip.

Laura Kriho, Nederland

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Regarding Wayne Laugesen's article about the black helicopters over Ward,
I'm not really surprised that the National Guard would issue two military
"huey" helicopters and two detectives from the Boulder County Drug Task
Force so they can look for marijuana plants growing on people's front
porches.

Detective Burness thought the helicopter rides were "fun," and was
excited he "saw a black bear on the backside of one of the Flatirons."
I'm impressed, especially when it comes at the tax payer's expense. In
1989, I was visiting a relative in the U.S. Virgin Islands. I saw a
military helicopter hovering over his property, and he casually told
me it was a "marijuana helicopter." St. Croix is a small island which
is only about 25 miles long and 5 miles wide, and frequently visited
by hurricanes. It is a speck compared to Puerto Rico, and a molecule
compared to Jamaica. It is not exactly the stuff marijuana export
islands are made of. True, some people do grow it there, but mostly
for themselves, not for export.

During that visit, I walked through "the bush" with some friends of
mine. We came across a quarter acre field that was bulldozed to the
dirt. Some locals explained that the authorities found marijuana
there, and took it upon themselves to not only remove the plants, but
to plow it (including a small building that was on the premises) to
set an example. I was wondering how much money is spent on these
joyrides just so officials can hold up a couple of marijuana plants
for a newspaper photographer and say "We're winning the war on drugs"?

Rob Graffis, Boulder