Growing tomatoes in my little green house or garden and selling them to the co-op op does not require all those inspectors as Mr. Owen insists. In fact that occurs here in Humboldt County regularly.

And if marijuana growers were stopped the income of this county would fall so low it could be disastrous.

Many estimate that pot brings in several million dollars a year spent mainly in Humboldt County. If you think Humboldt is hurting now it would die a slow death without the largest cash crop in the area. This innocuous weed is fairly harmless and helps numerous folks in medical and economic ways.

[continues 146 words]

As the local police are being put on the carpet for busting pot growers through use of code violations, it occurs to me they are missing civic priorities. Methamphetamine use is at an all-time high, and Humboldt County has more than its share of these meth users, or so-called "tweekers."

"Tweekers" - the word sounds so innocuous, almost whimsical, but it is evil in its effects on our community. Tweekers ruin the local parks, leave needles in children's playgrounds, perform theft and petty crimes or aggressive panhandling - all caused by the use of methamphetamine.

[continues 500 words]

It struck my attention as soon as I saw the headlines in the Eureka Times-Standard reading: "Drug task force seizes $120K worth of heroin" (March 15). The headlines were my worst fears coming true, for it is the proof of what the global media has been screaming for a while: Heroin is on the way back, and now it is here in our county.

One quickly realized it is the Bush policy in Afghanistan coming home to roost, right here in Humboldt County. Not only did we miss our chance to get Bin Laden and stop al-Qaida at its roots. We turned loose another monster on the globe -- heroin.

[continues 497 words]