Global Ganja Report

A massive, six-county cannabis eradication operation targeting Northern California's Mendocino National Forest is currently underway, with a multi-agency task force of hundreds of state, federal and county officers claiming seizures of some 292,000 plants and 77 arrests. "At this point, the operation is going as planned. We're making very good progress," said Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman. Raids are taking place simultaneously in Mendocino, Lake, Colusa, Glenn, Tehama, and Trinity counties, which all contain portions of the Mendocino National Forest.

Agents are eradicating the crops and removing infrastructure left behind by growers, including toxic chemicals and debris, law enforcement said. A US Justice Department press release especially played up these environmental impacts  "Large scale illegal marijuana cultivation leads to deforestation, damages wildlife habitats, and induces hazardous chemical pollution," the release said. "The use of herbicides, pesticides and rodenticides can cause extensive and long term damage to ecosystems and impact public drinking water for hundreds of miles. Reclaiming the devastated areas is a key component to the current operations."

Last summer's eradication operations on the North Coast were among the deadliest on record. Violent confrontations left five suspected growers dead in four Northern California counties within a seven-week period. (Red Bluff Daily News, Santa Rosa Press Democrat, July 25)