The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) is inviting state and federal lawmakers to come out and see the growing problems illegal marijuana grows are bringing to their county.
Sheriff Jerimiah LaRue posted on SCSO's Facebook this week calling for the state to declare a state of emergency and acknowledge the effects illegal marijuana grows have on their community.
*The team is out here, every week, serving search warrants," LaRue said. “It is my job, as the Sheriff, to uphold my oath; to take care of the community. I carry that burden and it’s serious to me. And I owe it to the community to do all that I can. I just need help from people above me.”
Congressman Doug LaMalfa said he visited Siskiyou County last year and saw the destruction.
“In your opinion, what’s the solution to help Siskiyou County," KRCR Mason Carroll asked.
“The bottom line is they need more dollars to do this because they can’t do it with the personnel they have, as hard as they try, and I don’t see any big help coming from the state," LaMalfa said.
KRCR has spoken with LaRue in the past and he points to the environmental effects these grows have. This is also where he suggests state leaders create bipartisan laws to tackle the issue.
KRCR also talked with senator Brian Dahle who sits on the state toxicity committee about the environmental solution.
“I’ve been pushing for that," Dahle said. "If you can’t get them on the Prop 64 side of it, we need to help the environment. At the end of the day our environment is getting destroyed and we need to help our environment.”
Sheriff LaRue also asks for the protection of legitimate agriculture by enforcing laws against illegal cultivation and more funding so their team can tackle this issue which LaMalfa said might have to come from the federal government.
“I will do what I can in Congress to find ways to get money in the back door or other ways to make funding eligible to help battle this because this is not adding to the quality of life," LaMalfa said. "People have to live amongst it or see it sold on the street and somehow endangering their kids.”
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