In the special marijuana-themed Nov. 18 issue of The Nation magazine, reporter Seth Zuckerman chronicles the environmental impacts of indoor and outdoor grow operations here in Humboldt County. Quoting locals such as Friends of The Eel River Executive Director Scott Graecen, HSU lecturer Tony Silvaggio and Arcata City Councilman Michael Winkler, Zuckerman describes the scope […]
Marijuana
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Sheriff Downey: ‘It Sickens Me What’s Happening to Our County’
Members of the Buckeye Conservancy gathered along with HSU faculty, local business owners and timber industry professionals last night for a presentation by Sheriff Mike Downey on the impact of industrial marijuana grows. “It sickens me to see what’s happening to our county,” said Downey. In a 20-minute slideshow presentation the sheriff illustrated the environmental […]
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$21 Million Worth of Pot Busted in the Last Three Days
A series of massive busts on timber and public lands in SoHum brought down more than 20,000 marijuana plants and 600 pounds of pot — a value of $21 million, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Deputies found a house being used for drying an processing by following a trail of marijuana leaves from one of […]
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UPDATE: Canceled! Eureka Looks to Ban Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
UPDATE: Scratch all that. Eureka City Councilmember Linda Atkins just called to let us know that the meeting is indeed canceled, as had been rumored and (we were told) debunked earlier today. What the heck is going on? “Hiccups and miscommunications and things,” Atkins said. Criminy. Who’s running this city? Original post: With less than two […]
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2,000 Plants Nabbed in SoHum Bust
Another week, another stream-threatening, tree-razing, trash-burning grow busted. This one, a couple miles east of South Fork High School, yielded more than 2,000 plants and no arrests. The Sheriff’s Office — joined by Cal Fire, Fish and Wildlife and the Drug Task Force — found unpermitted structures, filled in water courses, grading, illegal burn piles […]
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Dan Rather and Jared Huffman Tour Pot Grows in a Helicopter
In this week’s “Week in Weed” column, we chat with our U.S. Congressman, Rep. Jared Huffman, about his latest trip to Humboldt, during which he was briefed by Sheriff Mike Downey about marijuana issues and interviewed by the one and only Dan Rather. They also went for a helicopter ride. Pick up this week’s Journal […]
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Stream-sucking Grows Busted
Two busts east of Garberville yesterday turned up just the kind of ecological havoc that’s been infuriating environmentalists and getting the attention of our Congressman. Along with the usual guns, greenhouses and greenbacks ($198,000 at one property) Fish and Wildlife say they found pumps draining Mattole Canyon Creek, sucking up salmon and steelhead smolt, and […]
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Listen: This American Life Talks Mendo’s Pot Program
If you missed the latest episode of This American Life, the fantastic, award-winning public radio program broadcast locally on KHSU, then you’ve yet to hear reporter Mary Cudddehe’s take on Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman and his ill-fated attempt to bring sanity to medical marijuana regulation. As you may recall, Allman came up with Mendocino […]
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Attorney General Makes Drug Sentencing Slightly Less Insane
In a possible departure from the Obama administration’s drug war reversals and doublespeak, Attorney General Eric Holder announced today that some low-level, nonviolent drug offenders will no longer face long, mandatory minimum sentences in federal prisons. Speaking in front of the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates in San Francisco, Holder was quoted as saying, “Too many […]
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Study Says Weed Can Fight Diabetes, Make You Thinner
Can firing up a joint help prevent diabetes? Are stoners skinnier than non-stoners? A new scientific study suggests that, yeah, dude. Tooootally. Regular marijuana smokers have better blood sugar control, which can reduce their risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, according to a new study from the American Journal of Medicine. Not only that, but […]
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Fourth of July Grow Op Bust in Eureka Uncovers 147 Plants
Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office: On 7-4-2012, approximately 11:00 a.m. Humboldt County Sheriff’s Community Response Unit (C.R.U.) deputies served a Humboldt County Superior Court Search Warrant on a residence in the 4000 block of Little Fairfield Street, Eureka. When deputies served the search warrant they located two people in the residence, Austin […]
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McKinleyville Bust: Lots o’ Weed, Lots o’ Guns, Lots o’ Cash
Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office: On 07-03-2012, approximately 5:00 p.m. Agents from the Humboldt County Drug Task Force ( H.C.D.T.F.) assisted by deputies from Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Community Response Unit (C.R.U.) served a Humboldt County Superior Court search warrant in the 3200 block of Halfway Avenue, McKinleyville. When the search […]