Jeremiah LaRue was recently appointed as Siskiyou County’s sheriff last summer. YouTube released a videoTwo controversial new county groundwater laws were explained. He stated that the drought was severe and that illegal cannabis cultivation was contributing to it. LaRue spoke in front a green-screen projection depicting Mount Shasta. He used stock photos of cannabis plants and armed men as his talking points. The Water laws updatedIn what LaRue called the most effective strategy to stop them increasing violent crime, draining our water, and polluting the environment, it would ban groundwater delivery to cannabis farms.
LaRue’s department was rethinking how it policed the illegal cannabis industry. LaRue said that LaRue is becoming more responsible for the use of land and water in the county. High Country NewsHe needed better tools to prosecute environmental crimes.
A few months later the County Board of Supervisors that had appointed him adopted a budget that authorized more than $27 million in protection for police officers. This was $1.6 million more than what the county administrator had recommended, and more than $4.1 millions more than was spent in the previous year. The budget line for marijuana confiscation money, which was set aside for confiscation, nearly doubled. It went from $61,000 in fiscal year 2020-2021 down to $119,000 for 2022. It was the biggest increase in a decade. The county planning department, which oversees water and building regulations, was unable to keep its small number of code enforcement officers.
The budget increase reflects the county’s cannabis boom. It is difficult to quantify historically because it has been legalized and illegalized many times. The Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors declared emergency in 2019 claiming that there were more than 2,000 cannabis cultivation sites scattered throughout the arid valley, which overwhelmed the sheriffs office. In A legal affidavitLaRue claimed that the unspoiled, rugged terrain was covered in temporary structures. LaRue stated that the sheriff’s office was taking steps to address what it considers a growing problem. Instead of creating a permitting system to manage this uptick like other nearby counties, Siskiyous leaders decided not to implement one. They instead enacted a ban on cannabis operations. Policy to eliminateAs many plants as possible
Recent efforts to stop unpermitted cannabis grow are often directed at Hmong American and other Southeast Asian American farmers. Even those who don’t grow commercial cannabis can still benefit. Are vulnerable to armed raidsThose who grow commercially are subject to heavy fines as well as the threat of losing the land property they purchased with their life savings. (See previous reporting on Shasta Vista, which appeared in the November 2021 edition of this magazine.Khue Cha, a Hmong resident, stated that the county is trying to drive out the Hmong. An affidavit that was provided to the county. They have no right to do so because this land belongs exclusively to us.
LaRue claimed that cannabis farmers are polluting the environment with trash and that landowners who rent out to them are ruining their property. He advocates for more severe criminal punishment to not only stop the cannabis farmers but also to address the environmental damage they cause. He stated that laws are essential for our safety. HCNFebruary. There is no other way we can protect our land.
Siskiyou County’s hills have been home to cannabis growers for decades. However, the industry exploded after California legalized marijuana in 2016. A small number of subdivisions were also started in Shasta Valley by a predominantly Hmong American American community. The county banned all commercial cannabis within a year, in defiance of decriminalization trends throughout the country. This change in policy changed the course of county policy. Previously, they had been moving towards regulation but did not discourage farming. According to real estate experts, farmers, residents, researchers, large tracts have been purchased by monied investors to produce cannabis on an industrial scale. This is a stark contrast with smaller cannabisfarmers.High Country Newsinterviewed.
The county wants the Hmong to leave. They don’t have the right to do this because this land belongs only to us.
The boom has real environmental consequences: It places more pressure on already stressed water supplies and could pose potential threats to their availability and quality. Laura Foglia, a hydrogeologist from the University of California, said that even without cannabis, there isn’t much room for expanding irrigated land in the current climate conditions.Davis, an expert on Shasta Valleys groundwater, stated.
Siskiyou County has received some local support for its efforts to preserve land, water and eradicate cannabis due to the growing effects of climate change. The current policy is not based upon hard science. Hydrologists claim that little is known about the farming practices in the area and that no one knows how much water the cannabis farmers use.
Local farmers dispute county estimates and a recent letterAccording to the State Water Resources Control Board the amount of groundwater claimed by the county by the farms is unlikely cause for a decline in the Aquifer.
LaRue a told HCNHe claims that cannabis is threatening the community’s water supply and way of living. This sentiment is echoed by xenophobia. Most of the cannabis farmers and workers in this area are Asian. LaRue claimed that the rise in cannabis crime and violence was due to a criminal element, suggesting that there are ties between criminals, gangs, Chinese nationals and those who live in our community, despite not having any evidence. His campaign to protect groundwater has also targeted minority farmers, calling them criminals and outsiders.
LaRue now works with the California Environmental Protection Agency, to train deputies in the identification of pesticides and chemicals, as well as coordinating his department with the State Water Resources Control Board, to gather evidence of water violations. He admits he is frustrated by the environmental laws that bind him. LaRue stated in February that financial penalties are futile. While it might seem appealing on paper, the only way these people will respond to you is if you have consequences.
California lawmakers introduced legislation in 2022 making unlicensed cannabis cultivation, which was previously a misdemeanor and punishable by up three years in county jail. LaRue intends to increase the punishment at a local level and point out the possibility that landowners or farmers could be prosecuted with conspiracy charges, which would be a felony.
However, in Siskiyou County such punishments are not evenly administered. According to the U.S. Census Asian Americans only 2.6% of the county’s residents, however, they were involved in 27.4%, 78%, and nearly 82% respectively of traffic stops between 2019-2021 according to attorneys with the ACLU and Asian Law Caucus. Many Hmong Americans describe feeling targeted by racial discrimination, economic boycotts, and other forms.
Margiana Petersen Rockney, an academic from University of California Berkeley, who is studying Siskiyou County’s prohibition on cannabis, stated that the sheriff and county government depend on creating hooks of terror to justify their eradication policies. Petersen-Rockney said that connecting certain groups with environmental fear has been a tradition. It has proven to be an effective strategy to remove those people from their land.
Theo Whitcomb works as an editorial internat High Country News. Emailhim a [email protected]Send a letter to the editorSee our Letters to the Editor policy.
