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THE EDUCATOR - Fall 2006 Hey "Bud," What's Up? by Brett Shavers Marijuana has snuck up on law enforcement in a big way in the past several years. When other drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine were the main target of task forces and local narcotics units for years, the manufacture and distribution of marijuana has risen to unbelievable levels. Just in Washington State alone, law enforcement has gone from an annual seizure of about 10,000 plants in 1999 to well over 100,000 plants in 2006. And these seizure amounts don’t even include the seizures of processed marijuana! It has become almost common place for a local drug unit to conduct multi-pound buy busts of processed marijuana. Customs and Border Patrol agents have seized thousands of pounds of marijuana (BC Bud) on a regular basis, yet, there is still so much marijuana out there. Even with the increased security at the border, which has led to substantial marijuana seizures (several tons of processed marijuana seized in 2006) along with the increased focus on local marijuana grow operations (over 130,000 plants in 2006 were seized), the price of marijuana decreases and level of THC increases (from 1% in the 60’s to over 25% in 2006). Law enforcement has been particularly hitting the traffickers hard by seizing assets, which by anyone’s account, has been extremely substantial in the recent years (MILLIONS of dollars in CASH, multiple real estate properties, and fleets of luxury vehicles), yet, there is still so much marijuana out there. There have been hundreds of arrests each year for marijuana possession and trafficking, yet, there seems to be little (and sometimes, NO) jail time to be served in many investigations. Personally, I have found that two marijuana traffickers can sell 60 pounds of marijuana to two undercover cops and receive six months probation. Granted, they did spend a night in jail when we booked them… So what is the big deal? It’s just marijuana, right? Well, yes and no. Notwithstanding the ‘medical marijuana’ arguments, there is more to this problem in Washington. What used to be a hippy drug in the sixties has become one of the largest, illicit money producers of the drug trade, with THC amounts that don’t resemble the marijuana from the sixties at all. And when there are large amounts of money involved, and loads that are lost (as in ‘seized’ by law enforcement); there is the end result of increased violence in this trade. Drug dealers have always robbed drug dealers, however, given that the financial gain is so much with marijuana, the risks taken by these thugs has gone to the extremes. Even Canadian law enforcement (with much stricter gun control laws) has suffered the loss of law enforcement officers in this marijuana trade by use of firearms. Organized crime, in business to make a buck at any cost, has come to realize marijuana to be a major bread winner for the families, whether it be Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs, Asian organized crime, or street gangs. Given that there is only so much of a market, albeit a large market, the competition between the organizations has led to robberies of each other as well as murders. Besides organized crime, there are countless numbers of independent traffickers that grow in their homes for sale or backpack processed marijuana across the US-Canada border. So far, if you aren’t convinced to focus more on marijuana investigations, then consider this. Marijuana is considered by many teens to be an ‘ok’ thing to do. It is easier to buy than alcohol, more readily available, and can even be grown in a closet. It’s just a plant, right? Law enforcement agencies not only EXPECT applicants to have tried marijuana during their life, but they even give them a grace period of one or two years prior to their application to have been smoking marijuana. What does that tell our teens? Even the penalties are not enough to frighten teens away from trying it. With the extreme levels of THC, high enough to nearly be called hallucinogenic, it is more than a gateway drug to the harsher substances, it places teens (this means yours and mine) into a violent, drug subculture that touches all of us in some form or another. Yeah, just its just marijuana… As for me, I say continue the fight against all drugs, but don’t discount marijuana investigations as ‘inconsequential’ because of the lack of jail time. Eventually, the justice system and public will grow weary of the quickly spinning revolving door of marijuana traffickers, and the violence, and the ease to which our kids can obtain marijuana, and maybe, just maybe in this lifetime, we can see some judicial punishment that fits the crime and really make a difference. Isn’t that why we are here? Brett Shavers has been a narcotics detective for over eight years in a local drug unit, state task force, and federal task force. He has conducted marijuana investigations almost extensively during this time, investigating organized crime groups from Canada to California as an undercover officer and case detective.
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