Fed money drying up for pot busts

Ranken · #1 02-12-2008, 09:43 AM

Fed money drying up for marijuana busts

Tuesday, February 12, 2008
PORTLAND (AP) — Oregon authorities seized a record number of marijuana plants last year, but now face a sharp drop in a federal grant used to combat Mexican drug gangs and other public safety problems.
Police seized 262,013 marijuana plants in Oregon last year and caught scores of people tending the plants, especially in southwest Oregon and the McMinnville area.
The drug cartels have been identified as the state’s leading organized crime threat.
A 67 percent drop in the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant comes as planting season nears. Mexican drug gangs also are taking bigger roles in shipping methamphetamine through southwest Oregon.
Byrne Grant money over five years in Oregon totaled $21.7 and helped fund drug courts and treatment programs across the state.
It also helped fund help for sexual assault victims in Jackson County and a five-county drug enforcement corps in southern Oregon.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., called the program a "vital source of funding for drug eradication efforts in Oregon" and said he’s trying to rectify the cuts, mandated in a budget bill Congress passed in December.
The Byrne grant was cut to $170 million this year. Oregon will get $1.2 million, down from $3.4 million last year.
Additionally, President Bush is proposing a 73 percent cut in government payments meant to offset logging declines.
Douglas County Sheriff Jim Burge estimates the proposed reduction in timber payments would cut his $15 million budget in half.
He was planning for that possibility when he learned that Byrne grant reductions would cut $67,000 out of the Douglas Interagency Narcotics Team.
He said the combined hits would require him to move three of four full-time employees off the drug team to patrol duties.
"That’ll leave two Roseburg detectives and one Oregon State Police detective up there to combat these Mexican drug cartels," Burge said.
The hills of Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Coos and Curry counties are known for producing high-grade marijuana.
Mexican drug trafficking organizations turned parts of the region into a massive garden last year.
They accounted for 92 percent of all marijuana seizures statewide, said Ron Nelson, a special agent with the Oregon Department of Justice.
Sgt. Ken Selig of the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office said the Byrne grant cuts will all but kill the county’s interagency narcotics team.
"If our funding goes down to a third," he said, "we’ll do what we can to maintain a drug enforcement presence, and that may be only one officer in Josephine County."
In Ashland, the grant covers half the budget for the Jackson County Sexual Assault Response Team. The nonprofit responds to a victim about once every four days, said Susan Moen, the nonprofit’s executive director.

overfiend · #2 02-12-2008, 01:33 PM

It makes no sense why they spend any money on ridding the world of pot
dont they realize that its an ANNUAL crop even if they got all of it one year the following harvest wuold be right around the corner.

as long as someone in the world wants it someone will grow it and i'm sure myself and everyone on this site will always want it.

CALIGROWN · #3 02-12-2008, 01:34 PM

thats why they seize everything...it's there main source of income..

panhead · #4 02-12-2008, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CALIGROWN

thats why they seize everything...it's there main source of income..

Bang !,Pow !, Zoom, you got it.

It didnt used to be about seizures, now thats all its about,if it wasnt for the seizure laws marijuana would either be legal or nobody would even think twice about busting anybody over it.

All i think when i see budget cuts is more seizures comming.

juliatkarzon · #5 04-14-2008, 04:53 AM

My wife and I are both college students and file our taxes together on one return. We each filled out our FAFSA using the exact information on the same tax return. The only difference is when asked your income and spouse's income she divided our total income equally between the two. What factors determine how much college federal Pell grant money you should receive?

LoudBlunts · #6 04-14-2008, 06:17 AM

what the hell?

Miracle Smoke · #7 04-14-2008, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by juliatkarzon

My wife and I are both college students and file our taxes together on one return. We each filled out our FAFSA using the exact information on the same tax return. The only difference is when asked your income and spouse's income she divided our total income equally between the two. What factors determine how much college federal Pell grant money you should receive?

Quote:

what the hell?

I second this notion.

What the fuck?