Greenbud

'Spot Pot, Get A Lot' program gives tipsters $$

Hopes are extra incentive will aid in drug fight

By Andrew Kirk | Deseret Morning News | August 12, 2004

Utah hunters are being asked to keep their eye out for a different type of wildlife than what they're used to: marijuana plants.

Local law enforcement agencies are embarking on a new marijuana eradication cam- paign called the "Spot Pot, Get A Lot" program, it was announced Wednesday by Major Rich Townsend, chief of the state Bureau of Investigation.

Hikers, hunters, 4-wheelers and other outdoor enthusiasts have been successful in spotting entire groves of the illegal plants in Wasatch Front canyons. Thousands of plants worth millions of dollars have only been found with help from citizens, Townsend said.

"When you pluck up 9,000 plants in the canyons, it leads you to believe there's more than we're aware of," he said.

The "Spot Pot, Get A Lot" campaign introduces a new technique in fighting marijuana growers: a toll-free hot line at 1-888-POT-FOUND. Tips leading to large growth finds may yield as much as a $1,000 reward.

"We haven't been successful looking for marijuana growths, citizens have been the most successful," he said. "We wanted to reward them and give additional incentive."

Law enforcement has trouble finding large growths in the mountains because they're too hard to see from the air. They're planted so they blend in with the foliage.

To recruit more help from outdoor enthusiasts, ads with the hot line number and the money offer will be posted in their publications, Townsend said.

"It's our feeling, and it's backed up by the crime we deal with, that marijuana is a gateway drug to harder and more dangerous drugs. And the effect on driving is dangerous," he said. "People shouldn't be allowed to smoke it."

[Greenbudnote: Mayyyybeee...if they legalized marijuana...it would remove it from the association with hard drugs. And hey, people aren't supposed to be smoking it, but they are. All of the militant law enforcement and rabid pot eradication programs aren't making an iota of difference. People will always smoke pot, regardless. It's a shame these LE bozos are too brainwashed to see the truth.]

Tips to the hot line will be passed on to city police or county sheriffs by the bureau wherever the suspected growing is taking place. In this way, the bureau is functioning more as a channel to facilitate local law enforcement.

Because Utah's growing season is relatively short, indoor marijuana growing is on the rise, Townsend said. While county sheriffs will usually be called out to investigate large growths in the mountains, operations growing more than would be needed for personal use in a basement or garage will be viewed similarly with the wilderness endeavors with thousands of plants, he said.

__________________
"I believe in the near future, the government will use anti-drug hysteria to set up a police state."
-author William S. Burroughs, 1947

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